On Thursday, Feb.18, Ted Cruz, the Republican senator from Texas, abandoned his fellow Texans for a family vacation. As millions of Texans continue to suffer from state-wide power outages and freezing temperatures, Sen. Cruz excused himself for a trip to the tropics. The Texas Democratic Party reprimanded Cruz, demanding that he resign his seat or be expelled from the Senate.

Cruz’s flight to Cancun is an example of how disconnected Congress members are from the reality most Americans have to face. When the going gets tough for normal Americans, they must toughen up and power through it; apparently, for politicians, when the going gets tough, they fly to Cancun.

Sen. Cruz defended himself, stating, “I was trying to be a dad” after his children asked to take a trip somewhere warm when their power went out. “On the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our families; that’s something Texans have been doing across the state,” Cruz continued. Cruz said this is an effort to relate himself to the everyday Texan. However, “trying to be a dad” for Cruz and for the normal Texan are incomparable.

The Texas Democratic Party put it best when they released a statement concerning Cruz’s situation, saying, “In the middle of one of the worst crises in Texas history, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz jetted off to Cancun, Mexico. His constituents in Texas remain trapped in the cold, without clean water, heat or warm food. Thirty-seven of them have died.”  

Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke added during an interview with MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ that Cruz “is vacationing in Cancun right now when people are literally freezing to death in the state he was elected to represent and serve.” O’Rourke’s statement couldn’t have been more spot on.  

Senator Cruz’s actions must be punished: He should resign from Congress. He shouldn’t be the person to represent Texans — people who have fought hard to make it through one of the worst crises in the state’s history. Sen. Cruz should be working hard to get clean water, heating supplies and food to his fellow Texans, but instead, he flew to Cancun to escape the terrible situation millions of Texans cannot.  

A Twitter user by the name of Chris Prince wrote, “I’m in Houston, Texas, freezing to death, no power, no heat, no water. I have four young children. How is this happening right now?” The answer? Global climate change, the reality of which is strongly resisted by Sen. Cruz. Overall, Texas was unprepared for a situation like this, which climate scientists state was only a matter of time due to global climate change. Ten years ago, energy regulators warned that Texas’ electric-grid operators “were ill-prepared for an unprecedented winter storm.” Nothing changed, and Texans are now suffering the consequences. That is, Texans besides Ted Cruz, who has the privilege to simply fly away from the disaster.

The chaos in Texas should open our eyes to other climate issues. The Antarctic Peninsula is not at its usual below-freezing temperatures and is clearly showing the effects of global warming. While Texans suffer through freezing temperatures, the Antarctic Peninsula is facing climate issues as well, setting record breaking temperatures due to global warming. 

Action needs to be taken now. There needs to be a change in Congress. Sen. Cruz does not represent Texans who have braved through this unprecedented time, and he should be removed from his seat in Congress. 

Cory Bork, FCRH ’23, is a communications and culture major from Robbinsville, N.J.