Wikipedia

Sam Brownback

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Treybien (talk | contribs) at 20:31, 28 June 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Future election candidate

Sam Brownback
United States Senator
from Kansas
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 7 1996
Serving with Pat Roberts
Preceded bySheila Frahm
Succeeded byIncumbent (2011)
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Brownback
Alma materKansas State University

Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12 1956) is the senior United States senator from the U.S. state of Kansas. On January 20 2007 he announced his intention to seek the Republican Party's nomination for President in the 2008 Presidential election.[1][2]

Biography

Sam Brownback was born in Parker, Kansas to Nancy and Robert Brownback.[3] He was raised in a farming family in Parker, Kansas; his ancestors settled in Kansas after leaving Pennsylvania following the Civil War.[4] Brownback was state president of Future Farmers of America, and eventually went on to become the national vice president from 1976-1977.[5] While at Kansas State University, he was elected student body president and was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho. He received his J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982.

After college, Brownback spent approximately a year working as a broadcaster; he hosted a weekly half-hour show.[4][6]

He was an attorney in Manhattan, Kansas[4]before becoming the Kansas secretary of agriculture in 1986. In 1990, he was accepted into the White House Fellow program and detailed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from 1990-91. Brownback then returned to Kansas to resume his position as secretary of agriculture and remained in that position until 1993. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1994, and next ran in the 1996 special Senatorial election to replace Bob Dole, who had resigned his Senate seat during his presidential campaign.

He is married to the former Mary Stauffer, whose family owned and sold a successful media company in 1995.[7] They have five children including an adopted son and daughter. His adopted daughter, Jenna, was adopted from China.

Raised as a Methodist, Brownback later joined a nondenominational evangelical church, and in 2002 he became Catholic. He joined the Catholic Church through Opus Dei member Father C. John McCloskey in Washington DC.[8][9] Brownback himself, however, is not a member of the Opus Dei organization.[10]

Senate career

Brownback replaced U.S. Senator Sheila Frahm who had been appointed to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Bob Dole in November 1996, when Dole resigned in the middle of his term to campaign for president.

In the primary set up to fill out the remainder of Dole's term, Brownback defeated U.S. Senator Sheila Frahm, a former Lieutenant Governor, who had been appointed to temporarily fill the Senate seat. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Jill Docking and was elected to a full term in the Senate in 1998. He won re-election in the 2004 Senate election with 69% of the vote, easily defeating his Democratic challenger, Lee Jones, a former Washington, D.C. lobbyist.

Brownback is a member of the Judiciary Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee (where he chaired the Subcommittee on District of Columbia) when the Republicans were in the majority), the Joint Economic Committee, and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission. He is the current Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, which monitors compliance with international agreements reached in cooperation with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Brownback has announced that he would not run for reelection in 2010, in accordance with his support of term limits for members of Congress.[3]]

In 2000, Brownback and Congressman Chris Smith led the effort to enact the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).[11] President Clinton signed the legislation in October 2000. According to Christianity Today, the stronger enforcement increased the number of U.S. federal trafficking cases eightfold in the five years after enactment.[12]

As of June 12, 2007, in the 110th Session of Congress, Brownback has missed 67 votes due to campaigning (32.1%)--surpassed by Senator Tim Johnson (D) of South Dakota who due to a critical illness has missed all (100%) of the votes of the 110th Session, and Senator McCain (R) of Arizona with 100 votes missed due to campaigning (47.8%).[13]

Views

Brownback told Rolling Stone that he had moved from mainline Protestantism to evangelicalism before his 2002 conversion to Catholicism, and that in 1994 he became involved with The Fellowship, a conservative Christian U.S. political organisation.

Brownback defines himself as a social conservative. He cites former Senator Jesse Helms as a model.[14] He is a staunch opponent of abortion.

Brownback was a co-sponsor of the Constitution Restoration Act, which would have limited the power of federal courts to rule on church/state issues. Brownback told Rolling Stone that he chairs the Senate Values Action Team, an off-the-record weekly meeting of representatives from religious conservative organizations.

Brownback is a strong supporter of the traditional marriage movement and is an opponent of same-sex marriage.

