The October 22nd column “What’s Up with John Cornyn?” regarding my vote on the Franken amendment omitted some important facts.

First, the Obama Administration also opposed this amendment, and for many of the same reasons that I did.

Second, the horrific rape allegations in Jamie Leigh Jones’ case were not subject to arbitration, so citing them as the reason for passing the Franken amendment is misleading. 

Third, the amendment had nothing to do with “protecting KBR employees from prosecution”—it dealt only with civil lawsuits for damages.

Fourth, the amendment was a blatant attempt to benefit trial lawyers by forcing employment discrimination suits into costly and prolonged court proceedings instead of arbitration.  Arbitration greatly reduces litigation costs for employers and employees, while ensuring victims are fairly compensated by streamlining the litigation process and limiting lawyers’ fees.

The amendment is about the 70,000 employment discrimination suits that are filed each year, not the handful of extreme and tragic cases cited by Sen. Franken and his benefactors in the trial bar – who have donated more than $1.2 million to his campaign.  I believe that employers and employees should be allowed to agree to arbitrate these disputes – the trial lawyers don’t, and neither does Sen. Franken.

I sympathize greatly with victims of rape, and have voted repeatedly to increase sentences for the perpetrators of such heinous crimes. Attempts to manipulate the tragic events in the Jones case to line the pockets of the trial lawyers are disgusting. 

Sincerely,

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn