John Cornyn

[Congressional biography]

Born: February 2, 1952 in Houston, TX

Education:

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Elected Office:

Key Senate Vote Data for John Cornyn in 2015

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Cornyn Voted
2015-01-20	Energy Efficiency Guidelines and Mandates [S1]	Agreed To (94-5)
Portman (R-OH) amendment to the Keystone Pipeline approval bill creates a new federal program -- the "Tenant Star" program -- that directs the EPA Administrator and Secretary of Energy to develop energy efficiency guidelines and pressure tenants and commercial building owners to adopt them. The bill also increases the energy efficiency mandate for water heaters. ACU opposes mandating energy efficiency guidelines on buildings and any other unnecessary regulations on products, which not only drive up costs for the average consumer but also are not even the federal government's responsibility.
2015-01-28	Wind Production Subsidies [S1]	Rejected (47-51)
Heitkamp (D-ND) amendment to the Keystone Pipeline approval bill extends eight renewable energy tax credits, including the tax credit for wind production, through 2020. ACU believes all forms of energy should compete within the free market and government should refrain from helping favored energy sources.
2015-02-27	Funding Obama's Executive Action on Immigration [HR240]	Agreed To (66-33)
Cochran (R-MS) amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill removes the provision that prohibits using funds for President Obama's executive actions on granting federal benefits to illegal immigrants. ACU believes our current immigration laws should be enforced and strongly opposes Obama's executive action that violates the current laws.
2015-03-26	Minimum Wage [SCONRES11]	Rejected (48-52)
Sanders (I-VT) amendment to the Budget Resolution allows the Senate to go on record in support of a substantial increase in the minimum wage. ACU opposes these artificial wages that hurt those who have the hardest time finding employment, such as students and less experienced workers.
2015-03-26	Mandated Paid Sick Leave [SCONRES11]	Agreed To (61-39)
Murray (D-WA) amendment to the budget bill calls on Congress to pass federal legislation that mandates paid sick leave for employees. ACU does not believe the federal government has a role in deciding employee compensation.
2015-03-26	Selling Federal Land [SCONRES11]	Agreed To (51-49)
Murkowski (R-AK) amendment to the Budget Resolution allows the Senate to go on record as in favor of selling federal land back to state and local governments. The amendment excludes national parks, national reserves, and national monuments. ACU supports reducing the amount of land owned by the federal government.
2015-03-26	Defunding the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty [SCONRES11]	Agreed To (59-41)
Inhofe (R-OK) amendment to the Budget Resolution prohibits the funding of U.N. organizations responsible for implementing the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty until the Senate votes on its ratification. ACU opposes any President's efforts to ignore the constitutional requirement of submitting treaties for ratification, exhibited specifically in the Obama Administration with Obama's backdoor funding approval scheme.
2015-03-26	Opposing Project Labor Agreements [SCONRES11]	Agreed To (51-49)
Flake (R-AZ) amendment to the Budget Resolution allows the Senate to go on record against requiring businesses to negotiate and obtain approval from labor unions during the awarding of construction contracts. ACU opposes these agreements that interfere with the free market and drive up the costs for taxpayers.
2015-03-27	Busting the Spending Caps [SCONRES11]	Agreed To (50-48)
Kaine (D-VA) amendment to the Budget Resolution repeals the spending caps passed under sequestration. ACU supports these modest spending caps that have helped reduce the annual deficit from $1 trillion per year.
2015-04-22	Infringing Religious Freedom [S178]	Rejected (56-43)
Leahy (D-VT) amendment to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act prevents the federal government from participating in programs designed to fight human trafficking if the program discriminates, regardless of religious belief, on the basis of sexual orientation or "gender identity." America has a long tradition of helping people through faith-based charities, which this bill flies in the face of. ACU supports the right to practice the free exercise of religion and believes no one should be excluded from federal programs for practicing their religion.
2015-04-23	Loretta Lynch Confirmation	Agreed To (66-34)
This vote confirms the nomination of Loretta Lynch as Attorney General. ACU opposed the confirmation after Lynch defended the Obama Administration's unconstitutional executive action to give amnesty to some illegal immigrants and refused to give any limits to the President's "prosecutorial discretion." In addition, Lynch also refused to answer whether she agreed with former Attorney General Eric Holder's view that the First Amendment does not provide religious liberty protection to churches and synagogues. A key vote came on the motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on the nomination.