He favors teaching intelligent design in public school science classes via the Teach the Controversy approach:

There's intelligence involved in the overall of creation. . .I don't think we're really at the point of teaching this in the classroom. I think what we passed in the U.S. Senate in 2002 is really what we should be doing, and that is that you teach the controversy, you teach what is fact is fact, and what is theory is theory, and you move from that proceedings, rather than from teaching some sort of different thought. And this, I really think that's the area we should concentrate on at the present time, is teaching the controversy.[15]

— Senator Sam Brownback, Larry King Live, CNN, August 23, 2005

In a May 3, 2007 debate among the 10 candidates for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, Brownback was one of three who indicated that he did not believe in the biological science of evolution. [4]

He has said he does not believe there is an inherent right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution. He has, however, expressed disapproval of George W. Bush's assertions on the legality of the NSA wiretapping program.[16]

In a speech on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he questioned the current use of the death penalty as potentially incongruent with the notion of a "culture of life", and suggesting for its employment in a more limited fashion.[17]

Brownback has stated that he opposed Bush's 2007 troop surge in Iraq and the Democratic Party's strategy of timed withdrawal:

It does mean that there must be bipartisan agreement for our military commitment on Iraq. We cannot fight a war with the support of only one political party. And it does mean that the parties in Iraq — Sunni, Shi’a and Kurds — must get to a political agreement, to a political equilibrium. I think most people agree that a cut and run strategy does not serve our interest at all, nor those of the world, nor those of the region, nor those of the Iraqi people. So I invite my colleagues, all around, particularly on the other side of the aisle, to indicate what level of commitment they can support."[18]

— Senator Sam Brownback, U.S. Senate floor speech, January 16 2007

On June 7, 2007, Brownback voted against the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 when that bill came up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Brownback sits.[19] (The bill was passed out of the committee by a vote of 11 to 8.[20]) The bill aims to restore habeas corpus rights revoked by the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

According to an Associated Press report by reporter Laurie Kellman,[21] Brownback appeared with three children adopted from in vitro fertilization clinics to coincide with a Senate debate over the Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005 to show his support for the bill and adult stem cell research. The Religious Freedom Coalition refers to children conceived through the adopted in vitro process as "snowflake children."[22] The term, as proponents explain, is an extension of the idea that the embryos are "frozen and unique," and in that way are similar to snowflakes.[22] Brownback supports the use of cord blood stem cells for research and treatment, instead of embryonic stem cells and was one of the sponsors of the bill in the Senate.[23]

Brownback visited refugee camps in Sudan in 2004 and returned to write a resolution labeling the Darfur conflict as genocide, and has been active on attempting to increase U.S. efforts to resolve the situation short of military intervention.[24] He is an endorser of the Genocide Intervention Network, which called him a "champion of Darfur" in its Darfur scorecard, primarily for his early advocacy of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act.[25]

After the September 11 terrorist attacks, he worked with Senator Ted Kennedy on legislation that imposed stricter entry standards at the borders of the United States.[citation needed] Brownback was co-sponsor of a 2005 bill of Kennedy and John McCain's which would secure borders and give amnesty to illegal immigrants already present.[26] He has been criticized by Tom Tancredo for his support for Kennedy and McCain's latest immigration reform bill. Tancredo called him "an extreme opponent of getting tough on illegal immigration."[27] Brownback responded that politicians "must protect our borders, enforce the law, provide legal means for people to work in the United States, and fix a broken system."[27] On June 26, 2007, Brownback voted in favor of S. 1639, the Bush-Kennedy Immigration Amnesty Act of 2007 (officially "A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes.[28]").[29]

Brownback introduced into the Senate a resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 37) calling for the United States to apologize for past mistreatment of [Native Americans].[citation needed] Brownback worked with Congressman John Lewis to help win placement of the African American Museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC.[citation needed]

Brownback also supports a bill that would introduce price transparency to the U.S. health care industry,[30] as well as a bill which would require the disclosure of Medicare payment rate information.[31]

