"Texas is a big state"

A local news channel questioned Senator John Cornyn on his travel expenses, being as they are higher than any other Senator, including Texan Kay Bailey Hutchinson (good timing for her).

He’s now known as the U.S. Senate's biggest spender on domestic travel, according to official travel records found in The Report of the Secretary of the Senate.

"His excuse is, ‘Well, it's a big state,'" said Tom Smith, of the watchdog group Public Citizen. "I agree senator. It is a big state, and most big cities where he's spending most of his time have real good airline service. He should be flying coach with the rest of us."

CORNYN: I think it was a little bit of a cheap shot.

NEWS 8: In what sense was it a cheap shot? They were using the Secretary of the Senate information.

CORNYN: Oh yeah, not every state is the same. When you represent a state as big as Texas and traveling home from Washington D.C. every weekend, it unfortunately costs some money.

But, Texas' senior senator, fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, only spent $88,000 during the same time period. That’s a little more than half of Cornyn’s bill.

You can read the entire article on WFAA.com here.