WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) criticized Leader Schumer’s truncated legislative schedule, which includes only nine in-session weeks before the election, and his decision to focus on partisan show votes. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.  

“Under Democratic control, the Senate has turned into an unproductive body that follows a schedule that most American workers would envy.” 

“Including this week – which is almost finished – the Senate’s only scheduled to be in session for nine weeks before the election.”

“Election day is exactly five months away, and the Senate is not breaking any records for our productivity or our willingness to take on hard problems that seem to surround us everywhere.” 

“One of the things that I think is an insult to the American people is, given the lack of productivity or the lack of willingness to deal with the challenges that face us, Senator Schumer schedules a vote on contraception this afternoon as if this were somehow controversial.” 

“Contraception is available in every state in America, and there’s no legitimate effort to change that. Democrats are using their powers as the majority party to engage in fearmongering to further their own political agenda.”

“The bill before the Senate goes far beyond protecting access to contraception… It would force healthcare providers to provide abortion drugs, regardless of any religious objections.”

“This bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“Given the Senate’s long to-do list, I think there’s a better way to spend the chamber’s time.”

“Two-and-a-half-day work weeks, truncated work periods, the time we’ve wasted here on nominees and political show votes – this is no way to run the Senate, and it’s certainly not the way Republicans will do things if we regain control of the chamber next year.”