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SEN JOHN CORNYN: Congress must reimburse Texas for Biden’s border security malpractice

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 05:00:29 -0400

The government’s most basic duty is to keep its citizens safe. President Joe Biden woefully neglected to fulfill this obligation, allowing our borders to be overrun by millions of unvetted illegal immigrants, criminal aliens and cartels smuggling deadly synthetic opioids.

Far from Washington, border states like Texas were left to suffer the consequences. Texas spent billions of dollars on Operation Lone Star in an attempt to abate this catastrophe.

We all owe Gov. Greg Abbott a debt of gratitude for doing what the Biden administration wouldn’t, but we also owe Texas a monetary debt. Now the bill is due: it’s time for the federal government to pay Texas taxpayers back.

From the moment he arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, President Biden reversed the previous administration’s successful immigration policies: he ended President Donald Trump’s "Remain in Mexico" policy; directed DHS to halt construction of the border wall, instead using federal funds to store wall materials; and ended Title 42, the COVID-era policy that was our last line of defense against the migrant surge.

TRUMP’S DESIGNATION OF CARTELS AS TERRORISTS ENDS THE FICTION THAT MEXICO IS A TRUSTWORTHY ALLY

President Biden oversaw a crisis on our southern border that far surpassed illegal migration numbers from prior decades. In Biden’s four years, CBP encountered over 10 million illegal immigrants. More than 1.7 million known gotaways evaded Border Patrol entirely and are freely roaming somewhere in the interior of our country.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans died from overdose of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, a drug manufactured with Chinese precursor chemicals and smuggled through our open border by drug cartels. Innocent Americans such as Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray died at the hands of illegal migrant criminals.

Despite the immigration authorities that were already available to President Biden, he threw up his hands, claiming that there was nothing more he could do – all while his Homeland Security secretary reassured the public that the border was "secure." But facts don’t lie. The whole world knew America’s borders were wide open.

This tragic crisis was felt most acutely in Texas. My state shares the longest border with Mexico, and with the president missing in action in the midst of a disaster, Gov. Abbott had to intervene.

IF WE CAN’T DEPORT ILLEGALS, HERE'S HOW WE CAN MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO STAY

Under Operation Lone Star, Texas law enforcement apprehended over half a million illegal immigrants, including more than 50,000 criminal arrests. They built more than 240 miles of border barriers, seized over half a billion deadly doses of fentanyl and reduced illegal immigration into Texas by 87%, according to the governor. However, these efforts cost upwards of $11 billion, a pretty penny for Texans to pay for the basic safety and security that the federal government owes its people.

If there is any lingering question that President Biden’s policies are to blame for the mess we saw at our southern border, consider President Trump’s swift success in reversing the damage. As soon he was elected and even before he took office, the migrant flows began to subside.

In the first two weeks of 2025, CBP encounters were nearly 50% lower than they were at the same point in 2021, at the start of the Biden administration. In President Trump’s first 100 days in office, daily border encounters decreased by 95%.

I REPRESENT A BORDER DISTRICT THAT WAS SWAMPED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. WHAT I'M SEEING NOW MIGHT SURPRISE YOU

This dramatic sea change resulted from President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s commonsense policies. On day one, President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border. He ended President Biden’s "catch and release" policy and reinstated his own tried-and-tested "Remain in Mexico" policy. ICE arrests have increased by more than 600%, while arrests of criminal migrants have doubled.

The Trump administration’s policies are a welcome change from the past four years of disaster under the Biden administration. But the damage Texas experienced and the financial sacrifice we made for the good of the country must be fully repaid.

The federal government under President Biden created this crisis, and Congress must rectify it. Texans have had to bear the brunt of open borders, rampant crime and deadly fentanyl for four years, costing the state billions of dollars to fill in for our absentee commander in chief.

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In late January, Gov. Abbott asked Congress to reimburse Texas for the $11.1 billion that Texas taxpayers spent. I immediately began working in partnership with President Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Texas Republicans in the House, to ensure Congress fulfills this request through the reconciliation bill, also known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill."

Texas Republicans make up the largest Republican delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives; thus the speaker could not pass a bill without support from this key voting bloc. It was unacceptable that the initial text of the legislation released by the House did not reimburse Texas.

But thanks to coordinating efforts with Congressman Chip Roy, R-Texas, language to reimburse states like Texas was added to the legislation during the amendment process, and the House passed these provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill.

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The next hurdle is to shepherd our reimbursement provisions through the Senate. I will continue working with Leader Thune, Gov. Abbott and President Trump to ensure the Senate includes even stronger language in the One Big Beautiful Bill and that Texas specifically will be rightfully repaid for Operation Lone Star. I will continue fighting to ensure this language remains in the final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill that will go to the president’s desk.

The road to victory is long, but if there’s one thing us Texans know how to do it’s to stay the course and defy the odds. President Biden abdicated his responsibility as commander in chief at the southern border. It’s now up to Congress to reverse the damage and make Texas taxpayers whole.

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What does Biden have to hide on the border?

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 08:00:34 -0400

The crisis at the southern border continues to grow. I’m sure you’ve seen the grim statistics. More than 6.2 million migrants have illegally crossed the southern border since President Biden took office. On top of that, at least 1.5 million "gotaways" evaded law enforcement entirely. Detention facilities are beyond capacity, the immigration court backlog has skyrocketed, and deportations are at the lowest level in decades. When I visited Texas’ southern border last week, it was clear that Border Patrol agents are exhausted, discouraged, and frustrated beyond measure. It’s easy to see why.

While these data points highlight the chaos that President Biden’s failed border policies created, they only tell part of the story.

This administration’s goal has never been to fix the border crisis but to simply hide the evidence. To that end, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has tried to "legalize" illegal immigration by funneling migrants into unlawful release – or as they say in immigration law jargon, "parole" – programs it created, and we have no idea how many or what kind of people are entering the United States through this boondoggle.

BORDER PATROL AGENTS RELEASED OVER 900,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS INTO US LAST FISCAL YEAR

Earlier this year, the Biden administration created a program that allows migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter and remain in the United States legally for two years and receive nearly instant work authorization. The Biden administration took this major step without the consent of Congress, acting unilaterally to offer work status for up to 360,000 people a year.

The administration also expanded a program meant to help certain vulnerable children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, by allowing parents and relatives of those children to enter or remain in the United States.

There’s no comprehensive public data on the number of people enrolled into these programs, how many of them have their status renewed, and whether they ultimately (or ever) depart the United States.

On an even larger scale, these benefits aren’t limited to individuals from specific countries – people from around the world have been released into the U.S. by utilizing the administration’s CBP One app. So far, the administration has released more than 266,000 migrants who scheduled appointments through the app. This includes individuals from Iran, China, Russia, and other adversaries around the globe. Are these hundreds of thousands of individuals included in the monthly tally of border crossings? We simply don’t know.

When these programs can’t be used to sweep rising border encounters under the rug, DHS is engaging in widespread catch and release under the sympathetic label of "humanitarian release." It’s unclear who qualifies for catch and release, what sort of screening is taking place, how many of these migrants are even claiming asylum, or how widespread this practice is.

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There’s a lot we don’t know, but one thing is certain: the Biden administration has gone to great lengths to cook the books and conceal the record levels of illegal migration it has enabled. Something must change, and we need insight into what the Biden administration is doing.

This week, I’ll introduce the Southern Border Transparency Act to force the Biden administration to make this data public. The American people have a right to know how many migrants are being released into the United States by this administration.

