Pat Roberts

Charles Patrick Roberts, a Republican, has been the Junior  Senator for Kansas since 1996.

Iraq War
Roberts voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq in Oct. 2002.

Roberts "Fixed" Iraq Intelligence
"Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush issued an order [aimed at protecting 'military security' and 'sensitive law enforcement'] to the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, and his cabinet members that severely curtailed intelligence oversight by restricting classified information to just eight members of Congress," Larisa Alexandrovna reported for The Raw Story, August 11, 2005.

"'The only Members of Congress whom you or your expressly designated officers may brief regarding classified or sensitive law enforcement information,' he writes, 'are the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader, the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, and the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Intelligence Committees in the House and Senate.'"

However, Alexandrovna added, "what was said to be an effort to protect the United States became a tool by which the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Pat Roberts (R-KS) ensured there was no serious investigation into how the administration fixed the intelligence that took the United States to war in Iraq or the fabricated documents used as evidence to do so."

See the The Raw Story Timeline: "Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) Helps to Fix the Intel" by Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane.

On another note, on August 3rd, 2006, Roberts criticized the White House for classifying parts of a document about the Iraqi war. The document talked about the role of Iraqi exiles. Robets believes that the Bush administration kept parts of the report secret to help support the war in Iraq and the fight against Saddam Hussein. He released the following statement:

“I have been disappointed by this administration’s unwillingness to declassify material contained in these reports, material which I believe better informs the public, but that does not — I repeat, does not — jeopardize intelligence operations, sources and methods, This Committee will not settle for anything less, Neither will the American people.”

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Oil Record
Pat Roberts has voted in favor of big oil companies on 100% of important oil-related bills, according to Oil Change International. These bills include Iraq War funding, climate change studies, clean energy, and oil import reductions. See below for oil money in politics.

Background
Roberts was born April 20, 1936 inTopeka, Kansas. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Kansas State University in 1958. Roberts served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a captain from 1958-62. He was a reporter and editor for several Arizona newspapers before joining the staff of Republican Kansas Senator Frank Carlson in 1967.

Senate Career
Roberts was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1980, serving eight terms until 1997. Following the retirement of Senator Nancy Kassebaum, he was elected to the Senate in 1996 and re-elected in 2002.

In addition to his chairmanship on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chairing the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. This subcommittee oversees the military's contribution to homeland security and the efforts to prevent proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

Positions and Views
In August 2004, Roberts proposed legislation to dismantle the CIA and establish a national intelligence director with far-reaching powers, including authority over budget and personnel decisions.

As chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Roberts played a key role in investigating intelligence failures leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The first half of the Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq was released on July 9, 2004. At that time, Roberts said about the second half of the report, "It is one of my top priorities." However, after the 2004 election, he stated "To go through that exercise, it seems to me, in a post-election environment &mdash; we didn't see how we could do that and achieve any possible progress. I think everybody pretty well gets it." Critics have argued that a comparison between pre-war intelligence and the pre-war statements made by senior Bush administration officials may have been damaging to the Bush administration, and that this half of the report was halted to protect those officials.

He is known as an advocate on national security and defense, agriculture, health care, education, free and fair trade policies, and increased investment in science and technology.

Money in politics
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Oil Money in Politics
Pat Roberts has received $115,650 in oil contributions during the 110th congress. $65,500 of those dollars were from industry PACS. In total, Roberts has accepted $199,650 from oil companies since 2000, which makes him one of the top recipients of oil money in the United States Senate. See above for oil and energy voting record.

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
 * Subcommittee on Domestic & Foreign Marketing, Inspection, & Plant & Animal Health
 * Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support - Ranking Member
 * Senate Committee on Finance
 * Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
 * Subcommittee on Children and Families
 * Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
 * Subcommittee on Marketing Inspection and Production Promotion
 * Subcommittee on Research Nutrition and General Legislation
 * Subcommittee on Production and Price Competitiveness
 * Senate Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
 * Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
 * Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
 * Senate Select Committee on Ethics
 * Senate Select Committee on Intelligence - Chair
 * Subcommittee on Oversight of the Terrorist Surveillance Program - Chair
 * Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
 * Subcommittee on Retirement Security and Aging
 * Subcommittee on Bioterrorism Preparendess and Public Health
 * Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Founding Member, Bipartisan Caucus on Unfunded Mandates, 1994-Present
 * Founding Member, Bipartisan Rural Health Care Coalition, 1991-Present
 * Congressional Coalition on Adoption
 * National Republican Congressional Committee
 * Senate Centrist Coalition

More Background Data

 * See how you compare to Pat Roberts

Resources

 * Official website
 * Follow the Oil Money-Senate
 * Vote Tracker
 * Follow the Coal Money- Senate
 * Appalachian Voices

Articles

 * Larisa Alexandrovna, "Senate Intelligence chairman quietly 'fixed' intelligence, and diverted blame from White House over Iraq" and "Through leaks and smears, Senate chairman protects White House to blame CIA, Democrats," The Raw Story, August 11, 2005.
 * Editorial, The Intelligence Business, New York Times, May 7, 2006.
 * "Roberts: 'No civil liberties if you're dead'," Lawrence Journal-World (Kansas), May 19, 2006.
 * David Weigel, "Pat Roberts, Bedwetter," Hit and Run / Reason.com, May 19, 2006.
 * Matthew Yglesias, Talking Points Memo, May 19, 2006.
 * Mark Mazzetti, "Senator Faults Bid to Classify Report on Iraq," The New York Times, August 4, 2006.
 * Andy Davis, "‘Don’t surrender’ in Iraq, vets urge Pryor in TV ad," Arkansas Democrat Gazette (NWA News (Northwest Arkansas)), August 17, 2007. re Vets for Freedom

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Red State Rabble
 * In this Moment