{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-statement-on-positive-303-creative-oral-arguments-before-supreme-court", "Sen. Cruz Statement on Positive 303 Creative Oral Arguments Before Supreme Court", "2022-12-05", "2022", "2022-12", "Republican", "Senate", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", "cruz", "https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution today released the following statement after oral arguments in the case 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis before the U.S. Supreme Court.\n\nSen. Cruz said:\n\n\u201cTo force a private citizen to violate her deeply-held beliefs is unconscionable and blatantly un-American. The Bill of Rights guarantees our freedom of speech and religion, a fact that every American should treasure. No one should fear that their religious and speech rights will be trampled in the United States, and today\u2019s oral arguments demonstrated the rightness of 303 Creative\u2019s position under the Constitution.\u201d\n\nSen. Cruz co-authored an amicus brief for the case with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to protect free speech and advocate for religious liberty. Sen. Cruz has long been a champion of both of these issues. He:\n\nAuthored an op-ed on the case in support of Lorie Smith and her right to free speech.\n\nSent a letter to military service academies fighting for religious freedom.\n\nIntroduced legislation to prohibit the military from dishonorably discharging unvaccinated service members.\n\nLed a bicameral amicus brief with Republican colleagues in relation to the 303 Creative case.\n\nAdded safeguards to protect the freedom of speech in the Journalism Competition Preservation Act (JCPA).\n\nIntroduced the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2021 to fight for First Amendment protections on college campuses.\n\nJoined an amicus brief to advocate for the religious liberty rights of Coach Joe Kennedy following his termination for praying.\n\nSent a letter to the Department of Justice to push back on their restriction of free speech in relation to parents protesting school boards.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:32:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-statement-on-positive-303-creative-oral-arguments-before-supreme-court"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.693553989753127, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}