TX SEN: Cornyn Pens Fiction About A Record Of “Health Care Reform”

Yesterday, in the Dallas Morning News, U.S. Senator John Cornyn penned an op-ed that would have been more fittingly published in a dime novel, because it was purely fiction.

In the op-ed, Cornyn claimed to have a strong record on health care. The problem, however, is that most of what he claims as his legislative “accomplishments” on health care never managed to muster enough votes to even get out of the Senate.

In fact, Cornyn’s senate office recently released a document in which he took credit for a giant bushel basket of “accomplishments” that all died silent deaths in the Senate, including:

The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (S.1955, Introduced: 11/2/05 Never made it to the floor 7/27/06)

The Nurse Faculty Education Act (S.1575, Introduced: 7/29/05. Never passed into law.)

The Tax Equity Act (S.397, Introduced 7/27/06. Never passed into law.)

The Medical Care Access Protection Act (S.22, Introduced 5/3/06. Failed 5/8/06.)

The Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Access to Care Act (S.244, Introduced 1/10/07. Never passed into law.)

The Federal Research Public Access Act (S.2695, Introduced 5/2/06. Died in Committee 5/26/06)

The Patients First Act (S.11, Introduced 6/26/03 Failed 7/9/03)

The Workforce Health Improvement Program (S.772, Introduced 4/13/05. Died in Committee.)

The Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Act (S.2754, Introduced: 5/5/06. Failed 7/18/06.)

The Wired for Health Care Quality Act (S.1418, Introduced: 7/18/05. Died in Committee 12/16/05.)

Keep in mind most of Cornyn’s health care “accomplishments” died their senate deaths in a Republican-led Senate.

In addition, some of what Cornyn is bragging about isn’t exactly much to brag about. Of the five bills Cornyn supported that actually became law, four were mere housekeeping measures that passed with unanimous consent and were totally non-controversial:

The Patient Safety and Quality Act (S.544, Introduced 3/8/05. Unanimous 7/29/05.)

The Combating Autism Act (S.843, Introduced 4/19/05. Unanimous 12/19/06.)

The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act (S.1317, Introduced 9/27/05. Unanimous 12/20/05.)

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (S.358, Introduced: 1/22/07. Unanimous 5/21/08.)

Cornyn’s healthcare “accomplishments” are simply a sad list of bills that went nowhere.

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