Georgetown University: Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs: A Conversation about Religion and Politics with Senator Sam Brownback

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Copley Formal Lounge 

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) discussed with President John J. DeGioia how he engages with domestic and global politics as a person of faith.

Senator Brownback has taken the lead in numerous legislative battles in defense of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, beginning at the moment of conception. On issues of religious freedom, Senator Brownback is deeply "concerned about the tendency of the courts in recent years to weaken the First Amendment rights of religious groups or individuals to freely express their faith. In fact, it seems that this cherished fundamental liberty has been under assault by Supreme Court rulings, requiring a renewed vigilance to preserve this "unalienable right" which is central to our American identity."  In foreign policy, he believes that the "U.S. remains the only super-power nation in the world. With great power comes great responsibility, and we, as Americans, must continue to use that power for good -- to encourage political, economic and religious freedom throughout the world."

This event is one in a series on Religion and the 2008 Election, which is part of the Berkley Center's project on Religion and US Politics in Global Perspective.

Biography:

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) was born in Parker, Kansas and raised on a farm where his mother and father still live. He was a leader in high school, in Future Farmers of America as state president, as student body president at Kansas State University and president of his class at University of Kansas Law School. 

Senator Brownback served as a White House Fellow in the first Bush Administration and was the youngest Secretary of Agriculture in Kansas history. When he was 38, he was elected to the House of Representatives with the Republican Revolution in 1994. In 1996, he was elected to the U.S. Senate seat held by Senator Bob Dole.

In the U.S. Senate, Senator Brownback serves on the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Joint Economic Committees. He is the Ranking Member on the Joint Economic Committee, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, as well as the subcommittee responsible for the Constitution. He also serves in the Helsinki Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, co-chairs the Senate Cancer Coalition and the Human Rights Caucus, chairs the Senate Values Action Team, and is a founding member of the Senate Fiscal Watch Team.

Senator Brownback has earned a reputation for expertise and genuine concern in a wide range of issue areas. He is currently focused on defending and promoting traditional marriage, building market- and consumer-based solutions to health care reform, and meaningful tax reform including an optional flat tax. He has worked hard to ensure that the United States confirms judges who will interpret the law and not legislate from the bench, to create a BRAC-like commission to review and terminate failed or completed federal programs, to protect and renew our American culture, and to defend human life. He is actively engaged in re-opening the U.S. beef trade in Asia, stopping genocide in Darfur, incentivizing drug companies to find cures to neglected diseases throughout the world, and spreading democracy and human rights in Iran and North Korea.

The Economist has called Senator Brownback "The Wilberforce Republican" and the New York Times declared that he is "one of the most conservative, religious, fascinating -- and, in many ways, admirable -- politicians in America today."

Over the years, Senator Brownback has been a radio broadcaster, attorney, teacher, administrator, congressman and senator. Senator Brownback and his wife Mary have five children.