Senator Cornyn

Cornyn Introduces Amendment to Allow State and Local Officials to Use Unspent COVID Relief on Infrastructure

WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced an amendment to make several categories of infrastructure investments eligible for unspent Coronavirus Relief Fund and State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund dollars. It would also extend the deadline to utilize coronavirus relief funding if budgeted for eligible infrastructure projects. “I have heard from state and local officials […]

Cornyn, Sinema Ask DHS to Lift COVID-19 Travel Restrictions on Ports of Entry

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging him to commit to a timeframe to lift COVID-related travel restrictions on non-essential traffic through land ports of entry (LPOEs). They wrote, “In light of the substantial progress the United States has […]

New Cornyn Bill Eases Federal Reimbursement Process for Extreme Weather Events

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced the Fixing Infrastructure Damaged by Disasters Act, legislation to expand the authorization of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Emergency Repair Program (ERP) to permit reimbursements to states significantly impacted by major weather events, like this year’s winter freeze.  Currently, ERP guidance prevents the Dept. of Transportation from reimbursing states for […]

Cornyn Urges Biden Admin to Allow Reconstruction of Levees in South Texas

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) sent a letter to Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging him to allow the reconstruction of levees along the Rio Grande to protect South Texas from flood damage ahead of hurricane season.  The letter follows a video call Sen. Cornyn held with local leaders in Hidalgo County […]

Cornyn Announces Texas Schools Can Provide Free Meals to Students Through Summer with New USDA Extension

WASHINGTON—Today U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture will extend its waiver allowing schools to continue to serve no-cost meals to low-income students during school closures this summer. Sen. Cornyn supported this waiver when he voted for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act last March. The waiver negates the National School Lunch Act requirement that […]

Cornyn Votes Against Wasteful $1.9 Trillion Mislabeled “COVID Relief” Bill

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after voting against the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion spending bill: “Republicans and Democrats worked together last year in a true show of unity to provide roughly $4 trillion in relief across five bipartisan bills. We could have built on that record this year, but instead Democrats put […]

VIDEO: Cornyn Pledges to Help Texas Recover, Rebuild

WASHINGTON –Today U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) spoke on the Senate floor for the first time following severe winter weather and associated power and water outages in Texas last week . Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here. “In times of crisis, there’s no red team and no blue team, and I want […]

Cornyn, Cruz Urge Support for USDA Disaster Declaration for Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy Counties Amid Agricultural Losses Due to Storms

AUSTIN—U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) today wrote Acting Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Shea in support of Governor Abbott’s federal disaster declaration request for Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, and other counties amid significant agricultural production losses due to severe winter storms across the State of Texas: They wrote: “While the state continues to assess […]

Cornyn, Booker Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Prevent Future Pandemics

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) along with Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Tom Carper (D-DE) today reintroduced their Preventing Future Pandemics Act, a bipartisan bill that would direct the State Department to work with international partners to shut down commercial wildlife markets and stop the associated wildlife trade, end the import, […]

Cornyn Receives Briefing on Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

Today U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) received a briefing on Texas’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout from Dept. of State Health Services (DSHS) Commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt, Texas Dept. of Emergency Management (TDEM) Chief Nim Kidd, member of the State’s Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel Dr. John Zerwas, and DSHS Associate Commissioner of Laboratory & Infectious Diseases Imelda […]

Cornyn, Klobuchar Relief Bill for Independent Live Music Venues Signed Into Law

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the following statements after the Save Our Stages Act, legislation they authored to provide Small Business Administration grants for independent live music venues, live performance arts organizations, or motion picture theatres affected by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, was signed into law. These grants would […]

Senate Passes Cornyn Relief Bill for Independent Live Music Venues

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after the Senate passed the Save Our Stages Act, legislation he authored to provide Small Business Administration grants for independent live music venues, live performance arts organizations, or motion picture theatres affected by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, as part of the omnibus funding bill. These grants would […]