John Cornyn

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John Cornyn bigraphy, stories - United States Senator from Texas

John Cornyn : biography

February 2, 1952 –

John Cornyn III (born February 2, 1952) is the senior United States Senator for Texas, serving since 2002. He is a member of the Republican Party and the current Senate Minority Whip for the 113th Congress. Cornyn previously served as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee from 2007-2011.

Born in Houston, Texas, Cornyn is a graduate from Trinity University and St. Mary’s University School of Law, receiving his LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Cornyn was a Judge on Texas’ 37th District Court (1985–91), until he was elected Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, where he served 1991 to 1997. In 1998, Cornyn won election for Attorney General of Texas, serving one term until winning a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2002. In 2010 John Cornyn was voted one of the "most conservative congressmen" by the National Journal.

Attorney General

1998 election

In 1998 Cornyn decided to run to become Texas Attorney General. In the March primary, Barry Williamson, Railroad Commissioner, placed first with 38% of the vote but failed to get the 50% threshold necessary to win the Republican nomination. Cornyn, then a state Supreme Court Justice, got second place with 32%.http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=222581 In the April run-off election, Cornyn defeated Williamson 58% to 42%.http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=222670 In the general election, Cornyn defeated Jim Mattox, former attorney general (1983–1991) and U.S. Congressman, with 54% of the vote.http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=95242 Cornyn became only the second Republican to hold the position.

Accomplishments

He created the Texas Internet Bureau to investigate illegal internet practices. He fought against government waste and corruption with his investigation of fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims.http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2002/races/tx_cornyn.html

However, Cornyn was heavily criticized for failing to investigate in a timely manner the notorious false drug convictions of numerous African-Americans in Tulia, Texas. An Austin Chronicle article on September 6, 2002, noted, "After months of criticism from civil rights groups and state and national media, state attorney general and U.S. Senate candidate John Cornyn announced that his office will finally investigate the notorious 1999 drug bust in the Panhandle town of Tulia. In most cases, the testimony of a single narcotics agent led to the arrests of 46 people—43 of whom were black. The accused represented 16% of the town’s black population; 14 still languish in prisons scattered around Texas".http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2002-09-06/101775/

In 2005 Cornyn’s name was mentioned among possibilities to replace Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O’Connor or William Rehnquist.

Electoral history

Political positions

Cornyn was ranked by National Journal as the seventeenth-most conservative United States Senator in their 2008 rankings. He was considered by the The Dallas Morning News to be a reliable ally of former President George W. Bush on most issues., The Dallas Morning News June 13, 2006

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…Now 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.

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. 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 "A" by the National Rifle Association. 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.