My bill requires DHS to reveal the details of its shady catch-and-release practices. How many migrants are being released into the country, and where are they coming from? How many receive work authorization? Do they leave when their "parole" ends? How many are placed in expedited removal proceedings, and how many are actually removed? How many claim asylum before they are released into the interior? The administration must answer these questions.

This is about transparency. If Congress hopes to do anything meaningful to address the border crisis, we need facts. We need a full accounting of the border crisis – not the doctored ledger we have today.

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So far, my bill has more than 20 Republican co-sponsors. This is a simple, straightforward measure that would ensure the American people have an accurate picture of President Biden’s border policies.

If the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress believe these release programs and DHS’s handling of migrants apprehended at the border are above board, they should have nothing to hide.

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Time to get America's fiscal house in order: Here are the first steps

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 10:00:36 -0500

The national debt is $31.5 trillion and counting. If it were divided among all income taxpayers, each person would be on the hook for nearly $250,000.

Will we ever be in a situation where the average taxpayer receives a quarter-million-dollar bill from the U.S. government? Not a chance. But it’s startling to see how much debt the United States has taken on, and even more jarring to realize there’s no plan to address it.

Making matters worse, we’re quickly approaching an alarming deadline. Unless action is taken soon, the U.S. will default on its debts in the coming months, sending our wobbly economy into a full-blown spiral.

This looming crisis didn’t pop up out of nowhere. The U.S. narrowly avoided a debt crisis in 2021, but we’ve been moving toward this unavoidable reality for years. Out-of-control spending habits have driven the national debt from $3.2 trillion in 1980, to $9.7 trillion in 2000, to $31.5 trillion today.

BIDEN IS DERELICT IN HIS DUTY ON THE DEBT LIMIT. IT'S TIME FOR HIM TO STEP UP AND GET IN THE GAME

Washington can’t continue to borrow and spend like there’s no tomorrow. It’s time to address the root causes that brought us here.

First, Congress needs to return to regular order in funding the government each fiscal year. It must abandon the habit of stopgap funding bills and last-minute omnibuses and pass regular, on-time appropriations bills.

The Senate and House Appropriations Committees are charged with writing 12 separate bills to fund different components of the federal government prior to Sept. 30, the end of the government’s fiscal year. That didn’t happen in 2022 or 2021. The Democrat-led Senate did not pass a single regular appropriations bill and instead used stopgap funding measures to keep the wheels of government turning while they compiled a massive spending bill. All of this happened in a rushed fashion, completely out of the public’s view.

This is a maddening way to fund the government, and it’s time for change. Public hearings, debates and votes on individual appropriations bills are the only path forward. Temporary funding legislation and 4,000-page appropriation bills are not the picture of responsible governing.

Next, we need to reform spending. There’s bipartisan agreement that entitlements, which account for nearly two-thirds of the federal budget, are unsustainable in their current form. Projections show Social Security recipients will see a reduction of almost 25% in their benefits if we do nothing – an unacceptable outcome. It’s time for tough conversations and significant reforms to protect the longevity of these programs for the people who need them most. Sen. Mitt Romney’s, R-Utah, Trust Act, which seeks to rescue the Social Security Trust Fund, is a great starting point for these conversations.

DEMOCRATS PUSH TO ELIMINATE THE DEBT CEILING, ALLOW UNLIMITED GOVERNMENT BORROWING

Finally, Congress should pass a balanced budget amendment – similar to ones I’ve authored and voted for previously – to make clear that the government can’t spend more than it takes in. There’s real-world evidence that balanced budget requirements work. Virtually every state in the nation has one, including Texas, which just started its legislative session with a $33 billion surplus. States, families and businesses across the country have no choice but to operate on a balanced budget. The federal government should do the same.

There are a range of other measures Congress can take to address the financial fire that’s raging.

Congress should ban earmarks to ensure critical funding bills are not a playground for quid pro quo. I’ve opposed the use of earmarks and voted to strip them out of the most recent omnibus bill.

Senate Republicans have offered a laundry list of bills to restore order and accountability in federal spending.

Sen. Mike Braun’s, R-Ind., No Budget, No Pay Act would suspend pay for members of the House and Senate if Congress fails to pass a budget or spending bills on time.

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Sen, Mike Lee’s, R-Utah, CBO Show Your Work Act would require the Congressional Budget Office to publish the data and models it uses analyze the cost of legislation.

If government funding is not enacted on time, Sen. James Lankford’s, R-Okla., Prevent Government Shutdowns Act would force Congress to stay in session until funding agreements are reached, and ensure the government stays open until that happens.

These are just a few of the countless proposals Senate Republicans have put forward that deserve serious consideration.

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President Biden needs to ditch his head-in-the-sand approach to this crisis and work with Republicans to get our financial house in order. He was in the room when Congress negotiated the 2011 Budget Control Act, which was the last meaningful attempt to restrain Washington spending. If the president wants to lead, this is his chance.

The national debt will haunt every generation until enough leaders show the courage to make tough choices and fix this mess. There’s never been a more important time for action. I encourage my colleagues to join me in this process.

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Biden administration letting southern border crisis rage on

Mon, 09 May 2022 05:00:40 -0400

The American people are increasingly concerned about public safety, and it’s easy to see why. A spike in murder rates led to the deadliest year on record for many major cities last year. For the first time on record, more than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses during a 12-month period. And it seems like headlines are dominated by subway attacks, gang shootouts, and other terrifying incidents.

Drugs. Crime. Violence. This is not the rosy picture the American people were promised in the last election.

When looking at the factors that fuel concerns about violence – and our ability to mitigate it – we can’t ignore the crisis along our southern border.

BIDEN CUTS TITLE 42 DEAL TO REMOVE CUBANS, NICARAGUANS WHILE AIMING TO END TRUMP ASYLUM RULE

Over the past year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has encountered a record-breaking 2.2 million migrants along the southern border. While the majority of those individuals do not pose a security threat to the American people, the chaos of mass migration does. When Border Patrol agents are outnumbered and overwhelmed, it opens gateways for truly dangerous criminals and substances to move across our border undetected.

Last fall, we saw a stunning example of how this happens. In a matter of days, more than 15,000 migrants arrived at the border in Del Rio, Texas. Administration officials later told Congressional staff that this massive surge was a coordinated effort by the cartels, who directed migrants to a single location, so law enforcement personnel from other areas would be relocated, clearing a path for their illicit trade corridor. The plan worked perfectly.

Cartels and criminal organizations are commodity agnostic – they deal in any illicit practice that turns a profit. They dupe vulnerable migrants into paying thousands of dollars a head to make the dangerous journey north. They smuggle guns that could end up on the streets in any city in America. And they traffic prolific amounts of drugs.

Every day, marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and a range of dangerous drugs pour across the southern border. In the first three months of this year alone, CBP seized more than 150,000 pounds of drugs. These drugs do more than fuel the overdose epidemic – they also catalyze even more crime and violence in America including everything from violence between gangs who sell drugs, to robberies by addicts who need money.

Cartels and criminal organizations aren’t just smuggling their products into the United States – they’re also trying to send their people. While overall border encounters skyrocketed during the 2021 Fiscal Year, the number of gang members apprehended by Border Patrol actually decreased. At first glance this seems like great news, but the data doesn’t provide a full picture of what’s actually happening. Border Patrol officials have explicitly said that gang members exploit migration surges in an attempt to evade arrest. In other words: record levels of migration provide an excellent disguise for gang members.

