John Cornyn

[Congressional biography]

Born: February 2, 1952 in Houston, TX

Education:

Career:

Elected Office:

Key Senate Vote Data for John Cornyn in 2011

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Cornyn Voted
2011-02-02	Obamacare Repeal [S223]	Rejected (47-51)
An amendment that would have repealed the Obama health care overhaul and restore laws amended or repealed by the law.
2011-02-03	Davis-Bacon [S223]	Agreed To (55-42)
Motion to table (kill) an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill that would limit the application of the Davis-Bacon Act to federal projects. Davis-Bacon requires contractors to pay "prevailing wages", usually union wages on a project, usually well above the market rate and adding billions of dollars in cost to federal projects and adding to the deficit.
2011-02-17	Air Service Subsidies [S223]	Agreed To (61-38)
Motion to table (kill) an amendment to the FAA authorization bill that would have eliminated the so-called "Essential Air Service" program that spends taxpayer money to subsidize air service to rural airports with little passenger traffic.
2011-04-06	Blocking Greenhouse Gas Regulation [S493]	Rejected (50-50)
An amendment to the small business subsidy bill that would have prohibited the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. ACU opposes this effort to impose a de facto energy tax in the name of "global warming".
2011-04-14	Defunding Planned Parenthood [HCONRES36]	Defeated (42-58)
An amendment to the appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011 barring funds for Planned Parenthood which offers abortion services.
2011-05-04	John J. McConnell Nomination	Agreed To (63-33)
Invoking cloture on the nomination of John J. McConnell for District Court Judge in Rhode Island. McDonnell's career was built as an anti-business trial lawyer whose primary qualification seemed to be the contributions of McConnell and his wife of $700,000 to the Democrat party and their candidates.
2011-05-19	Goodwin Liu Nomination	Rejected (52-43)
Invoking cloture on the nomination of Goodwin Liu for the 9th Circuit federal court of appeals based in California. Liu had no judicial experience or trial experience as an attorney. Liu said he envisioned the judiciary as "a culturally situated interpreter of social meaning" and judges should act to create a constitutional right to welfare, housing, education and medical care. Liu helped the fight against the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.
2011-06-14	Ethanol Subsidies and Tariff repeal [S782]	Rejected (40-59)
Invoking cloture on an amendment to an economic development subsidy bill that would have repealed the Ethanol tax credit and a tariff on imported ethanol. ACU opposes the government picking winners and losers in the marketplace.
2011-06-29	Cutting International Monetary Fund [S679]	Rejected (44-55)
An amendment to a bill reducing the number of Senate-confirmed executive positions that would have rescinded $108 billion in taxpayer funds committed to the International Monetary Fund and the authority for other loans. ACU opposes increasing American liability for the European Union bailout.
2011-06-29	Executive Branch Nominations [S679]	Passed (79-20)
A bill eliminating hundreds of executive positions from congressional confirmation and allowing others to be on a "fast-track" procedure to speed Senate confirmation.
2011-08-02	Debt Limit Increase [S365]	Agreed To (74-26)
A bill that allowed a debt increase of up to $2.5 trillion with no spending reduction required in Fiscal Year 2012. The bill also set up a "supercommittee" of twelve members of Congress that would meet in secret to negotiate a deficit reduction of $1.2 trillion over ten years. The bill also requires a "sequestration" or automatic reduction of $1.2 trillion over ten years if no other agreement is reached by 2013.
2011-09-22	Trade Adjustment Assistance [HR2832]	Rejected (34-62)
An amendment to a bill extending trade preferences that would have restricted the use of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) funds to workers affected by countries with an existing free trade agreement with the United States. ACU opposes the TAA program as a wasteful program that adds to 67 existing job training programs and supported this reasonable attempt to reduce its size.
2011-09-22	Support for Taiwan [HR2832]	Rejected (48-48)
An amendment to a bill extending trade preferences that would have provided U.S. built multi-role aircraft to Taiwan to strengthen its defense capability to any military threat from China.
2011-10-12	Colombia Free Trade Agreement [HR3078]	Passed (66-33)
A free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia.
2011-10-20	John Bryson Nomination	Confirmed (74-26)
Nomination of John Bryson as Secretary of Commerce. ACU strongly opposed this nomination to the agency charged with promoting free enterprise as Bryson co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council, a radical environmental group which has attacked businesses through lawsuits and promoted draconian federal regulation of business to promote its goals.
2011-10-20	Public Employee Jobs Funding [S1723]	Rejected (50-50)
Invoking cloture on a bill to give $35 billion of taxpayer money to state and local governments paid for by an income tax surcharge. ACU opposes these attempts to bail out those state and local governments which have been overspending. Cloture motions require 60 votes to pass.
2011-10-20	Limiting Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac [HR2112]	Rejected (41-57)
An amendment to an appropriations bill that would have limited the taxpayer liability for the government sponsored enterprises of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to a total of $200 billion. ACU opposed this bailout in 2008 and supported this attempt to cap taxpayer liability.
2011-10-20	Increasing Government-Backed Mortgage Limits [HR2112]	Agreed To (60-38)
An amendment to an appropriations bill to renew an increase in the allowable limits on government backed mortgages to well over $700,000. ACU opposed this attempt to increase taxpayer liability to a program that has cost $150 billion in bailout money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The amendment required 60 votes to pass.
2011-12-06	Caitlin Halligan Nomination	Rejected (54-45)
Invoking cloture on the nomination of Caitlin Halligan for the Disctrict of Columbia Circuit Court. Halligan had shown her opposition to Second Amendment rights by working to make gun manufacturers liable for actions by gun owners. This seat, once held by Chief Justice John Roberts, had been left vacant by the refusal of Senate Democrats to vote on nominees put forward by George W. Bush. ACU opposed this nomination and opposed the cloture motion which required 60 votes to pass.
2011-12-14	Balanced Budget Amendment [SJRES10]	Defeated (47-53)
A balanced budget amendment to the constitution which requires a two-thirds vote. The Senate vote was the only one in either house of Congress on an amendment which required a super-majority for tax increases and protected against judicial interference in how Congress would balance the budget.

Represents a "Yes" vote.   Represents a "No" vote.   Indicates that this member voted against the conservative position on a particular vote. "No vote" means that this member did not cast a vote (or voted 'Present' instead of Yes or No).