John Cornyn

John Cornyn
United States Senator from Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office  December 1, 2002[1] Serving with Kay Bailey Hutchison
Preceded by	Phil Gramm
49th Attorney General of Texas
In office January 13, 1999 – December 1, 2002
Preceded by	Dan Morales
Succeeded by	Greg Abbott
Born	February 2, 1952 (1952-02-02) (age 59) Houston, Texas
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Sandy Cornyn
Children	Haley Cornyn Danley Cornyn
Residence	Austin, Texas
Alma mater	Trinity University, St. Mary's University School of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Church of Christ

John Cornyn III (born February 2, 1952) is the junior United States Senator from Texas. He is a Republican and was elected to his first term in November 2002, having defeated Democrat Ron Kirk, the former mayor of Dallas, Texas.^[2][3] In the general election of November 4, 2008, he defeated the Democratic State Representative Rick Noriega of Houston for his second term. He was elected Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 111th U.S. Congress.^[4]

Early life and law career

Cornyn was born in Houston to Atholene Gale (née Danley) and John Cornyn II.^[5] He graduated from Trinity University in 1973, where he majored in journalism and was a member of the local fraternity Chi Delta Tau.^[3][6][7] He earned a J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law in 1977 and an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995.^[8][9]

He served in San Antonio for six years as a district judge before being elected as a Republican in 1990 to the Texas Supreme Court, where he served for seven years.^[3] From 1999 to 2002, John Cornyn was the Texas Attorney General, the first of thus far only two Republicans to have held the position. In 2005, Cornyn's name was mentioned among possibilities to replace Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O'Connor or William Rehnquist.^[10]

Senate career

In the 2002 U.S. Senate Primary in Texas, AG Cornyn was the candidate promoted and supported by the Texas Republican Party in the Primary election. Cornyn easily defeated the five other candidates in the Republican Primary while disdaining the opportunity to debate the other candidates. Cornyn defeated his closest Republican challenger, Bruce Rusty Lang, a self-financed Dallas based international physician, in the Republican Primary election by a ten to one electoral margin. In the 2002 General election Candidate Cornyn defeated Democrat Ron Kirk, a former Dallas Mayor, in a campaign which cost each candidate over $10,000,000. USD (Ten Million U.S. Dollars).

In 2004, Cornyn co-founded and became the co-chairman of the U.S. Senate India Caucus.^[11] Cornyn was selected by his colleagues in December 2006 to be a member of the five-person Republican Senate leadership team as Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.^[12]

While in the Senate, Cornyn has received various awards and recognitions, including the 2005 Border Texan of the Year Award; the National Child Support Enforcement Association's Children's Champion Award; the American Farm Bureau Federation's Friend of Farm Bureau Award; the Texas Association of Business's (TAB) Fighter for Free Enterprise Award; the National Federation of Independent Business's (NFIB) Guardian of Small Business Award; the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders's (CONLAMIC) Latino Leadership Award; and the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce's (TAMACC) International Leadership Legislative Award; among others.^[3]

In 2005, Cornyn gained notice by connecting the Supreme Court's reluctance to hear arguments for sustaining Terri Schiavo's life with the recent murders of Judge Joan Lefkow's husband and mother as well as that of Judge Rowland Barnes. "I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and building up to the point where some people engage in violence."^[13] His statement and a similar one by House Majority Leader Tom Delay were widely denounced, including The New York Times.^[14] Cornyn later said that he regretted the statement.^[15]

In 2005, Project on Government Oversight, a government watchdog group, presented Cornyn and Senator Patrick Leahy with its first ever Bi-Partisan Leadership Award in honor of their cooperation on issues of government oversight and transparency, including their co-sponsorship of the OPEN Government Act of 2005, which prevented burying exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act in legislation. ^[16]

Cornyn has been described by Jim Jubak of MSN Money as one of "Big Oil's ten favorite members of Congress," as he has received more money from the oil and gas industry than all but six other members of Congress.^[17]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry and Credit (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms
• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Finance
  • Subcommittee on Health Care
  • Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-Term Growth
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution
  • Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security

Political views

Cornyn was ranked by National Journal as the seventeenth-most conservative United States Senator in their 2008 rankings.^[18] He was considered by the Dallas Morning News to be a reliable ally of former President George W. Bush on most issues.^[19]

Environment and energy

In 2005, Cornyn voted against including oil and gas smokestacks in mercury regulations. He voted against factoring global warming into federal project planning, and against banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He voted against reducing oil usage by 40%, rather than by 5%. He also voted against removing oil and gas exploration subsidies.^[20] During his tenure in the Senate, Cornyn has scored 0% on the League of Conservation Voters' environmental scorecard, a system of ranking politicians according to their voting record on environmental legislation.^[21]

Civil rights and law enforcement

In the 2004 debate surrounding the Federal Marriage Amendment, Cornyn released an advance copy of a speech he was to give at the Heritage Foundation. In the speech, he wrote, "It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle. But that does not mean it is right ... [N]ow you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife." He removed the reference to the box turtle in the actual speech, but the Washington Post ran the quote, as did The Daily Show.^[22][23]

