By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— It was standing room only at the Pelham Civic Complex Aug. 9 when Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz addressed citizens in Shelby County.

More than 850 people were in attendance for the Shelby County Republican Party’s “Southern Social” to see Cruz, who announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election on March 23.

“What Ted Cruz is known for today, and the reason so many of you have packed this place, is because you know that Ted Cruz is a man who is going to stand up for what’s right,” said Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill. “Ted Cruz is dedicated to doing what’s right and what’s best for Texans and our nation, and that’s the reason he declared his candidacy for presidency.”

Cruz was greeted by a standing ovation in the banquet hall, and the obvious support for his campaign was illustrated by cheers and chanting throughout his speech. He told the audience his goals if elected as president.

“This is a pivotal time in politics,” Cruz said. “We are seeing our constitutional rights under assault from Washington like never before, and we are seeing the consequences of the Obama/Clinton foreign policy. Leading from behind doesn’t work.”

The first thing Cruz said he would do if elected president is rescind “every single illegal and unconstitutional executive action taken by President Obama.” He said over the past six years, the country has seen every branch of government corrupted, and the Department of Justice has become the most biased department in the history of our country.

His second action as president would be to direct the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Planned Parenthood, Cruz said. He plans to prosecute any and all criminal violations of the organization.

“The administration of justice should be fair and impartial,” Cruz said. “The Department of Justice should know no party. Its allegiance should be to the constitution and to the laws of the United States.”

He will instruct the Department of Justice, the IRS and every agency in the federal government to stop persecuting religious liberty that first day, he said, and to tear apart “this catastrophic Iranian nuclear mess.”

His fifth and final promise for his first day of presidency is to begin the process of moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He said many presidents have promised to do this, but their team tells them it might upset many people in the Middle East.

“Let me tell you the difference between me and the other fine individuals standing on that stage,” Cruz said. “I want a campaign conservatives who talk a good game on the campaign trail. If I am elected, I will do exactly what I promised I would.”

Those promises are only for Cruz’s potential first day in office, and he has many plans for the entire four, possibly eight, years in the oval office.

In the days that follow, Cruz said he plans to repeal “every word of Obamacare,” to abolish the Federal Department of Education and the Common Core system, to finally secure the border from illegal immigrants, to pass a tax reform for a simple flat tax, to abolish the IRS and to follow the constitution.

“When I was a kid, my father used to say over and over again, ‘When we faced depression in Cuba, I had a place to flee too. If we lose our freedom (in America), where do we go?” Cruz said. “That is why each and every one of us is here today. We are standing together. We are not willing to sacrifice the constitution.”