Columnists
What’s up with John Cornyn?
By Emily Eikner-Austin
Oct 29, 2009

On October 6, 2009 the United States Senate passed an amendment offered by freshman Senator Al Franken to stop funding defense contractors who deny assault victims their day in court by a vote of 68-30.

The legislation was inspired by the story of a woman from Texas, Jamie Leigh Jones. She was a 19-year-old employee of defense contractor KBR stationed in Iraq who was gang raped by her co-workers and imprisoned in a shipping container when she tried to report the crime. Her father and U.S. Representative Ted Poe worked together to secure her safe return to the United States. Once she was home, she learned a fine-print clause in her KBR contract banned her from taking her case to court, instead forcing her into an “arbitration” process that would be run by KBR itself.

So far, so good, right? Good legislation that addresses a really horrendous problem. What does John Cornyn have to do with it you ask? He was one of the 30 Republican Senators who apparently thought the clause protecting KBR employees from prosecution in gang-rape cases was a good thing; he voted against the amendment.

So once again, what’s up with John Cornyn?