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Floor Speech

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Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I rise today to give tribute to a great American, a great Texan, a great friend, and a 24-year veteran of this institution who has dedicated his career to serving the needs of his fellow citizens. His name is Jason Fuller, and he has served as my regional director in the southeastern part of Texas, including my home city of Houston, for the last 5 years. He is now retiring and moving on to the private sector.

Jason is a native Texan. Born in Corpus Christi, he graduated from the University of Houston, where he served as student body president. He is a proud Houston Cougar.

Jason started working in the Senate in late 1994, after working on my predecessor Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's 1994 campaign for a full term in the Senate. At the time, Jason said he was only going to come to DC for 2 years, work for Senator Hutchison, and move on. He ended up working in the Senate for 19 years. During that time, he served as Senator Hutchison's personal aide, until 1997, when he moved back home to Texas and worked for her regional office in Houston. He eventually became regional director and served in that role until Senator Hutchison left office in 2013.

In 2018, Jason heard the call to once again serve his fellow Texans, so he came on board as my regional director of southeastern Texas. His region stretches from the Texas-Louisiana border down south towards Victoria and all the way to the upper Texas gulf coast.

Jason hates to be on the sidelines, and he is always eager to help others in a crisis. When Hurricane Katrina happened and everything was chaos, Jason had 12 people, 6 dogs, and 3 cats squeezed into his downtown residence. He helped out in the shelters in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. When the Santa Fe shooting horrifically happened in May of 2018, Jason was there to lend a helping hand to the victims and their families, as well as to law enforcement. Many of those people became his personal friends.

When Jason is not helping his fellow Texans, he likes to travel to some of the most exotic and hard-to-get-to places on the planet. When Jason is getting ready for a trip, he spins the globe and sees where his finger lands. He has been to Iraq, China, Russia--anywhere that is going to give my State director and national security advisor heartburn.

He has often helped people in stressful situations, navigating the leviathan of Big Government on behalf of fellow Texans in their time of need. He has taken the time to connect with them personally and to listen as a friend listens.

In the coming days, Jason will start his new job in the private sector. We will miss him greatly, but we wish him well. The Senate, the people of Texas, and the thousands of people and families he has helped over the course of 24 years of service will miss him too.

Thank you, Jason, for your hard work, your determination, your passion, and your patriotism. God bless you.

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