ӣ��Ƶ reported that since last October, more than 300,000 migrants have evaded Border Patrol, though the actual figure may be significantly higher. There’s no way of knowing who those people are or what they may have trafficked into our country.

American families are already deeply concerned about violent crime, and the Biden administration seems content to let the crisis rage on. The president has even attempted to end the use of Title 42 – one of the few tools it has to avoid even more chaos at the border.

Rather than take any sort of productive action to address the border crisis, the Biden administration has consistently tried to play the blame game. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently claimed the Administration "inherited a broken and dismantled system." There’s no question our immigration system is in need of reforms, but it must be noted that the Biden administration is playing on the same field as previous administrations.

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President Biden has had 15 months to use his authorities to address the border crisis or, better yet, work with Congress on a legislative solution. I’ve repeatedly offered my Bipartisan Border Solutions Act as a starting point for negotiations. The bill already has bipartisan, bicameral support, but the Biden administration has refused to engage, and instead published a plan that fails to invest the resources necessary to deter mass migration.

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The humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border will not go away on its own, and Congress cannot undertake broader immigration reforms until the border crisis has been addressed.

While the American people fear crime and violence, cartels and criminal organizations get rich off the chaos at our southern border. The Biden administration can’t continue to allow the border to act as a corridor for drugs and criminals to reach our communities.

Sen. John Cornyn: Dems' election power grab – here's how Republicans fighting partisan assaults on voting

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 07:00:10 -0400

Last month, Senate Republicans unanimously rejected the most brazen partisan power grab by either political party in modern memory.

The election overhaul legislation Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tried to ram through the Senate perverts the cause of voter access to hand one party unassailable political power. It alters the makeup of the bipartisan Federal Election Commission to give the Democratic Party an advantage. It gives political candidates federal funding to run television ads and buy yard signs. It takes away states’ power to outline their own congressional districts.

And it creates countless opportunities for fraud by allowing paid campaign operatives to collect ballots, tying states’ hands when it comes to maintaining accurate voter rolls, and preventing states from requiring identification to vote.

REP. RON ESTES: BIDEN'S ECONOMIC CRISIS – HIS WASTEFUL SPENDING WILL CRUSH RECOVERY. HERE'S WHAT WE HAVE TO DO

The reforms in this bill are not only out of line with the views of Republicans – they’re way out of line with the views of the American people.

The majority of Americans believe ballot harvesting should be illegal. They think states should be able to remove inaccurate or duplicate registrations from voter rolls. And they support voter ID laws, which are among the most common safeguards against fraud. Democrats not only disagree with the majority of Americans on each of these points – they’re trying to implement policies that do the opposite.

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This bill was described using feel-good phrases like protecting the right to vote and strengthening our democracy. It even has a rosy name – the "For the People Act." Democrats presented this legislation as the savior for what they describe as "the most sweeping attack on the right to vote since the beginning of Jim Crow." But the facts tell a different story.

States across the country have passed laws to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat, and Democrats have slandered these laws as racist forms of voter suppression. They conveniently ignore the fact that many of these reforms make it easier to cast a ballot in red states than blue states.

The Georgia law, for example, expanded early in-person voting to 17 days. President Biden’s home state of Delaware won’t even offer early voting until 2022 and even then, voters will only have 10 days. Georgians have more time to request a mail-in ballot than New Yorkers. And they don’t even have to have a reason for voting absentee.

The voter suppression myth is just that – a myth. Voters turned out in record numbers for the 2020 election. Two-thirds of eligible voters cast a ballot, leading to the highest turnout in 120 years. This included a higher turnout for Black, White, Hispanic and Asian American voters.

Democrats continue to ignore, misrepresent or downright lie about the facts to justify a federal takeover of the election system. In fact, there’s already another bill waiting in the queue. This legislation is framed as a more moderate proposal, but it’s no less brazen.

The Justice Department has the authority to take action against any state that discriminates on the basis of race, color or membership in a language minority group. That has been the case for more than half a century, through Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Democrats want to vastly expand that authority, virtually handing control of state election laws to the federal government.

Once again, the facts do not support such radical overreach. In the entire eight years of the Obama administration, the Justice Department only filed four enforcement cases under Section 2.

Make no mistake – there’s no national assault on voting rights. But the Democratic Party has waged an unmistakable war on states’ constitutional power to regulate their own elections. The first attempt failed, but Democrats will soon try to do through the back door what they failed to do through the front door.

The Democratic Party’s goal isn’t to reform our voting laws to increase participation – that’s the excuse. The goal, in fact, is to radically change our electoral system in a way that tilts the scales toward Democrats and gives them a permanent governing majority.

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Just as we’ve seen with debates about the filibuster, court packing and proposals for new states, Democrats have a tried and true strategy – if you can’t win the game, try to change the rules.

The Senate already rejected one partisan assault on our nation’s election laws. When it’s time for the second attempt, we will do the same.

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Sen. John Cornyn: Biden's risky nuclear strategy – there's a smarter way to deal with Russia and China

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 06:00:29 -0500

Russia’s nuclear capabilities have caused grave concern to every American president dating back to Harry Truman. Over the past several decades, various treaties – some more effective than others – have sought to restrict the size of our respective nuclear arsenals and limit the expansion of the arms race.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is the only surviving bilateral arms control treaty with Russia, and it’s set to expire in a matter of days.

Last fall, the Trump administration advocated for a one-year extension of New START with the condition that both countries would cap nuclear warheads during that period. Unsurprisingly, Russia preferred a clean five-year extension.

JAMES CARAFANO: BURMA'S LESSONS FOR BIDEN – HERE'S HOW HE SHOULD HANDLE MILITARY THUGS WHO STAGED COUP

Russian President Vladimir Putin delayed the final stages of talks in hopes that a potential Biden administration would strike a deal more favorable to Russia. It appears Putin hedged his bets correctly.

Following a call between President Biden and Putin, the White House announced that the U.S. and Russia are set to extend New START for five years with no conditions attached. Put simply, the Biden administration is only rewarding Russia for its hostile actions against the U.S. and our allies.

From the beginning, New START was deeply flawed. The treaty limits the number of bombers each nation can possess, but places no limit on the number of warheads each bomber can support.

Making matters worse, the limits only apply to strategic – not tactical – weapons. Russia has taken advantage of this loophole, amassing some 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons compared with the United States’ 500.

Russia’s nuclear doctrine signals its growing willingness to use tactical nuclear weapons in a conflict, and Putin will undoubtedly use the next five years under New START to cement Russia’s advantage over the U.S. Once that happens, the likelihood of Russia deploying and ultimately using these weapons will be even higher.

Of course, the challenges posed by Russia extend beyond a numbers game. Experience has proven that Russia isn’t one to play by the rules.

Last fall, the Kremlin attempted to poison Putin opponent Aleksey Navalny. Russia has launched massive cyberattacks against private companies and government agencies alike – the latest being the SolarWinds Hack. And last year, it attempted to steal coronavirus vaccine data from the U.S. and some of our closest allies.

In short, Russia doesn’t like to play by the rules, and New START does little to prevent further cheating.

As unreliable and untrustworthy as Russia is, the risks it poses pale in comparison to those of the biggest nuclear X factor – China.

China argues that its nuclear force is small and poses no threat to the global order, but the thick cloak of secrecy surrounding the Chinese Communist Party makes it nearly impossible to verify information about its nuclear capabilities.

