Sam Brownback - 2008 Presidential Candidate

Senator Sam Brownback is one of the Republican candidates in the 2008 Presidential Election. Border security is Brownback's top priority, and he believes, "One of the primary jobs of the United States government is to ensure the safety of the American people. In order to do so, we must secure our borders."

Sam Brownback recently voted to double the number of border patrol agents over the next five years. He also supports increasing Department of Homeland Security detention space in an effort to help end the current "catch-and-release" policy. Senator Brownback voted to construct 700 miles of border fencing and 350 miles of vehicle barriers along the Southern border.

Brownback's priorities are not one-dimensional, though. He also supports a flat tax concept that will simplify tax preparation and apply a low tax rate to all Americans. He further believes that providing for choice in education is beneficial to student achievement. Senator Brownback is a pro-life candidate and contends he cannot foresee the Republicans nominating a candidate who his not pro-life. Brownback has been exploring ways to build market- and consumer-based solutions to health care reform.

The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2006 was introduced by Senator Brownback and was subsequently signed into law by President Bush. This Act increases fines on broadcast networks that air obscene material during hours children are likely to be watching.

Brownback has been an outspoken critic of the violence in Darfur. On May 15, 2007, Senator Brownback released financial disclosure forms showing that he had sold off tens of thousands of dollars in mutual fund holdings to avoid investing in companies that do business with Sudan. He was the first presidential candidate to make public a financial disclosure report that was required to be filed with the Federal Election Commission

A harsh critic of the War in Iraq, Brownback stated during the June 5, 2007 Presidential debate, "...We've got to put forward now a political plan," Brownback said. "It's about getting the situation to a point that we can turn it over to Iraqis and then us pull back from the front of the line. That's why I'm putting forward tomorrow a bill - and this would be about a three-state solution in Iraq - a Kurdish state, a Sunni state, a Shi'a state - with Baghdad as the federal city, in a loose, weak, federated system, oil revenues equally divided, and it's a bipartisan bill. We will have bipartisan support. We've got to pull together here to win over there."

Brownback served as White House Fellow detailed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 1990-1991, and as Kansas Secretary of Agriculture, 1986-1993. He was a Representative from Kansas, United States House of Representatives, 1995-1996, and is currently serving as U. S. Senator representing the State of Kansas.

In the Senate, Brownback serves on the Appropriations, Judiciary and Joint Economic Committees. Sam Brownback is the Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. Brownback co-chairs the Senate Cancer Coalition and the Human Rights Caucus. He chairs the Senate Values Action Team, is the founding member of the Senate Fiscal Watch Team, and serves in the Helsinki Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Sam Brownback was born in 1956 and is another of the Roman Catholic candidates for president in the 2008 Presidential election. He and his wife, Mary, have five children. Brownback was born in, reared in and educated in Kansas, the state he represents as a U.S. Senator. He is a lawyer by education and training.

Brownback's book, which he co-authored with Don E. Eberly, is titled Building a Healthy Culture: Strategies for an American Renaissance. Amazon.com describes the book as, "composed of essays by well-known thinkers and unique in the breadth and depth of its discussion, this timely and constructive work argues for the importance of cultural health in maintaining a free and civil society and explores the theme of cultural renewal in many different sectors of life - family life, vocations, the media, and more."

Brownback's professional credentials prior to serving in the House of Representatives and U. S. Senate include broadcaster and attorney, 1983-1986. Senator Brownback lacks the depth and breadth of political experiences some his opponents offer voters. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Being somewhat less of a Washington insider makes him less suspect in my mind and more likely to think for himself and stick to his convictions!