Samuel Brownback

Samuel Dale Brownback has been a Senator from Kansas since winning a 1996 special election. He is a member of the Republican Party and was seeking the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election. He has announced that he will not be running for re-election to the Senate in 2010 and has hinted at running for the Kansas Governor's seat which will be vacated the same year

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

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

Jack Abramoff money
Brownback accepted $42,000 from Jack Abramoff, a disgraced ex-lobbyist involved in a wide-reaching public corruption scandal. This prompted Wyandotte Nation Chief Leaford Bearskin to state in a press release that he was "outraged and so very disappointed to learn that Senator Brownback reportedly received large sums of dirty money from Jack Abramoff, a Washington D.C. lobbyist who abused the political system for financial gain at the expense of the Native American community."

D.C. Flat Tax
In December 2005, Brownback advocated using Washington, DC as a "laboratory" for a flat tax. His advocated position on this issue was "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." This has irked many residents of the District, as the idea of a Senator from Kansas forcing a system of taxation on them would seem to only further the District's taxation without representation. Indeed, 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." 

Same-sex unions
Brownback was recently criticized for comments he made during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. In the interview, he is quoted as having criticized Sweden for allowing same-sex civil unions. "You'll know them by their fruits," Brownback said, quoting Matthew 7:19. Rolling Stone writer Jeff Sharlet publicly stated that the term was a faux pas and informed Brownback's office that he would be glad to back Brownback up on this one specific point, but Brownback preferred to insist that Sharlet had misunderstood his scriptural reference. In fact, as Sharlet later wrote on The Revealer, the journal of NYU's Center for Religion and Media, the Brownback's comment came in a conversation in which he defended his opposition to queer rights even though he did not know the Bible verses upon which he claimed to base it. Wrote Sharlet:


 * "I ask the senator whether he’s aware of the contested interpretations of the Hebrew and Greek passages on which Christian conservatives base their opposition to homosexuality. I’m particularly interested in Leviticus 20:13, which some ultraconservatives believe mandates the death penalty for gay men, and Romans 1, both of which, I tell him, I’ve been discussing with some Bible scholars. He frowns. It turns out he’s not aware of the passages. This does not bother him. “It’s pretty clear,” he says, his fingers folded into a temple beneath his chin, “what we know in our hearts.”


 * "Brownback calls this knowledge “natural law,” but the “evidence” produced by a heart that hates homosexuality is a far cry from the “natural law” St. Paul spoke of in Romans 1:19-20, which simply holds that gentiles as well as Jews could infer God from the world around them. Rather, Brownback has embraced a circular logic of self-observation: Homosexuality is wrong based on the evidence that he believes it is wrong. To legislate against it or any other practice his heart tells him is sin is not theocratic, it’s “natural.” "

Support for General Pace's remarks on homosexuality
Brownback backed General Pace a few days after he came under fire for calling homosexual acts immoral. When asked if he agreed with Pace's comments, Brownback stated, "I do not believe being a homosexual is immoral, but I do believe homosexual acts are. I'm a Catholic and the church has clear teachings on this." 

Regulations on violent television programming
In mid-July of 2007, Brownback planned to introduce legislation to establish a new federal standard that would prevent some television shows from airing on broadcast networks before 10 p.m.. The bill would be an amendment to a financial services appropriations bill that would have the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopt measures to "protect children from excessively violent video programming."

Critics of the legislation argue that the amendment's definition of excessively violent programming, which is violence that is "patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards," is simply too vague, giving the FCC too much control over what it would be able to restrict.

Others pointed out that this bill would restrict shows like "Law and Order," which used to feature one of Brownback's rivals in the GOP presidential nomination, Fred Thompson.

Background
Born September 12, 1956, Brownback grew up on his family's farm near Parker, Kansas. He graduated from Kansas State University in 1979 and received a law degree from the University of Kansas in 1982. He was an attorney before becoming the Kansas secretary of agriculture in 1986. In 1990, he was selected to be a White House Fellow for the Class of '90-91, to serve in George H.W. Bush's Administration. After serving one year, Brownback returned to Kansas to resume his position as secretary of agriculture until 1993.

He was received into the Roman Catholic church in 2002, with the assistance of fellow Republican Senator Rick Santorum. Contrary to popular rumor, he is not a member of the Catholic Church's Opus Dei, although he was introduced to Catholicism by a member.

Congressional career
Brownback was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1994, and served one term before he was elected Senator in a special election in November 1996 to replace Bob Dole. (Dole resigned his Senate seat during his presidential campaign). Brownback was elected to a full term in the Senate in 1998.

Brownback has announced that he will not run for reelection in 2010 in accordance with his support of term limits.

Views and Positions
Brownback is a far-right, outspoken, socially conservative politician, joining staunch senate conservatives such as Rick Santorum, Pat Roberts and Tom Coburn in pushing for hard-line social reform. He opposes federal-funding of embryonic stem cell research and also favors capital punishment. He believes that homosexuality is an "abomination." He is averse to same-sex marriage, is "concerned" about pornography, and is pro-life, having compared abortion to the Holocaust or infanticide. .

He was one of the leading opponents of Bush Supreme Court nominee Harriet E. Miers, whom many regarded as not qualified enough and perhaps too moderate.

According to his web site, "Brownback has taken an active role in developing U.S. foreign policy concerning India, Pakistan, Central Asia and Iraq."

Brownback has been active on attempting to increase U.S. involvement in the Darfur conflict and is an endorser of the Genocide Intervention Network.

Presidential bid
Through 2006, Brownback had little name recognition outside of Washington, D.C. and his home state of Kansas. In 2006, however, he began making visits to early primary and caucus states such as New Hampshire and Iowa. In an appearance on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson voiced support of a Brownback presidential bid.