China is estimated to have about 300 nuclear weapons, which is not an insignificant threat, nor is China’s pursuit of a "nuclear triad." In May 2019, then-Director for the Defense Intelligence Agency Robert Ashley estimated China will at least double the size of its nuclear stockpile over the next decade.

The five nuclear states recognized by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are the U.S., Russia, United Kingdom, France and China. As part of New START, the U.S. conducts regular inspections of Russian sites. And both France and the U.K. provide regular data on the size and makeup of their nuclear arsenals, with approximately 290 and 215 nuclear weapons, respectively.

If the estimate of China’s nuclear capabilities is correct, China is the third most powerful nuclear state in the world, and there are virtually no measures in place to hold it accountable. A clean extension of New START leaves in place a framework in which the Chinese are absent, the Russians cheat, and the United States is left abiding by the rules of a foregone era.

The U.S. must pursue a more comprehensive approach to arms reduction that includes bringing China to the table. Rather than enter a five-year extension of New START, the administration should invite the five nuclear states to the negotiating table and use its leverage to get Beijing to agree to multilateral talks aimed at limiting the growth of nuclear arsenals globally.

A multilateral treaty is the only practical solution to the modern nuclear threat landscape. Together, the global nuclear powers must take action to prevent China’s arsenal from growing even further, and ensure each of these countries is abiding by its commitment, made by 189 states that are party to the NPT, to achieve nuclear disarmament.

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President Biden has a critical decision to make, but certainly not a difficult one. Will he maintain the Cold War-era approach to nuclear disarmament? Or will he address new security challenges through a comprehensive approach to modern security challenges?

This is not the time to enter a costly arms race, or relinquish our negotiating leverage. American leadership has never been more important.

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Senators Cornyn, Rubio, Young: It's time for action against Iran

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 13:57:00 -0500

“Action,” Mark Twain once observed, “speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.” Unfortunately, this observation aptly describes the last administration’s Iran policy.

In April 2015, as President Obama tried to sell the deeply flawed Iran nuclear agreement to Congress and the American people, he vowed that “[o]ther American sanctions on Iran for its support of terrorism, its human rights abuses, its ballistic missile program, will continue to be fully enforced.”

Yet the Obama administration responded to Iran’s escalating ballistic missile activities, support for terrorism and other rogue regimes, and human rights abuses with inaction.

This has encouraged Iran—whose government is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan—to continue and even escalate its destabilization efforts, threatening the United States and our allies.

In fact, Iran defiantly continues to test ballistic missiles, most recently last weekend. Iran’s challenge to the new administration underscores the immediate need for a tougher U.S. policy.

To reverse this dangerous dynamic, the new administration and Congress should start imposing serious consequences on Iran. That’s why we recently introduced the Iran Non-Nuclear Sanctions Act to impose severe financial and economic sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile violations, human rights abuses, and support for terrorism.

Iran’s continued development of its ballistic missile program illustrates why tough words from the Obama administration were not enough—and why Congress and the White House should adopt this legislation without delay.

Iran, thanks in part to assistance from North Korea and Russian entities over the years, possesses the Middle East’s largest and most formidable ballistic missile arsenal—an arsenal that already threatens our forward deployed troops, Israel, and our other allies in the region.

This reality explains why General Martin Dempsey, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned in July 2015 that “under no circumstances should we relieve the pressure on Iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities[.]” Yet, relieving the pressure was exactly what both the Iran nuclear deal and the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 did.

After Iran predictably fired ballistic missiles in late 2015, the Obama administration responded belatedly in January 2016 by issuing tough statements and imposing weak sanctions that amounted to little more than a symbolic slap on the wrist.

Not surprisingly, the regime in Tehran was not impressed, and responded by escalating ballistic missile development and testing. In fact, a few months later, Iran provocatively fired two ballistic missiles with the phrase “Israel must be wiped out” emblazoned in Hebrew on the side.

Such Iranian provocations are disconcerting for our allies in Israel, but Americans should not view Iran’s ballistic missile program as solely a regional threat. Our intelligence community believes that Tehran would utilize “ballistic missiles as its preferred method of delivering nuclear weapons,” and that Iran’s progress on space launch vehicles provides Tehran with the means to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that could eventually deliver a nuclear weapon to the United States.

Reflecting a broader failure of foreign policy, the previous administration also did not impose sufficient consequences on Iran for its support for terrorism and abuse of human rights. As a result, leaders in Tehran— and also in Moscow, Beijing, Damascus, and Pyongyang— came to view the U.S. as a paper tiger that often responds to belligerent activities by roaring loudly and going back to sleep.

Our values and national security interests, as well as the safety of Americans and our allies, demand action. We should not sit idly by and pretend the status quo is acceptable as Iran continues to strengthen its ballistic missile arsenal and support terrorists.

We welcome the statements by President Trump and National Security Advisor Flynn with respect to Iran’s ballistic missile program. It is time to take action with respect to Iran’s growing missile threats, terrorism support, and human rights abuses. That’s why we introduced the Iran Non-Nuclear Sanctions Act, and why we call on lawmakers of both parties to join us in seeking its passage and sending it to the president for his signature.

Republican Todd Young represents Indiana in the United States Senate.

Sen. John Cornyn: In 2015, new Senate majority delivered for the nation

Mon, 28 Dec 2015 11:59:00 -0500

Congress is often characterized as a place of partisan bickering and gridlock—where debate and partisan rancor is widespread, but little is actually accomplished. Too often, this assessment has proven accurate. But last fall, the American people decided to change that, sending a Republican majority to the U.S. Senate. Since January, and under Republican leadership, the Senate has delivered on our promise to pass legislation to help American families, grow our economy, and keep us safe.

At the beginning of the 114th Congress, I introduced the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act—legislation aimed at defeating the scourge of human trafficking in this country. Human trafficking is a horrendous practice that, tragically, can be found in every state. Fortunately, members in both parties, and in both Chambers, understood the great need to urgently fight this reprehensible practice.

Legislators from across the political spectrum united under a common cause: to help victims of modern-day slavery recover and rebuild their lives. In the spring, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act passed with 99 votes in the Senate, and paved the way for these brave survivors—some young children—to find a path to healing. It’s now the law of the land.

Congress also tackled major issues concerning our national security. This fall, both Chambers overwhelmingly passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA is integral to ensuring that our military is resourced, trained and ready for action when called upon.

And in the wake of several serious security breaches of federal government computer servers over the summer—and the brazen theft of the personal information of millions of Americans—the clear need for robust cyber security legislation became even more apparent. So, the Senate passed the Cyber Information Sharing Act to give the public and private sectors the tools to act more nimbly when attacks are detected.

We’ve also passed legislation to grow our economy not just for today, but for years down the road. In June, Congress passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation. TPA is a blueprint for pending and future trade negotiations—one that ensures that American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers get the best deal possible. By setting the ground rules on agreements with countries in Asia, Latin America, and Europe, TPA opens doors of opportunity to our country’s businesses around the world, and is essential to growing our economy.

But perhaps the most significant achievement was confronting entrenched policy problems that proved too divisive or complicated to tackle in the past.

In April, Congress came together to bring about much-needed reform to the payment system for doctors who treat Medicare patients. The legislation preserved seniors’ access to care, and ended years of uncertainty for physicians.