2015-04-28	Requiring Senate Approval of Iran Nuclear Agreement [HR1191]	Rejected (39-57)
Johnson (R-WI) amendment to the Iran Nuclear Agreement bill requires that any agreement reached between the Obama Administration and Iranian government over their nuclear program be deemed a treaty that requires Senate ratification. ACU opposes the Obama Administration's flagrant disdain for the requirements regarding Senate ratification for treaties as detailed in the U.S. Constitution.
2015-05-22	Trade Adjustment Assistance [HR1314]	Rejected (36-62)
Flake (R-AZ) amendment to the Trade Promotion Authority legislation eliminates the extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. ACU opposes this program, which duplicates numerous other federal job training programs.
2015-06-10	Blocking Reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank [HR1735]	Failed (31-65)
Motion to table (kill) the Kirk (R-IL) amendment to the Defense authorization bill reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank. This Depression-era bureaucracy primarily helps a select few multi-billion dollar corporations increase their international business. ACU opposes this crony-capitalist policy, which gives foreign airline companies discounted loan rates to purchase American planes.
2015-06-16	Direct Arming of Iraqi Kurds [HR1735]	Rejected (54-45)
Ernst (R-IA) amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill authorizes the President to provide direct military assistance to the Kurdistan Regional Government. ACU supports helping arm the Iraqi Kurds, who have been a consistent ally of the United States and are helping us fight the terrorist organization ISIS (60 votes were required for passage).
2015-07-08	School Choice [S1177]	Rejected (45-52)
Alexander (R-TN) amendment to the No Child Left Behind overhaul bill provides $24 billion in grants to low income families. These grants can help a student pay tuition for a private school or help supplement a public school student's budget.
2015-09-22	Late-Term Abortion Restrictions [HR36]	Rejected (54-42)
This motion invokes cloture (ends debate) on the bill, allowing the Senate to vote on the bill. This bill prohibits abortions where the probable age of the fetus is 20 weeks or older, but includes exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
2015-10-30	Changing the Rules on Spending [HR1314]	Agreed To (64-35)
The Senate voted on a Cornyn (R-TX) motion to waive all points of order against increasing the budget caps. This was the critical vote that allowed the Senate to increase spending over the agreed-upon limits. ACU supports sticking to the budget plan approved by Congress and signed by the President.
2015-10-30	Two-Year Obama Budget Deal [HR1314]	Agreed To (64-35)
This bill busts the budget caps Congress had voted for, increasing the caps by $50 billion in Fiscal Year 2016 and by $30 billion in Fiscal Year 2017. The bill also suspends the debt limit until March 15, 2017. ACU supports the budget caps as the only brake on federal spending, which has now reached $19 trillion.
2015-11-04	Disapproving the Waters of the United States Rule [SJRES22]	Passed (53-44)
This resolution invokes the Congressional Review Act to disapprove of the EPA's Waters of the United States rule which changed the definition of "navigable waterways" to cover every small body of water in the country, even down to a drainage ditch. ACU opposes this attempt by the EPA to control privately owned property.
2015-11-17	Disapproving Existing Power Plant Emissions Rule [SJRES24]	Passed (52-46)
This resolution invokes the Congressional Review Act to disapprove of the EPA's Existing Power Plant Emissions Rule. ACU opposes the EPA's attempt to use federal executive action to impose the cap and trade plan rejected by Congress in 2010, which will drive up electricity costs for everyone.
2015-12-03	Restoring Planned Parenthood Funding [HR3762]	Rejected (48-52)
Collins (R-ME) Amendment to the Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act removes the provision in the bill that prevents Planned Parenthood from receiving much of its federal funding.
2015-12-03	Obamacare Repeal [HR3762]	Passed (52-47)
The Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act repeals major portions of Obamacare, including penalties for not complying with the mandate to purchase insurance, Medicaid expansion, and subsidies to buy insurance through government-controlled exchanges. The bill also prevents Planned Parenthood from receiving much of its federal funding. ACU supports the repeal of Obamacare, which has given the federal government effective control over America's healthcare system and dramatically increased the cost of health insurance for millions of Americans.
2015-12-18	Omnibus Appropriations [HR2029]	Agreed To (65-33)
This 2,000 plus page bill combines government funding for Fiscal Year 2016 with a House-passed tax bill. Although ACU supported the initial tax bill that created permanent tax breaks for businesses and reigned in the IRS, ACU opposes combining that bill with the omnibus that both busts the budget caps by $50 billion and includes major increases for Obama pet programs while doing nothing to prevent federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

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).