Brownback announced that he had formed a presidential exploratory committee on December 4, 2006, officially signaling his intention to pursue his party's nomination. 

Brownback officially announced his candidacy in the 2008 presidential election on January 20, 2007. 

Money in politics
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Committees and Affiliations

 * Advisory Committee, Susan B. Anthony List
 * Advisory Board, Institute on Religion and Public Policy
 * Advisory Board (2000 at least), The Sudan Campaign
 * Board of Reference, Servant's Heart
 * Presidium, Jerusalem Summit

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * Senate Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies
 * Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
 * Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
 * Subcommittee on Military Contruction and Veterans Affairs
 * Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
 * Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
 * Senate Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights
 * Subcommittee on the Constitution
 * Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
 * Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security
 * Joint Economic Committee - Ranking Member

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

 * Joint Economic Committee
 * Senate Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Agriculture Rural Development and Related Agencies
 * Subcommittee on Commerce Justice and Science
 * Subcommittee on the District of Columbia - Chair
 * Subcommittee on State Foreign Operations and Related Programs
 * Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Transportation Treasury the Judiciary and Housing and Urban Development
 * Senate Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Antitrust Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
 * Subcommittee on the Constitution Civil Rights and Property Rights - Chair
 * Subcommittee on Corrections and Rehabilitations
 * Subcommittee on Immigration Border Security and Citizenship
 * Subcommittee on Intellectual Property

Resources

 * Official website
 * Sam Brownback on the Issues
 * Technorati Search: Sam Brownback
 * Google News Search: Sam Brownback
 * Yahoo! News Search: Sam Brownback
 * Power Trips: How much does Sam Brownback travel?
 * GovTrack Statistics: Sam Brownback
 * Segment on Brownback's stem-cell presentation on the Senate floor, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (delivered by Crooks and Liars.) (Other Daily Show non-interview segments on members of Congress.)
 * See how you compare to Sam Brownback

Profiles

 * Profile: Sam Brownback, Politics Nationwide.
 * Official Biography

Brownback Blogs

 * Anybody But Brownback
 * The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog
 * Catholics for Brownback

Articles about Sam Brownback

 * Scott Rothschild, "Silent PACs boost GOP coffers," Lawrence Journal-World (Kansas), October 3, 2003.
 * Jerry Siebenmark, "Former chief of staff starts consulting business with Koch Industries official," Wichita Business Journal, March 30, 2004.
 * Tim Carpenter, "Money & politics: Out-of-state donations help tip scales of elections," Topeka Capital-Journal, April 18, 2004.
 * Jonathan E. Kaplan, "'My soul is a work in progress'," The Hill, May 25, 2005.
 * Editorial: "An Up-or-Down Vote?" Washington Post, June 6, 2005.
 * Max Blumenthal, "Brownback's Blind Ambition Tour," The Nation, June 20, 2005.
 * Michael Scherer, "Debbie Does Washington," Salon, November 11, 2005.
 * Sam Hananel, "Brownback to give away funds linked to lobbyist," Associated Press (Kansas.com), December 12, 2005.
 * Scott Rothschild, "Senator: Bush's Spying Raises Concern," Lawrence Journal-World, December 24, 2005.
 * Marisa Katz, "Obama and Brownback Show How Not to Halt a Genocide," The New Republic, December 29, 2005.
 * Jeff Sharlet, "God's Senator," Rolling Stone, January 25, 2006.*Jeff Sharlet, "Sam Brownback Is A Fruit", The Revealer, February 2, 2006.
 * Robert Siegel, "Sam Brownback's Politics of Faith," NPR, February 9, 2006.
 * Mary Dalrymple, "Senator Looks to D.C. to Test Flat-Tax," Associated Press (San Diego Tribune), March 8, 2006.
 * Sam Hananel, "Private funding paid for 10 Brownback trips in 2005," Associated Press (Lawrence Journal-World), March 11, 2006.
 * Liz Marlantes, "Stem Cell Debate Under Way in Nation's Capital," ABC News, July 17, 2006. Scroll down for Brownback and "snowflake babies"
 * David Brody, "Congress Still Bickering over Embryonic Stem Cells," Christian Broadcasting Network, July 17, 2006.
 * Michael Stickings, "Sam Brownback's stupid showmanship on stem-cell research," The Moderate Voice, July 19, 2006.
 * John Amato, "The Daily Show on Stem Cell Brownback," Crooks and Liars, July 20, 2006. Also "Osama Bin Parkinsons and The War on Terrorble Diseases" posted by YouTube.
 * Jonthan M. Gitlin, "Stem cells: vetoes, half-truths, and outright lies," Nobel Intent, July 21, 2006.
 * "NY Times, CNN reported Bush signed 'fetal farming' ban, failed to note there is no such thing as 'fetal farming'," Media Matters for America, July 21, 2006. See S.3504: Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006 proposed by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and co-sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
 * Matthew Mosk, "Brownback Announces Presidential Bid," Washington Post, January 21, 2007.
 * "Brownback Knocks Down Lieberman Claim That Iraq Resolutions 'Encourage The Enemy'," Think Progress, January 28, 2007. re Joe Lieberman
 * Carrie Sheffield, "Brownback Leads The Field In Missed Votes," The Politico, February 16, 2007. (See TheVanguard.Org.)
 * "Presidential candidate Brownback: Homosexual acts are immoral," CNN, March 16, 2007.
 * 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

Articles by Sam Brownback

 * "A True, Complete Ban," National Review, February 26, 2003.
 * "Defining Marriage Down," National Review, July 9, 2004.
 * With Barack Obama, "Policy Adrift on Darfur," Washington Post, December 27, 2005.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Red State Rabble
 * In this Moment