Congress also passed the first significant education reform since 2001. The Every Student Succeeds Act ensures that parents, teachers, and local school boards will hold the reins to their children’s education, not the federal government.

And for the first time in more than a decade, Congress passed a multi-year transportation bill—the result of hard work across party lines over the course of this year. Passage of this bill marked an end to years of short-term extensions, and will allow states the freedom and flexibility to plan for and deliver major transportation and infrastructure projects across the country. This will help make our nation’s transportation system safer and more efficient, and lays the groundwork for even greater economic growth.

Last fall, Republicans set the bar high for the new Senate majority. We pledged to get back to work, and to create and pass substantive pieces of legislation. We did that, and proved that inaction didn’t have to be the norm. Effective governance and principled leadership doesn’t shy away from confronting long-standing, seemingly intractable policy problems head-on.

As we look to the year ahead, our work is far from over. But by keeping the American people in the drivers’ seat, we will continue to deliver real solutions for our country.

After the Planned Parenthood videos: The message Congress must send

Mon, 21 Sep 2015 10:18:00 -0400

Last November, the American people cast their votes for Republican candidates across the country. The results were undeniable: conservative majorities elected in both Chambers of Congress for the first time in a decade. And since January, the Republican-led Senate has been delivering real results for the American people.

But what must not be overlooked is the critical work – often unheralded by the media – being done by the new majority to advance a culture of life and protect our most vulnerable: the unborn.

Earlier this year when the Senate considered legislation to ensure continued access to Medicare for seniors, Republicans in both Houses of Congress made sure a provision known as the Hyde Amendment– barring taxpayer dollars from funding abortion services – was included. And when Democrats in the Senate tried to derail a bill to fight human trafficking because it included these same protections, Republicans stood resolute in our conviction that the American people should not fund a practice so many fundamentally oppose. That bill, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which included a provision ensuring federal funds would not be used for abortions, passed 99-0.

Over the summer, a series of graphic videos were released depicting Planned Parenthood executives discussing the harvesting of organs from aborted babies. Not only is the content of these videos utterly repulsive, but they reveal a remarkably dark side of humanity: one that values the organs of an unborn child over the untapped potential of a young human life. Listening to Planned Parenthood executives callously discussing the selling of body parts from children who never had a chance at life should shake anyone’s conscience to its core. Since the release of these videos, Republicans in Congress have been fighting to protect the unborn, and to hold Planned Parenthood accountable.

At the beginning of August, the Senate considered a bill that would cut off all federal funding from this organization and redirect it to fund women’s health services at Community Health Centers. Almost every Republican voted to move this bill forward—and most co-sponsored it—but Democrats refused to cast politics and special interest groups aside, and blocked it.

My colleagues and I also initiated congressional oversight on several levels. Republicans in both Chambers took the lead to begin formal investigations of Planned Parenthood in several committees to determine the full scope of any misconduct. And nearly every Senate Republican sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, demanding a review of Planned Parenthood’s practices to provide answers to the questions raised by the disturbing scenes in these videos.

As those investigations continue, the Senate will vote on legislation that would make major strides in protecting the rights of the unborn nationwide, and further restrict Planned Parenthood’s ability to continue these horrific practices.

This week the Senate will consider the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act—legislation I’ve cosponsored that would prohibit nearly all abortions after a pregnancy has reached five months, nationwide. The significance of this bill cannot be understated. At five months gestation, an unborn child’s fingerprints and taste buds are developing, and, according to many doctors and experts, the child can feel pain. Putting an end to nearly all abortions after five months, or twenty weeks, should be a moral imperative for all of us. Passing the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act could save thousands of unborn children a year, and would be the biggest step forward for the pro-life movement since the Partial Birth Abortion Ban.

The recent Planned Parenthood videos should serve as a crystal clear call to action; we can—and must—do better. While protecting the sanctity of life is an ongoing mission that will never end, this week’s vote is an important opportunity to send a clear message that America is a nation that seeks to advance a culture of life and opportunity for everyone, especially our most vulnerable.

A second chance to get America's health care right: Give authority to our states

Fri, 15 May 2015 09:50:00 -0400

Health care reform has dominated our nation’s political and social conversations for the past six years. After the implementation of ObamaCare, it is clear the law brought radical change and real pain to our nation’s families, economy, and health care system. The promised "affordable health care fix" made things worse.

The pending King v. Burwell case reveals another interesting legal problem with the policy and text of the Affordable Care Act. As written, the federally controlled subsidies and employer mandates are not allowed, unless a state chooses them. Now the Supreme Court debates, behind closed doors, the question of state responsibility and textual intent to determine the direction of health care in America. The resulting Supreme Court opinion could dismantle the structure of ObamaCare and give America a second chance to get health care reform right.

Ironically, the issue of state responsibility could take ObamaCare down and lift individual citizens up.

The Constitution gives states the power to regulate health care within their state and voluntarily compact with other states, but the federal government has attempted to preempt state action by assuming centralized control. What is needed is clear legislation that affirms the right of states to compact with one another to return authority for health care regulation to states that choose to participate.

Interstate compacts have been used on more than 200 occasions to establish agreements between and among states. Mentioned in Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution, state compacts provide authority and flexibility to administer government programs without federal interference. In the Compact structure, federal health care tax money and responsibility is returned to a state when they expand their existing Healthcare Authority structure. Congressional consent is extended when states enter into a legally binding compact. It is similar to a multitude of other grants made by the federal government to states and local entities.

Complexity empowers big government, simplicity empowers families and local leaders. Giving health care authority to states is simple and beneficial because they are able to enact accountability, efficiencies and tailor their system to fit the exact needs of their population. One size does not fit all – ObamaCare proves that. The health challenges and population needs of Vermont or California are not the same as Texas or Oklahoma.

Why should bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. manage all health care systems the same way?

Health care is large, complex, and challenging to manage at the federal level. With a federal system that impacts over 300 million people, $2.3 trillion spent annually and almost 3,000 pages of regulations for Medicare and Medicaid, federal management of our health care system is inefficient and virtually occluded from individualized input. The Medicare fraud rate has hovered around 10 percent for decades, with over $50 billion in annual lost tax money. Big systems allow massive financial loss and make individual citizens small.

States are generally more effective regulators than the federal government. Allowing states to assume responsibility and maintain authority moves people from numbers on a spreadsheet to neighbors down the street. Rural health care struggles to get the attention of federal agencies, but they would have the consistent ear of state agencies.

Some people assume only people in Washington, D.C. care about the health needs of people across the nation, but we can assure you that state leaders and state agencies deeply care for their neighbors and want to find ways to help them. In fact, before the Affordable Care Act passed, our states had already initiated systems to care for those without health care. Unfortunately, the state solutions were forced out when ObamaCare took over.

The Compact is an option that ensures the people of each state will have a choice. States can opt in to the Compact – or not. To date, the Health Care Compact has been formally requested by 9 states – Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah – and several other states are considering it.

As Congress works towards solutions to the problems created by the top-down approach of ObamaCare, we want to let states innovate to serve their citizens’ health care needs. When the Supreme Court rules on King v. Burwell in favor of state responsibility, we want to let states innovate ways to serve their citizens’ health care.

A time for Republican unity

Wed, 23 Oct 2013 07:00:57 -0400

In recent weeks, the national media have been obsessed with highlighting divisions and disagreements among Republicans on Capitol Hill. It’s time for GOP lawmakers to remind the American people of what unites us.