Cornyn sponsored a bill that would allow law enforcement to force anyone arrested or detained to provide samples of their DNA, which would be recorded in a central database.^[24] He voted to recommend a constitutional ban on flag desecration and for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. He also voted for the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act and extending its wiretap provision. He is rated an A by the National Rifle Association.^[20] Cornyn said on December 20, 2005: "None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead" in a speech supporting reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act.^[25]

Abortion and stem cell research

He voted to ban partial-birth abortions except in cases where the mother's life was in danger and for a criminal penalty for harming a fetus while committing another crime. He also voted in favor of notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions. He voted against expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines.^[20] He voted to prevent contributions to organizations that perform or promote abortion as a method of family planning, and to prevent funding of organizations that support coercive abortion.^[26]

War, peace, and homeland security

In 2005, Cornyn voted against additional funding for up-armored vehicles to protect troops in Afghanistan & Iraq. Cornyn voted against removing troops from Iraq by July 2007, and he later voted against removing them by March 2008. He voted against implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Report and restoring $565 million for states' and ports' first responders. He also voted against restricting businesses with ties to terrorism. He voted against preserving habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. Cornyn was one of only 22 Senators to vote against the Post-9/11 GI Bill that expands the educational benefits for soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.^[27] He instead co-sponsored SB 2938, which gives benefits that are dependent on length of service.

Economy and taxes

Cornyn is a cosponsor of the Fair Tax Act of 2007.^[28] He voted to permanently repeal the estate tax and for raising the estate tax exemption to $5 million. He voted in favor of $350 billion in tax cuts over 11 years, and supports making President Bush's tax cuts permanent.^[20]

Cornyn voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, but against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009.

Judicial nominations

John Cornyn voted to confirm Samuel Alito as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and John Roberts for Chief Justice of the United States.^[20] In September 2005, during the Supreme Court hearings for Roberts, Cornyn's staff passed out bingo cards to reporters. He asked them to stamp their card every time a Democrat on the Judiciary Committee used terms such as "far right" or "extremist".^[29]

On July 24, 2009 Cornyn announced his intention to vote against President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, citing his opinion that she might rule from a "from a liberal, activist perspective."^[30]

Opposition to the Obama administration

On the day of Obama's inauguration, it was reported that Cornyn would prevent Hillary Rodham Clinton from being confirmed as secretary of state by a unanimous floor vote that day. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman reported to the Associated Press that a roll call vote would be held instead on the following day, January 21, 2009, for the Clinton confirmation, and that it was expected Clinton would "receive overwhelming bipartisan support."^[31] The vote was 94-2 in her favor, with only Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and David Vitter (R-LA) in opposition.^[32]

Cornyn also took the lead on resisting the nomination of Eric Holder for Attorney General, attempting to set up hypothetical questions which would have supported the use of torture. During the nomination hearings, Holder rejected the premise of that line of questioning and declined to endorse waterboarding as a legitimate law enforcement or national security tool.^[33]

Minnesota Senate Recount

As chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Cornyn was a strong supporter of Norm Coleman's various court challenges to the election certification.^[34] Cornyn advocated for Coleman to bring the case before the federal court, and had said the trial and appeals could take years to complete.^[35] Cornyn had threatened that Republicans would wage a "World War III" if the Senate Democrats had attempted to seat Franken before the appeals were complete.^[36] Eventually Coleman conceded when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of Franken.

U.S. Senate election, 2008

Texas has not elected a Democrat in a statewide election since 1994, and according to Rasmussen polling, in October 2008 Cornyn had an approval rating of 50%.^[37] Texas House of Representatives member/Afghanistan War veteran Rick Noriega secured his place as Cornyn's Democratic challenger in the March 4 primary, beating out opponents Gene Kelly, Ray McMurrey, and Rhett Smith. The same Rasmussen poll showed Cornyn leading Noriega 47% to 43%, suggesting that this race might have proved to be unexpectedly competitive. However, most polls showed a much wider margin.

Christian activist Larry Kilgore of Mansfield, Texas, was a Republican challenger for the March 2008 primary election, but Cornyn easily won the Republican primary.^[38]

Yvonne Adams Schick was the Libertarian Party's nominee.^[39] In addition, the Green Party of Texas sought ballot access for its candidate David B. Collins.^[40]

Electoral history

Personal life

Cornyn and his wife, Sandy Hansen, have two daughters, Haley and Danley.

Pop culture

Cornyn gained national attention when he released a video referring to himself as "Big Bad John". The video was featured on comedy shows such as The Colbert Report and The Daily Show.

In 1999, John Cornyn, as state attorney general, awarded "Lawman of the Year" to free-lance, discredited undercover officer Tom Coleman, for his work in Tulia, Texas.^[41][42] This work resulted in the Tulia 46 scandal.

See also

United States Senate election in Texas, 2008

References

External links

• Senator John Cornyn official U.S. Senate website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack.us
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Collected news and commentary from The New York Times
• Profile from SourceWatch Congresspedia
• John Cornyn at the Open Directory Project

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