John Cornyn: “I hope our colleagues will support this amendment that Senator Leahy and I have worked on. This is an expansion of our…”

“I hope our colleagues will support this amendment that Senator Leahy and I have worked on. This is an expansion of our Public Corruption and Prosecution Improvements Act which passed the Judiciary Committee last year. Mr. President, I am proud to co-sponsor this important amendment with Senator Patrick Leahy, the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Our amendment is drawn from bipartisan, bicameral legislation-- including our Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act, which passed the Judiciary Committee last year. Public corruption is not a Republican or Democratic problem. It is a Washington, DC, problem. And it is a problem in statehouses and city halls across this country. Our citizens deserve to be governed by the rule of law, not the rule of man. Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, a few rotten apples have a tendency to spoil the bunch. The amendment we will vote on today will strengthen the enforcement of U.S. Federal laws aimed at combating betrayals of public dollars and the public trust. Our amendment does this by making clarifications to public corruption laws and by giving prosecutors precise tools to use in their battle against corrupt officials. Our amendment increases the maximum punishments on several offenses, including theft and embezzlement of federal funds, bribery, and a number of corrupt campaign contribution practices.…”