Republicans are united in our desire to dismantle President Obama’s health care law and replace it with patient-centered alternatives that reduce costs, expand quality insurance coverage, and improve access to care.

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We’re united in our desire to simplify the U.S. tax code and encourage job creation by lowering marginal rates and broadening the base.

We’re united in our desire to abolish misguided regulations.

To expand domestic energy production.

To end Wall Street bailouts.

To save entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security before they collapse.

To appoint constitutionalist judges who will faithfully uphold our founding document.

In other words, what unites Republicans is far more significant than what divides Republicans.

The disagreements of the past month have mostly been about tactics rather than policy. But those disagreements are now behind us.

Moving forward, if Republicans want to maximize our leverage and achieve conservative policy gains, we must remain united and focus on issues where President Obama and the Democrats are clearly vulnerable.

For example: The administration spent more than $400 million to get the ObamaCare health exchanges up and running by October 1, but so far they’ve been a total disaster.

Across the country, people have found it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to sign up. Indeed, only a tiny fraction of all visitors to the official Obamacare website have successfully enrolled.

Polls have consistently shown that most Americans want to delay ObamaCare’s personal health insurance mandate.

Republicans agree that, at the very least, Washington should delay the mandate for individuals and families, especially since President Obama has unilaterally delayed the corresponding mandate for employers.

We also agree that health-care reform should not (1) impose a trillion-dollar tax hike, (2) discourage full-time hiring, (3) drive up insurance premiums, (4) cause large numbers of Americans to lose their existing coverage, (5) weaken Medicare and Medicaid, or (6) hamper medical innovation.

ObamaCare does all of these things.

In the months ahead, Republicans should continue making the case for alternative reforms that would expand quality insurance coverage while simultaneously lowering costs and improving patient access.

In addition, we should continue pressing the Obama administration to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Amid the worst unemployment crisis since the 1930s -- at a time when millions of Americans have been jobless for more than six months and our labor-force participation rate has fallen to a 35-year low -- there is no good reason to oppose an energy project that would create thousands of well-paying middle-class jobs and reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern, Russian, and Venezuelan oil.

Speaking of job creation, Republicans should keep up the drumbeat for pro-growth, revenue-neutral tax reform. Americans now spend roughly 6.1 billion hours each year complying with IRS filing requirements. That represents a massive waste of time, money, and energy for businesses and individuals alike.

Republicans overwhelmingly support a simpler, more logical tax system with lower marginal rates and fewer loopholes. That’s a winning message, and it’s one we should aggressively promote.

Finally, Republicans should remain united in blocking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s attempt to pack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is America’s second-most-influential judicial body.

Senator Reid has made no secret of his intent: Over the summer, he told Nevada Public Radio that Democrats were hoping to “switch the majority” on the D.C. Circuit to make it a rubberstamp for big-government liberalism. Republicans have objected to this power grab, and we should continue to do so.

Based on its caseload, the D.C. Circuit simply does not need more judges at the present time.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of appellate courts that are overburdened and do need more judges. Our priority should be to fill those vacancies, not to let Harry Reid stack a single court.

Republicans will always have internal debates, but -- more importantly -- we share a determination to reverse the destructive policies of the past five years.

The results of Obamanomics speak for themselves: Since June of 2009, we have experienced the weakest economic recovery and the longest stretch of high unemployment in postwar history.

The president claims to be deeply troubled by income inequality. And yet, as the New York Times reported in late August, the trend of rising income inequality “appears to have accelerated during the Obama administration” (my emphasis).

Indeed, according to one measure of the income gap, inequality has increased about four times faster under President Obama than it did under President Bush.

Republicans want to restore the economic and constitutional principles that made our country the envy of the world.

Conservative health-care policies would help all Americans obtain quality insurance coverage and quality care.

Conservative tax policies would make it easier to raise families, start businesses, and save for retirement.

Conservative energy policies would create thousands of jobs and bolster national security.

Conservative regulatory policies would end “too big to fail.”

With President Obama sitting in the White House and Democrats controlling the Senate, these policies face an uphill battle. No question about it.

Yet by remaining united behind common values and common interests, Republicans have a chance to win substantial short-term victories -- and set the stage for much bigger victories in the future.

Five things Obama must do to fix the border crisis

Thu, 19 Jun 2014 06:00:37 -0400

Over the past several months, tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors -- almost all of them from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, or Mexico -- have been detained at our southern border while crossing illegally into the United States. A large percentage have been found in the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas.

Sadly, this ongoing humanitarian crisis is very much a man-made crisis. More specifically, it is a direct result of President Obama’s misguided immigration policies.

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Two years ago, the president stood in the Rose Garden and announced a unilateral change to U.S. immigration policy regarding children. Between that policy change and his broader refusal to uphold our immigration laws, he created a powerful incentive for children to cross into the United States illegally.

Don’t just take my word for it. “There is growing evidence,” reports the Washington Post, “that a surge of tens of thousands of Central American minors across the Mexican border into Texas is being driven in large part by the perception they will be allowed to stay under the Obama administration’s immigration policies.”

Consider the numbers. In fiscal year 2011, roughly 6,560 unaccompanied alien children were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. That figure grew to nearly 25,000 in 2013, a year after the President’s Rose Garden Speech, and U.S. officials estimate that it could reach 90,000 in 2014, before surging to 142,000 (or higher) in 2015.

In other words, policies that were supposedly adopted for humanitarian reasons have produced a humanitarian disaster.

Make no mistake: The migration journey from southern Mexico to the Rio Grande is among the most treacherous in the world. In his 2013 book, "The Beast," Salvadoran writer Óscar Martínez documents the horrific violence that is routinely inflicted on migrants by drug traffickers, gang members, and human smugglers. The risks to women are especially harrowing: Experts believe that at least six out of every ten female migrants become victims of sexual assault.

Indeed, migrant women are preyed upon by ruthless Mexican drug cartels such as the Zetas. For example, an official from the mayor’s office in Ciudad Hildago (a Mexican city along the Guatemalan border) told Martínez that “in Ciudad Hidalgo the Zetas control all trafficking, sending men to recruit women in Central America and sometimes even kidnapping migrant women riding the buses. They sell the women to truck drivers for a night and then throw them away like unwanted scraps.”

There is nothing “humane” about encouraging people to travel through cartel-dominated smuggling routes in hopes of reaching the United States. Yet that has been the effect of President Obama’s policies.

I therefore call on the president to immediately do five things:

First, he should publicly (and repeatedly) declare that the so-called deferred-action programs he announced in June 2012 will not apply to the children currently arriving at the border.

Second, he should publicly (and repeatedly) discourage people in Central America and elsewhere from sending their children on such a dangerous journey through Mexico.

Third, he should start enforcing all U.S. immigration laws, not simply the ones he finds politically convenient.

Fourth, he should make sure that Texas and other U.S. border states have the resources they need to handle the migrant influx.

Fifth, he should work with Mexican officials to improve security at their border with Guatemala, which most of these children appear to be crossing.

If the president took all those steps, not only would it help us resolve the current crisis, it would also help prevent a similar crisis from erupting in the future.

Party of ideas: A Republican blueprint for governing

Wed, 17 Sep 2014 08:17:19 -0400

More than a decade since I first arrived in the United States Senate, the chamber has become unrecognizable. What had traditionally been a forum for thoughtful debate of principled ideas has gradually devolved into a venue for carefully orchestrated theater.

