Senate Report Card: Lamar Alexander R-TN

Senator Lamar Alexander is the senior Republican United States Senator from the state of Tennessee. Senator Alexander assumed office in 2003. He previously served as the Governor of Tennessee as well as Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush.

Senator Alexander serves on the Environment Public Works, Appropriations, Rules and Administration and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees. He is the ranking minority member on the Subcommittee on Children and Families and the Subcommittee on Public Sector Solutions to Global Warming, Oversight, and Children's Health Protection.

Lamar Alexander filled his Senate seat after being urged by President Bush as the seat was being vacated by former Senator Fred Thompson. Since then, Alexander has strongly urged and is a great supporter of Thompson's potential run for the presidency in 2008.

Alexander is pro life voting against the Partial-Birth Abortion Bill and against the Unintended Pregnancy Amendment. He voted against English as the Common Language as he believed it should be declared the National Language, and for the Flag Desecration Amendment.

Senator Alexander introduced legislation that would encourage legal immigrants and prospective citizens to learn what it means to become American by studying English, American history and government. He argued that immigrants must learn what it is to be American. The bill provided $500 grants for English courses, allow prospective citizens who become fluent in English to apply for citizenship one year early, provide for grants to organizations to provide courses in American history and civics and ask the Department of Homeland Security to carry out a strategy to highlight the moving ceremonies where immigrants become American citizens.

Alexander introduced legislation as the Iraq Study Group Recommendations Implementation Act. The bill would make the group's recommendations the basis for future U.S. strategy in Iraq. He sent a 'Dear Colleague' letter to Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to gather support for the proposed bill. The bill sets a 'new way forward' by establishing as United States policy and provides a new diplomatic offensive in the region that includes the creation of the Iraq International Support Group; gives the highest priority to training, equipping and advising the Iraqi military and security forces; assesses the full budgetary and personnel impact of the war in Iraq on the United States Military; accelerates and increasing oil production and accountability including equitable distribution of oil revenues in Iraq; implements an oversight of economic reconstruction programs in Iraq with the creation of a new Senior Advisor for Economic Reconstruction;
ensures that the President includes the cost of the war in his annual budget request; and
sets conditions that could lead to redeployment of United States combat brigades not needed for force protection as early as the first quarter of 2008 if diplomatic, infrastructure and security benchmarks are met

Senator Lamar Alexander faces reelection in 2008.