Texas’ Senior Senator John Cornyn recently called for increased border security measures and continued American aid to Ukraine.
In an interview with Fox News, Cornyn emphasized the struggles surrounding attempts to reach the bipartisan support necessary for passing a border security package.
“The sad fact is though, that given the President’s open border policy and what’s been happening at the border, it’s made it much harder to find that common ground, but I think it all starts with border security,” Cornyn suggested to Fox.
“I visited with some of our Texas Congressmen and asked them to please send us a border security bill as soon as you can,” the senator added. “Then we can begin looking here in the Senate for building a bi-partisan consensus to get us to 60 votes, which as a practical matter is the only way we can get anything through the Senate and then hopefully to the President.”
In the Senate, it takes 60 votes to close debate on an item and bring it to the floor for a vote. Therefore, successful proposals require bipartisan support in order to have a chance of passage.
Cornyn continued in his conversation with Fox to note, “The border is more complex than I think a lot of people acknowledge because you have a certain number of people who are coming to the border, economic migrants and the like, and you have some people who are claiming asylum.”
Pointing the finger at the policies of President Joe Biden, however, the senator continued, “it’s our asylum system along with ‘catch and release’ policies of the administration that continue to encourage more and more people to come.”
Cornyn also highlighted the struggle the government will have concerning the debt ceiling, blaming Democrats for excess spending.
At the same time, however, Cornyn also doubled down on support for Ukraine, telling Fox, “We need to continue to help them because Mr. Putin is not going to stop.”
“If there was a pause in the fighting or if there was a temporary peace, he would use that to re-set and replenish his munitions and continue his march across Europe,” Cornyn alleged.
In 2022 alone, Congress sent over $113 billion in taxpayer money to Ukraine and other nations to assist against Russian military operations, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. In the first week of 2023, the Biden administration approved another $3.75 billion of taxpayer-funded support.
Sen. Cornyn has received criticism from Texas Republicans for his full-throated support for Ukraine, and some county-level GOP organizations have called for his resignation, as reported by The Dallas Express.
In a resolution passed by the Lamar County Republican Party, the group condemned Cornyn for voting “with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in May 2022 to pass a $40 billion aid package to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders while the U.S. and Texas southern border remain wide open.”
Scott Hommel, the chairman of Lamar County GOP, expressed to The Dallas Express, “if you do not follow the Republican Party’s wishes, our platform, and our legislative priorities, I don’t think you should be a member of our governing body representing the state of Texas in any way, shape, or form.”
Sen. Cornyn did not respond to requests for comment by The Dallas Express regarding the resignation demand.