Thread: Sen. Cornyn officially files for second term

Dec. 15, 2007, 8:34PM
Sen. Cornyn officially files for second term
He says Texans are disappointed by a 'broken' Washington


By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — U.S. Sen. John Cornyn officially filed for a second term of office Saturday, saying the biggest issues facing America are the threat of Islamic terrorism and illegal immigration.

Cornyn, who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, filed as a candidate in the Republican primary. His only opponent so far is biblical fundamentalist Larry Kilgore.

State Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston has filed for the Democratic nomination, and Corpus Christi schoolteacher Ray McMurrey is expected to file Tuesday.

Though Cornyn often is criticized by Democrats as the most partisan member of the Senate and an almost unwavering supporter of the Bush administration, Cornyn said he has sought to work in a bipartisan manner.

"I'm as disappointed, as most Texans are with what they see happening in Washington, D.C., today. Washington is broken," Cornyn said.

Noriega, who served in Afghanistan with the National Guard, and McMurrey have issued a call to pull U.S. troops from Iraq by a deadline. But Cornyn said that would be a mistake.

"It's wrong to say we ought to pull the covers over our heads and hope the threat goes away," Cornyn said.

He said the nation needs to fix the "broken" immigration system to benefit those who enter the country legally. "We need to make sure people don't jump in line ahead of others and we restore respect in the rule of law," he said.

Cornyn declined to discuss criticisms leveled against him by Noriega. He said he will answer the Democratic nominee after the March 4 primary.

Cornyn, 55, served as a justice on the Texas Supreme Court and as state attorney general before winning the Senate seat.

His background served as a lighter moment at his news conference Saturday as he was introduced by Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, who also filed for re-election.

"Now I bring you to the podium a man who obviously served us as a member of the Supreme Court of Texas, attorney general and now serves us as a member of the United States Supreme Court."

Williams was momentarily flustered by the laughter. "We're going to give him that one, too."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hea ... 81849.html

I don't know about this.

He's better than any Democrat-especially either of the two it sounds like he'll be facing next November-but I'm kind of disappointed by his actions during the amnesty debate.

He's really been all over the place, and the fact that it took him so long to come out firmly against amnesty was baffling.

I appreciated him doing battle with McLame-face to face telling him what is-but to me it came a little too late.

Then there's the whole matter of the Cornyn-Kyl bill.



Again, he deserves the vote of Republicans and conservatives if it's a choice of him or one of the open borders Dems-and he's not in the same category as that traitor Jon Kyl-but I've lost a lot of the respect I once had for him.