In December 2005, Brownback advocated using Washington, DC as a "laboratory" for a flat tax. He stated, "that making D.C. a test case would, with limited potential for negative impact, provide valuable data about the effects of a flat tax that would prove helpful in determining whether it should be applied nationwide."[32] Some residents of the District believe that the proposed system of taxation would seem to only further what many believe to be the District's taxation without representation. DC mayor Anthony A. Williams said "Leaving aside the merits of this proposal, we continue to resist any efforts on the part of any member of Congress to impose rules and regulations on the people of the District."[33]

Brownback is a lead sponsor of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 and by frequently speaks out against the mail-order bride industry.[34]

On December 16, 2006, Brownback gave an interview to the Christian Post, stating: "We can get to this goal of eliminating deaths by cancer in 10 years."[35]

On September 27, 2006, Brownback introduced a bill called the Truth in Video Game Rating Act (S.3935), which would regulate the rating system of computer and video games.[citation needed]

On June 15, 2006, Bush signed into law the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 sponsored by Brownback, a former broadcaster himself. The new law stiffens the penalties for each violation of the Act. The Federal Communications Commission will be able to impose fines in the amount of $325,000 for each violation by each station, which violates decency standards. The legislation raises the fine by tenfold.[36][37]

On September 3 1997, Meredith O'Rourke, an employee of Kansas firm Triad Management Services, was deposed by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs regarding her activities and observations while providing services for the company relative to fund raising and advertising for Brownback. In her deposition, she states that campaign management for Brownback's campaign had provided Triad with a list of current donors, specifically those who had "maxed out" on the federal contribution limit of $2,100. The deposition claims that Triad circumvented existing campaign finance laws by channeling donations through Triad, and also bypassed the campaign law with Triad running 'issue ads' during Brownback's first campaign for the Senate.[38][39]

Environmental record

The conservative grassroots organization Republicans for Environmental Protection gave Brownback a grade of 29 percent for the 109th Congress, during which he cast what REP qualified as pro-environment votes on two of seven critical issues. REP criticized Brownback for supporting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in “sensitive marine waters” in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as for opposing measures designed to increase “efficiency and renewable-resource programs to improve energy security, lower costs, and reduce energy related environmental impacts.” [40] The nonpartisan environmental watchdog group League of Conservation Voters rated Brownback at 15 percent for the 109th Congress, citing his lack of support for low-income energy assistance that would encourage Americans to weatherize and insulate their homes, his lack of support for environmental and natural resources stewardship funding, and his tendency to vote in favor of offshore oil drilling and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.[41]

2008 Presidential campaign

Template:Future election candidate

On December 4 2006, Brownback formed an exploratory committee, thus taking the first steps toward candidacy. He has announced his Presidential bid as of December 5, 2006 on his website.[42] His expressed views position him in the social conservative wing of the Republican party. He has also stressed his fiscal conservatism. "I am an economic, a fiscal, a social and a compassionate conservative," he said in December 2006.[43] On January 20 2007, in Topeka, Brownback announced that he was running for President in 2008.[44] If elected President in 2008, Brownback will have been a United States Senator for 12 years, equivalent to two full terms as senator.

On February 22 2007, a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports held that three percent of likely primary voters would support Brownback.[45]

Brownback's close advisors for his presidential bid, as listed by the Washington Post[46] are David Kensinger, a political consultant who is a former executive director of GOPAC and former Brownback chief of staff; Rob Wasinger, Brownback's chief of staff in 2005; and Paul Wilson, a media consultant with Wilson Grand Communications. Also listed as "playing a key role" was Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza. Also mentioned as a member of Brownback's exploratory committee was Bowie Kuhn, former Major League Baseball commissioner, before his death on March 15, 2007.[47]

