Let's begin now, though,
with a word not often
associated with Washington,
the word is bipartisan.
The state's senior senator,
working across the aisle in a
number of bipartisan bills in DC-1
to address the record number of
migrants crossing into Texas from
Mexico and another to incentivize
more companies to make those precious
semiconductor chips here in the US.
Again, Senator John Cornyn joined
us from his office in Washington.
Senator Cornyn welcome back to the program.
Let's start with a bipartisan bill that
you are leading about the semiconductors
and trying to incentivize more
companies to make those little chips.
Those important little chips here in the US.
The Senate already has enough votes to
pass this before the August recess.
Do you expect it's going to
get a vote this week?
And secondly, is it going to pass?
Well, I do expect it to pass this
week and I do believe the House will
promptly take it up after we do.
This is a this has been a two
year long project of mine,
a bipartisan project recognizing
after COVID-19 the vulnerability
of many of our supply chains.
And as we began to look at it,
90% of all of the semiconductors
that run technology from your
cell phone to the F35 Joint
Strike Fighter come from overseas,
which is an unacceptable risk.
The reason for that is it's 30% cheaper
to buy or to build a manufacturing fab
in Asia than it is in the United States.
But when you consider the
consequences of natural disasters,
pandemics,
or maybe even a military conflict
between China and Taiwan,
the risk is just unacceptable.
So that's the reason why this
is so important,
Senator, we saw you on the Texas
Mexico border the other day as well,
too, pushing another bipartisan bill.
The bipartisan border solutions.
Act which are leading
there in the Senate too.
This would establish at least four
new processing centers I believe
to get migrants processed quicker,
it would give federal agents more resources,
speed up the migration procedures as
well too, and deter illegal immigration.
I'm curious whether you think there
is enough support to get this passed,
and if so, why not just get this thing
passed and put it on the president's desk.
Well, I'd love to do that. Frankly,
I reached out to Senator Kirsten Sinema,
Democrat from a border state of Arizona.
Henry Quiara Democrat from Laredo and Tony
Gonzalez for Republican for the largest
contiguous border district in the country.
And we put this together with
the hope that maybe, just maybe,
the Biden administration would be looking
for some help when it comes to the current
crisis that's going on at the border.
Unfortunately,
they show 0 interest because I'm
afraid that the democratic base.
Now, particularly the the progressive base,
they don't believe in in controlling
the border they believe in open borders.
The problem is, it's not just migrants,
you also see drugs coming across
the border which have taken the
lives of 100,000 plus Americans last
year alone through drug overdoses.
So unfortunately, what it takes 2
takes a partner to negotiate with it.
We don't.
We don't have a willing partner
about another bipartisan bill that's
floating through the Senate right now, too.
It would update the electoral count Act.
And ideally prevent another January
6th like we saw not too long ago.
I'm curious whether you support
this where you are on this bill.
Well, the electoral count Act is
the law that governs the procedure
by which the Electoral College
votes are counted by Congress.
And this is not the first time that
a member of Congress has objected.
In 2004, Senator Barbara Boxer,
a Democrat, objected.
We saw that happen again on January the 6th,
and what I believe people need
to have confidence that our
elections are actually working,
that the votes are properly cast that.
Were properly counted,
and if this will increase public
confidence in that process,
then I think it's worth considering.
I haven't looked at the the final bill yet,
but there is a bipartisan bill that hopefully
will eliminate some of the confusion,
controversy, and, frankly,
loss of confidence in our elections.
That, unfortunately we saw as a result
of what happened on January the 6th.
I hear the bell ringing for a vote.
One last quick question for you too.
200 federal agents responded to the Uvalde
School massacre more than a month ago.
Should law enforcement be held
accountable for not following training,
not engaging the shooter that left
19 students and two teachers dead?
And if So what do you think that
accountability should look look like?
Senator,
I'm the last one to say that you ought
to blame the police when they show up
at a scene and try to do the best they
can in a in the fog of war, so to speak.
But there are procedures by which law
enforcement can be held accountable
both within their departments and
in other other venues, and I would
let those go forward as appropriate.
But it's a. There's nothing about this
shooting in the valley that was good.
Perhaps if the there is some good
to come out of it,
it will be that we will learn lessons from.
This will prevent the likelihood that loss
of life will occur in future incidents.
Thank you for the time.
Thank you. Be with you.