Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is writing a letter to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), urging him to consider Armed Services Committee hearings on Second Amendment Rights on military bases after McCain mocked the Texas senator for claiming that the two had already spoken about the issue, according to CNN.
“Senator Cruz has been discussing this issue for a long time and he looks forward to continuing to raise it in the Senate Armed Services Committee where he serves with Chairman McCain,” Cruz spokeswoman Amanda Carpenter told CNN.
During an event in New Hampshire over the weekend, Cruz said that he had been “pressing” McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to hold hearings on whether soldiers should be able to carry concealed personal weapons on military bases.
But on Monday night, McCain said he hadn’t heard from Cruz about the issue.
“I was fascinated to hear that, since I haven’t heard a thing about it from him, nor has my staff heard from his staff,” McCain said, launching into speculation on how Cruz communicated with McCain about the issue.
“Maybe it was through some medium that I’m not familiar with. Maybe bouncing it off the ozone layer for all I know. But there’s a lot of holes in the ozone layer, so maybe it wasn’t the ozone layer,” McCain joked. “Maybe it was through hand telegraph? Maybe through sign language? I don’t know.”
On Tuesday morning, Cruz admitted that he did not speak directly with McCain about holding hearings.
“I will acknowledge, I may have misspoken in New Hampshire when I said that I had been pressing John McCain, and what I had been pressing is the Armed Services Committee. And John McCain is the new chairman of it,” Cruz said on Fox News.
After the brief tiff, McCain called Cruz a “friend” on Tuesday.
Ted Cruz is a friend and valued member of the Senate Armed Services Committee
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) April 21, 2015