The Reverend Rob Schenk of the National Clergy Council has called Brownback the "gold standard" for a viable conservative presidential candidate.[48]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Swarns, Rachel L. Kansas Senator Announces Bid for Presidency, New York Times, January 21 2007
  2. ^ Associated Press, Brownback announces Presidential Campaign, January 20 2007
  3. ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/senators/brownback.htm
  4. ^ a b c Brownback Presidential Campaign reprint of Weekly Standard article Eastland, Terry, Mr. Compassionate Conservative, The Weekly Standard, Volume 011, Issue 44, August 7 2006
  5. ^ Future Farmers of America: Prominent Former Members
  6. ^ Kapochunas, Rachel. Brownback, Set to Launch GOP White House Bid, Will Fight from the Right, CQPolitics.com January 18 2007
  7. ^ The New York Times Archives, "Media Concern Adds 12 Stauffer Papers", Published: June 16 1995
  8. ^ rollingstone.com
  9. ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2069194
  10. ^ WashingtonPost
  11. ^ Library of Congress: Thomas. House Resolution 3244. Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000
  12. ^ Alford, Deann. "Free at Last", Christianity Today, February 21 2007
  13. ^ Washington Post."Missed Votes", June 12, 2007
  14. ^ Sharlet, Jeff. "God's Senator", Rolling Stone, January 25 2006.
  15. ^ Intelligent Design in American Classrooms? CNN Larry King Live, August 23 2005.
  16. ^ The Washington Post: David S. Broder: Bucking Bush on Spying, February 9 2006
  17. ^ Sentencing Law and Policy (Blog by Douglas A. Berman): Senator Brownback questions death penalty and culture of life, February 3 2006
  18. ^ Senator Sam Brownback office, Brownback on Iraq and Troop Surge, Calls for bipartisanship, diplomatic efforts, January 17, 2007, Washington, D.C.
  19. ^ Countdown with Keith Olbermann, June 7, 2007.
  20. ^ http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=203303
  21. ^ Kellman, Laurie (2006-07-18). "Bush Veto Expected for Stem Cell Bill". Associated Press. Retrieved 2006-08-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ a b "LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - WEEK ENDING [[May 27]] [[2005]]; STEM CELLS AND SNOWFLAKE BABIES". Religious Freedom Coalition. 27 May 2005. Retrieved 2006-08-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  23. ^ The New York Sun: White House Ready To Veto Senate's Stem Cell Decision, July 18 2006
  24. ^ The Washington Post: Policy Adrift on Darfur, page A25, December 27 2005.
  25. ^ DarfurScores.org: Champions of Darfur, operated by the Genocide Intervention Network, site accessed 21 August 2006
  26. ^ "Democrats are flocking to McCain's immigration bill". Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  27. ^ a b "Tom Tancredo: Sam Brownback 'Miserable' on Illegal Immigration". Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  28. ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.01639:
  29. ^ http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00228
  30. ^ PR Newswire: Senators and Hospital Groups Support New GPO Transparency Initiative, July 12 2005
  31. ^ U.S. Senator Sam Brownback press release: Brownback Introduces Medicare Payment Rate Disclosure Act, April 7 2006
  32. ^ The New York Sun: D.C. May Be Flat Tax Laboratory, November 30 2005
  33. ^ DCist: A Flat Tax for the District?, December 2 2005
  34. ^ Vatican Radio: Mail Order Nightmares [1]
  35. ^ Associated Press (2006-12-16). "Brownback Addresses Christian Radio Members, Touts FDA Move". The Christian Post. Retrieved 2007-05-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ Combs, Roberta. Christian Coalition of America, Washington Weekly Review, June 17 2006
  37. ^ "Bill Number S. 193". Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate) from Congressional THOMAS DB. Retrieved April 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ O'Rourke Deposition:[2] September 3 1997
  39. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/cf121297.htm
  40. ^ Republicans for Environmental Protection 2006 Scorecard
  41. ^ LCV 2006 Scorecard
  42. ^ "Favorite of religious right moves toward White House bid" by Associated Press. CNN, December 4 2006.
  43. ^ forbes
  44. ^ http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2774442
  45. ^ news.yahoo.com
  46. ^ "Sam Brownback's Inner Circle" by Chris Cillizza. Washington Post.com, December 5 2006.
  47. ^ Matt Stearns & David Goldstein, Wichita Eagle, Sam Brownback forms exploratory committee, December 5 2006
  48. ^ Barillas, Martin. "Evangelical leader meets with McCain and Romney", Spero News, February 20 2007.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sam Brownback.
Official sites
Documentaries, topic pages and databases
Media coverage


Political offices
Preceded by United States Representative for the 2nd Congressional District of Kansas
1995–1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Kansas
1996–Present
Served alongside: Nancy Landon Kassebaum, Pat Roberts 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sam_Brownback&oldid=141244195"