Washington:
Ted Cruz, a Republican Senator from Texas, today announced his decision to run for the 2016 US presidential election, becoming the first candidate from a major political party to enter the electoral fray.
“I believe in you. I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America, and that is why today I am announcing that I’m running for president of the United States,” Cuban American Cruz, 44, said at Virginia’s Liberty University, the largest Christian university in the world.
Lashing out at the policies of current President Barack Obama, Cruz promised to repeal the controversial ‘Obamacare’ healthcare plan if he becomes president.
Obama, into his second term, will not run in the 2016 election as the US Constitution does not allow more than two terms for a president.
“Instead of the joblessness, instead of the millions forced into part-time work, instead of the millions who’ve lost their health insurance, lost their doctors, have faced skyrocketing health insurance premiums, imagine in 2017 a new president signing legislation repealing every word of Obamacare,” he said amid applause from the audience.
“Imagine health care reform that keeps government out of the way between you and your doctor and that makes health insurance personal and portable and affordable. Instead of a tax code that crushes innovation, that imposes burdens on families struggling to make ends met, imagine a simple flat tax that lets every American fill out his or her taxes on a postcard,” said the conservative firebrand from Texas.
“Instead of a president who boycotts Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, imagine a president who stands unapologetically with the nation of Israel. Instead of a president who seeks to go to the United Nations to end-run Congress and the American people, imagine a president who says “I will honour the Constitution, and under no circumstances will Iran be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon,” he said.
“Imagine a president who says “We will stand up and defeat radical Islamic terrorism and we will call it by its name. We will defend the United States of America,” he asserted.
Cruz was first elected to the Senate in 2012. He is the first Hispanic to serve as a US senator from Texas.