Look no further than the Senate’s September agenda: Amid high unemployment and stagnant wages, widespread frustration over the consequences of ObamaCare, and genuine humanitarian and security crises at home and abroad, Senate Democrats decided that their most-urgent order of business following the August work period was a designed-to-fail campaign bill to gut the First Amendment.

Despite all the challenges facing our country, my colleagues in the majority continue to prioritize political stunts and show votes over serious legislating. Indeed, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. has allowed so few amendments that one of his fellow Senate Democrats recently told Politico, “I got more substance on the floor of the House in the minority than I have as a member of the Senate majority.”

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By contrast, our colleagues in the House of Representatives have sent over scores and scores of bills on job creation, taxes, health care, immigration, and other issues, only to have Senator Reid declare them dead on arrival. No wonder Congress has a 14 percent approval rating; the American people are frustrated with Washington, and rightly so.

If the Majority Leader and his colleagues were serious about solving the problems at hand, they wouldn’t need to look far for positive, pro-growth ideas to address our nation’s most pressing challenges. They would see that Senate Republicans have joined our House counterparts in offering a bevy of thoughtful proposals.

First and foremost, we have long stressed the need to pass a pro-growth, fiscally responsible budget that actually cuts spending and reforms government. We should leave the next generation more economic opportunity, not more debt. Americans and small businesses across the country budget responsibly every month, and so should their government.

In addition, we have pushed sensible, pro-growth energy policies that enjoy bipartisan support, such as approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline and boosting U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas.

We need energy policies that enhance our energy security, reduce prices, encourage investment, and create jobs here at home.

We also need a regulatory system that fosters economic growth and prosperity, not one that furthers Washington’s overreach.

Republicans believe we must continue aggressive oversight of the Obama administration’s out-of-control regulatory agenda, which is hurting hard-working Americans while empowering federal bureaucrats.

Senate Republicans believe that the president’s health care law was absolutely the wrong way to expand insurance coverage. We think that families and individuals should be free to purchase whatever kind of insurance they prefer, without having to worry about government meddling.

We believe that future reforms should allow health-care decisions to be made by patients and their doctors, not by Washington. We believe those reforms should make quality health insurance and quality care more accessible for everyone, including people with preexisting conditions.

On tax reform, Republicans believe that our overriding goal should be to lower the rates, broaden the base, and simplify the entire system, in order to help restore America’s global competitiveness.

Republicans also favor ending “too big to fail,” thereby ending the implicit government subsidy currently enjoyed by America’s largest banks. There are a number of ways to achieve that goal, but we all agree that Dodd-Frank did not solve the problem.

Immigration continues to be among the most pressing issues we face, especially given this year’s record surge of Central American minors pouring across our southwest border. Republicans understand that one of Americans’ top priorities is to make sure that our laws are being enforced and our border is secure. We share that priority, and we will keep advocating the necessary reforms, along with others to fix our overall immigration system.

Republicans are proud to be a party of ideas, and we view our intellectual diversity as a sign of strength. Moreover, we are firmly united on the core ideas and principles that define us.

Republicans remain committed to tackling our country’s biggest challenges and promoting greater prosperity for all Americans.

Power to the People -- How to Balance the Budget

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 09:37:54 -0400

Americans are asserting their right of self-government with enthusiasm we have not seen in years. Many have participated in public rallies like those during the fight for independence more than two centuries ago. Others have made their voices heard through social networks, blogs, and other technologies of the modern era. Millions have already participated in competitive primaries across the nation. They have made clear that if Washington does not change its ways, then they will change Washington this November.

The midterm elections are only one way the American people are seeking to reform their government. Earlier this year, Florida legislators made the Sunshine State the latest to invoke Article V of the Constitution, by calling for a constitutional convention to restore some of the checks and balances that the Founders intended but which Washington is ignoring.

More than three dozen states have petitioned Congress to call a convention to propose reforms, and a recent conference of state legislators brought together many leaders looking to add their states to this movement. Recent polling suggests that a plurality of Americans support a convention to propose a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution if Congress will not do so.

A Balanced Budget Amendment has been linked to the idea of a constitutional convention for a simple reason: Congress refuses to restrain government spending. Our national debt is now more than $13 trillion, and has increased by more than 25 percent since the beginning of the Obama administration. We are spending more than $30,000 per household, and borrowing more than 40 cents of every dollar we spend.

Under the president’s budget, our public debt will reach 63 percent of our economy by the end of this year and will be 90 percent of our economy in just ten years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

A Balanced Budget Amendment would force Congress to keep spending in line with the people’s willingness to pay for it, yet the United States Senate has refused even to debate the proposed amendment that I and other colleagues have sponsored.

This kind of congressional inaction gravely concerned the Founders. They foresaw that Congress might resist limits on federal power. So they included the constitutional convention process to give the people the opportunity to propose amendments without congressional pre-approval. The Founders also required that three-quarters of the state legislatures must approve any amendment to our Constitution. That high standard remains in place to guard against radical changes to our form of government or other measures without very broad popular support.

A constitutional convention would be part of a national conversation that could last well beyond one or two election cycles. The very length of the convention and ratification process would allow the American people ample opportunity to judge proposed reforms, and ensure that they would strengthen the checks and balances that have served our nation well.

In an era when Congress passes sweeping bills before many members even have a chance to read them, a deliberative approach to governance would be a refreshing change for most of us.

At the same time, popular support for a constitutional convention can also spur Congress to take action on reforms that are currently being ignored. The prospect of another constitutional convention prompted Congress to adopt the Bill of Rights. Other movements to call conventions resulted in the direct election of Senators nearly a century ago, and major budget reforms in the 1980s. Today’s convention movement could keep the pressure on Congress to bring the Balanced Budget Amendment to the floors of both houses, and then to the states.

Some in Washington fear popular movements to amend our Constitution, when they deserve our respect. After all, “We the People” established our Constitution in the first place, and we have amended it more than two dozen times to protect our liberties and make Washington function better. The people are not a threat to our government, but its ultimate source of legitimacy and its greatest hope for needed reforms.

Republican John Cornyn represents Texas in the United States Senate.

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As Middle East rages, Obama must offer real leadership

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:43:58 -0400

Like all Americans, I was shocked to learn that four of our diplomats had been killed by Islamist radicals outside the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on the anniversary of 9/11. The victims included Air Force veteran Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. Another victim was Ambassador Christopher Stevens, a longtime Foreign Service officer with years of experience working in Libya.

Ambassador Stevens was there during the Qaddafi regime; he was there during the 2011 revolution; and he was there during the ongoing transition to democracy. This was a man who spent his life promoting American influence and American values in the Middle East.

Upon hearing the news of these murders, along with the news that protestors had attacked our embassies in Egypt, Yemen, and other countries, Americans felt outrage and despair. Once again, the Middle East appears to be an irredeemable cauldron of anger and violence.

Americans want to know what the Obama administration is doing to beef up security at US embassies and consulates around the world. For that matter, they want to know why security wasn’t stronger prior to the attacks. They also want to know whether the Libyan massacre was a pre-planned terrorist act -- and, if so, how our intelligence community missed it.

Now is a time for moral and rhetorical clarity. The administration should affirm that failing to protect American diplomats will have real consequences for foreign governments. It should demand that the Muslim Brotherhood stop encouraging wild protests over a ridiculous amateur movie. And it should remind Arab officials that Americans enjoy a constitutional right to free speech.

