Austin News

On June 11, 2024, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) criticized the Senate Majority Leader for holding election-year show votes on widely supported issues instead of advancing substantive legislation. Cornyn specifically highlighted his bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, which has not been brought to the floor for a vote despite passing the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously 16 months ago.

"The Senate has its first vote of the week coming up in a few minutes, and I’m experiencing a sense of déjà vu," said Cornyn. "This week, the Majority Leader has teed up three votes on President Biden’s nominees, followed by another partisan show vote on in vitro fertilization—another made-up controversy."

Cornyn emphasized his support for in vitro fertilization (IVF), stating, "In vitro fertilization provides hope for couples across the United States who are struggling to grow their families, and it’s helped millions of babies enter this world." He added, "I support IVF, which has been a solution for millions of families struggling with infertility. But, Mr. President, there’s no nationwide threat to the availability of in vitro fertilization, and I’m deeply disappointed—but not surprised—that Democrats are trying to politicize something that enjoys such widespread support."

He further noted that this was not an isolated incident: "After all, this is a third partisan show vote that we’ve had recently. Last week, the Senate voted on a handful of nominees and held another show vote on a nonexistent threat to contraception access." He continued by mentioning previous weeks' activities: "The previous week included votes on several nominees and, this time, another show vote on a partisan border bill that the Majority Leader knew would fail but decided to have a show vote anyway."

Cornyn pointed out the limited legislative calendar ahead: "Including this week, we’re scheduled to be in session for five weeks—five weeks—before adjourning for the August recess. In total, we’re only scheduled to be in session eight weeks before the November election, which is almost five months away."

"There are countless bipartisan bills that deserve a vote by the Senate," he stated. "But the Majority Leader is simply disinterested." Concluding his remarks with criticism of current Senate practices, Cornyn said: "The American people deserve better. This is supposed to be the world’s greatest deliberative body but lately we haven’t had the opportunity to deliberate on anything really of substance."