WASHINGTON – Last night on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) spoke about the importance of his bill, the End Special Treatment for Congress at Airports Act, which passed the Senate unanimously and would require Members of Congress to undergo the same Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening procedures as all other airline passengers as well as prohibit the use of federal funds to provide U.S. Senators and House members with expedited or preferential access at airport security checkpoints. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“It’s been 34 days since Democrats chose to shut down the funding of the Department of Homeland Security, jeopardizing America’s safety and well-being.”

“No less than 120,000 DHS employees have missed paychecks, including the hardworking TSA agents and screeners that work at our nation’s airports, who have been working around the clock without pay.”

“As many Americans probably don’t know but most of us in Washington do know, airports around the country allow Members of Congress to bypass the usual TSA security screening process at airports nationwide. In other words, they get to skip the line. This should end today.”

“Members of Congress are getting an unfair perk.”

“We know trust in Congress is at an all-time low, but today, thank goodness, the Senate has taken an important step towards restoring the trust of the people we are here to represent.”