Meanwhile, the administration should repair recent damage to the U.S.-Israel alliance and stop trying to embarrass Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After all, if we want to be respected by our rivals and enemies, we must be seen as loyal to our allies. And Israel remains the truest and closest US ally in the Middle East.

In a larger sense, President Obama should tone down the rhetoric about a “Pacific pivot.” While I applaud the administration for recognizing the threat posed by China and for bolstering our security partnerships throughout Asia, I reject the idea that we must reduce our influence in the Middle East in order to increase our influence in the Far East.

Indeed, the Middle East has never needed US leadership more than it does today. Beyond the challenges in Libya and Egypt, there is ferocious violence raging in Syria, where the Assad regime has used a steady supply of Russian weaponry to commit mass murder.

In Iraq, sectarian tensions have reached dangerous levels after a wave of terror bombings. Yemen is battling against the Al Qaeda affiliate that tried to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day 2009.

Last, but certainly not least, the Iranian dictatorship is plowing ahead with its nuclear program, convinced that the Obama administration is not serious about “all options” being on the table.

To the extent that President Obama discusses Middle Eastern affairs on the campaign trail, he likes to tell Americans that “the tide of war is receding.” But events suggest otherwise. I fear that our hasty departure from Iraq has jeopardized hard-fought security gains and emboldened Iran.As for Afghanistan, it was foolish of the president announce a withdrawal date at the same moment he announced a troop surge. Taliban fighters now have every incentive simply to wait us out and prepare for a post-2014 bloodbath.

Taken together, many of our recent decisions on Middle East policy have signaled weakness and exhaustion, fostering the impression that America is a declining power. The embassy attacks call for a renewed demonstration of strength and resolve.

Attorney General Eric Holder should resign

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:00:52 -0400

Tuesday morning I called on Attorney General Eric Holder to resign from office. Let me explain why.

The case against Eric Holder could begin and end with his handling of “Operation Fast and Furious,” the program in which our Justice Department deliberately allowed the sale of nearly 2,000 firearms to Mexican drug cartels, and then intentionally lost track of them. In December 2010, two of these guns were found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, yet Mr. Holder still has not held anyone accountable. Moreover, his sworn testimony has repeatedly been contradicted by internal memos, and his administration has misled Congress.

The gunwalking scandal has destroyed Mr. Holder’s credibility. We need an attorney general who will put justice before politics. Our current attorney general is so fiercely political that he has even blocked my home state of Texas and others from implementing commonsense voter-ID laws. Ironically, Mr. Holder has ignored genuine cases of voter intimidation and failed to protect the voting rights of our men and women in uniform and their families. He is all politics, all the time.

Mr. Holder has a long history of such behavior, which is why I opposed his confirmation. While serving as deputy attorney general under President Clinton, he aggressively pushed his Justice Department colleagues to support clemency for 16 Puerto Rican terrorists, despite strong objections from the FBI and other prominent law-enforcement authorities. Then, in the final weeks of the Clinton administration, he recommended pardoning the fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich, whose wife was a major Democratic donor.

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So it came as no surprise when, shortly after taking office as attorney general in 2009, Mr. Holder released classified memos on enhanced interrogation techniques, thereby (1) ignoring the advice of seven former CIA directors, (2) providing sensitive information to our enemies, and (3) giving our allies fresh cause to doubt America’s reliability. After releasing the memos, Mr. Holder launched a politically motivated investigation of several CIA interrogators, even though career Justice Department officials had already recommended against prosecuting them.

Last week, we again witnessed Mr. Holder’s willingness to put politics before justice, when he refused to appoint an independent special prosecutor to look into the unprecedented leaks of possibly classified operations. As Democratic and Republican Senators have made clear in a resounding voice, these leaks endanger our national security and the lives of the men and women sworn to protect it.

We know these leaks came from the Obama administration, and some may have even come from the Justice Department. Mr. Holder faces a clear conflict of interest. This is exactly the type of situation that calls for a special prosecutor.

Unfortunately, Mr. Holder has rejected that option and instead chosen Ronald Machen, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, to lead an investigation. This decision offers yet another example of Holder’s poor judgment. Mr. Machen has donated thousands of dollars to President Obama’s political campaigns; he vetted vice presidential candidates for the Obama team in 2008; and he got his first job as a federal prosecutor from, you guessed it, Eric Holder.

In short, Mr. Machen’s inquiry will not seem truly independent. It is insulting for the attorney general to pretend otherwise. Once again he has shown his penchant for putting politics ahead of justice.

Americans deserve an Attorney General who will uphold basic standards of honesty, transparency, and accountability. They deserve an attorney general whose loyalty to the justice system will trump his loyalty to the White House. They deserve an attorney general who will treat Congress and the public with respect, not contempt. They deserve someone better than Mr. Holder.

A great country deserves a great immigration system

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:26:55 -0400

Immigration reform is, at its core, a human issue. Good policy is driven by good data, but we must never lose sight of the fact that behind every statistic there is a person – a son or a daughter, a mother or a father.

Last weekend, as I traveled through South Texas, I met some of these people. The stories they shared with me illustrate the humanity of the immigration debate that all sides must acknowledge.

In Rio Grande City, I met a young woman who came to Texas to escape persecution in El Salvador several years ago. She did so illegally, paying thousands of dollars to be smuggled across the border.

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After arriving in Texas, she fell victim to the same man she had entrusted to bring her into the country. He beat her, raped her, and forced her into a life of prostitution. For years she endured this terror and misery, until she summoned the courage to reach out for help.

By the tragic standards of illegal immigration, some would say she’s among the lucky ones. Unlike so many others, she survived the grueling trek through South Texas that has needlessly taken the lives of so many.

For ranchers in Brooks County, some 70 miles north of the border, the sight of illegal border-crossers traversing their land is routine.

In my short time there, I saw many.

Even so, it is often the migrants you don’t see trudging through the brush that offer the most heart wrenching reminder of the dismal state of our immigration system.

These ranchers told me how terribly common it is to find human remains around their homes. These are the ones who didn’t make it – the ones who fell behind and were left to do die by a smuggler who treated them like expendable chattel. In an effort to save lives, many ranchers leave stashes of water throughout their property, but the corpses continue to accumulate at an alarming rate.

It falls upon the Brooks County Sheriff’s Department to respectfully retire the unidentified remains. I met with County Judge Raul Ramirez in Falfurrias, where he led me through a section of the local cemetery that has been set aside for this purpose.

Row after row of burial mounds cover three sections of the cemetery. At the head of each mound is a simple aluminum marker bearing a serial number, a date, and a brusque description of what lies beneath: “female skeleton,” “skull,” “bones.”

Unknown and unidentified, they lay far from home and far from the American dream that lured them across the border.

Each grave tells a story that ends in tragedy, and collectively they tell the story of a broken immigration system and a border that is still porous. The notion that these people died for the chance to live and work amongst us is at once humbling and horrifying.

As Americans, we have built a great country, but we have not built the immigration system necessary to serve it.

A great country deserves a great immigration system. This means recognizing the incentives that lead to the growing number of nameless burial mounds. It means understanding the malevolent forces that transact in human flesh. And it means giving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies the resources they need to save lives and uphold our laws.

The basic challenge of immigration reform will be to reconcile our compassion as Americans to the fundamental importance of the rule of law, without yielding to either. As a policymaker, I have a responsibility to find real solutions to these issues that are all-too-familiar to Texans. Anything less only perpetuates this grotesque human tragedy playing out every day on American soil.

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