john cornyn

IRS Out of Control, Cornyn Says

Trey Shaar, KUT News and Nathan Bernier, KUT News — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:11:06 +0000

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the FBI's criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service could include potential civil rights violations, false statements and potential violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in some partisan political activities.

President Obama is meeting with Treasury officials today to discuss the IRS targeting of conservative groups for special review.

Cornyn: Flight Delays Are Politics

Trey Shaar, KUT News — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:49:34 +0000

Travelers are facing more flight delays around the country and here in Austin because of budget cuts forcing air traffic controllers to take time off.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has accused the Federal Aviation Administration of “deliberately engineering flight delays and inconveniencing passengers and creating hardship just in order to try to make a political point.”

Cornyn, McCaul Call for Standards for Measuring Border Security

Laura Rice, KUT News — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:04:00 +0000

Texas lawmakers in Washington want the Department of Homeland Security to define what successful border security means.

Today, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Austin) filed legislation that would require the department to set metrics for achievement and solutions for reaching those standards.

Cornyn says it’s an important step to take in immigration reform.

Cornyn: Mexico Owes Us Water

Nathan Bernier, KUT News — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:39:38 +0000

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn says Texas farmers and ranchers in the Rio Grande Valley are suffering because Mexico is not delivering water it owes the United States under a treaty signed in 1944.

Cornyn, is asking an international commission to intervene and require that Mexico divert water from the Rio Grande to Texas.

For Cornyn, Right Turn Could Be Defensive Play

Emily Ramshaw, Texas Tribune — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:39:35 +0000

After more than a decade representing blood-red Texas in the U.S. Senate, John Cornyn finds himself in an unusual spot: burnishing his conservative credentials.

One would think the senior Texas senator’s reputation would be secure: Cornyn, who has ascended to minority whip, spent two election cycles as chairman of the Senate’s Republican campaign fundraising arm, and National Journal last week ranked him second in its 2012 list of the most conservative senators.

Senators Cornyn, Cruz Join Call to Withdraw Hagel Nomination

Ben Philpott, KUT News — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:59:09 +0000

U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and 14 other Senators sent a letter to President Obama today, calling on the President to withdraw Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense.

The letter is signed by Sens. Cornyn, Inhofe (R-OK), Graham (R-SC), Wicker (R-MS), Vitter (R-LA), Cruz (R-TX), Lee (R-UT), Toomey (R-PA), Rubio (R-FL), Coats (R-IN), R. Johnson (R - WI), Risch (R-ID), Barrasso (R-WY), Coburn (R-OK), and Scott (R-SC).

Cornyn Calls for Stricter Immigration Enforcement, Opposes Amnesty

Mark Dewey — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:32:12 +0000

With President Obama and some legislators from both parties pushing immigration reform, Texas’s Sen. John Cornyn says he does not support a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s immigration laws.

Instead, he advocates stricter enforcement of existing laws.

Sen. Cornyn Calls on FBI to Release Ft. Hood Shooting Report

Wells Dunbar, KUT News — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 19:51:26 +0000

U.S. Senator John Cornyn has called for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to release its report into the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that left 13 dead. The FBI tells KUT News it will do so as soon as possible.

This morning, Sen. Cornyn issued a statement referring to a story from FOX News stating the report will “include eighteen (18) formal recommendations for corrective and enhancing measures on matters ranging from FBI policies and operations to information systems infrastructure, review protocols and training."

“This report is a matter of tremendous public importance, and I call on you to release an unclassified version of it as soon as possible,” Cornyn writes to FBI Director Robert Mueller. “ … The key findings and recommendations of this report must be made public, so we can glean any and all lessons from this incident. The American people and specifically the Fort Hood community in Texas have the right to know.”

Texas Legislators Sound Off on SOPA Blackout

Wells Dunbar, KUT News — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:03:34 +0000

With the sponsor of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) hailing from Texas, and Austin being a high-tech hub, there’s been plenty of local reaction to the internet blackout in protest of SOPA and the accompanying Protect Intellectual Property Act. We have reactions from several Texas lawmakers on the bills:

Sen. John Cornyn writes on his Facebook page that “Texans have soundly rejected the ‘pass now, learn later’ approach that we saw with Obamacare, and the potential impact of this legislation is too far-reaching to ram it through Congress in such an abrupt way. Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about the internet and free speech necessitate a more thoughtful, deliberative process.” This isn’t the first time Cornyn’s been pressed on the issue, as SOPA-opposed constituents met with his office earlier this week.

John Cornyn Predicts Texas Primaries Will Be Delayed Again

Wells Dunbar, KUT News — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:56:09 +0000

Sen. John Cornyn suggested yesterday that Texas many not be ready to hold its primaries on April 3.

While the political prognostication isn’t terribly surprising, considering the twists and turns the primary calendar has taken, it does have people wondering when elections will be held in Texas.

Austin Takes Case Against Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) to John Cornyn

Wells Dunbar, KUT News — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:00:50 +0000

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has provoked a firestorm of controversy online.

Ostensibly drafted to crack down on piracy of films, music, and other items illicitly traded online, SOPA proponents like the Motion Picture Association of America argue the law will protect intellectual property. But opponents of the bill fear the legislation will effectively cripple the Internet by targeting the hosts of user-generated websites like YouTube instead of the offending uploaders; hoist huge legal uncertainties and liabilities onto websites and start-ups; and create potential security threats in the way it redirects traffic from so-called “rogue” websites.

The proposed SOPA legislation, introduced by Texas Rep.Lamar Smith, is a big deal in tech-savvy Austin. Today, members of Austin’s tech community are making the case to Sen. John Cornyn’s office that SOPA is a bad bill.

Obama to Visit Dallas Suburbs

Nathan Bernier, KUT News — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:02:53 +0000

President Barack Obama is coming to Texas today to promote a $450 billion proposal that he says will create 2 million new jobs and revive America’s sagging infrastructure: the American Jobs Act. The White House sent us this excerpt of the speech he’s going to deliver at Eastfield College in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite:

Austinite Could Become First Openly Gay US Attorney in Texas

Nathan Bernier, KUT News — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:54:34 +0000

Texas may get its first openly gay U.S. attorney. The San Antonio Express-News reports President Obama is set to nominate U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Lee Pitman of Austin as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, an area that stretches from El Paso to Austin.

Texas Lawmakers React To Shooting Of US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Nathan Bernier, KUT News — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:43:41 +0000

Updated at 6:44 pm: Texas lawmakers are reacting with shock to a shooting in Tuscon, AZ that killed at least five people including US District Judge John Roll and critically injured US Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. NPR reports the suspected gunman has been taken into custody.

Giffords, who was re-elected to a third term in November, was hosting a "Congress on Your Corner" event at a Safeway in northwest Tucson when a gunman ran up and started shooting, according to Peter Michaels, news director of Arizona Public Media.
The suspect fired indiscriminately from about four feet away, Michaels said. A congressional official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the gunman was using an automatic weapon.

US Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) was with Giffords the day before the shooting to discuss the healthcare repeal.

"You know what she was doing is basically the same thing I do on a regular basis throughout Central Texas," Doggett told KUT News in a phone interview.