Sam Brownback

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Sam Brownback
United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
In office
February 1, 2018 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byDavid Saperstein
Succeeded byRashad Hussain
46th Governor of Kansas
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 31, 2018
LieutenantJeff Colyer
Preceded byMark Parkinson
Succeeded byJeff Colyer
United States Senator
from Kansas
In office
November 7, 1996 – January 3, 2011
Preceded bySheila Frahm
Succeeded byJerry Moran
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kansas's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1995 – November 7, 1996
Preceded byJim Slattery
Succeeded byJim Ryun
Secretary of Agriculture of Kansas
In office
September 18, 1986 – July 30, 1993
GovernorJohn W. Carlin
Mike Hayden
Joan Finney
Preceded byHarland Priddle[1]
Succeeded byPhilip Fishburn[2]
Personal details
Born
Samuel Dale Brownback

(1956-09-12) September 12, 1956 (age 67)
Garnett, Kansas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Mary Stauffer
(m. 1982)
Children5
EducationKansas State University (BA)
University of Kansas (JD)
Signature

Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a

governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, Brownback also served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom during the administration of President Donald Trump and was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2008
.

Born in

1994 and defeated Carlin in the general election in a landslide. He represented Kansas's 2nd congressional district for a single term before running in a 1996 special election for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Bob Dole. He won the election and was reelected by large margins in 1998 and 2004. Brownback ran for president in 2008, but withdrew before the primaries began and endorsed eventual Republican nominee John McCain.[3][4][5]

Brownback declined to run for reelection

Department of Health and Human Services to set up a public health insurance exchange for Kansas.[10] Also in 2013, he signed a bill that blocked tax breaks for abortion providers, banned sex-selection abortions, and declared that life begins at fertilization.[11] In the run-up to the 2014 gubernatorial election, over 100 former and current Kansas Republican officials criticized Brownback's leadership and endorsed his Democratic opponent, Paul Davis.[12][13][14] Despite this, Brownback was narrowly reelected.[15] In June 2017, the Kansas Legislature repealed Brownback's tax cuts, overrode Brownback's veto of the repeal, and enacted tax increases.[16] Brownback left office as one of the least popular governors in the country.[17]

On July 26, 2017, the Trump administration announced that Brownback would be nominated as the new U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.[18] Brownback was confirmed in January 2018 in a party-line vote; Vice President Mike Pence cast the necessary tie-breaking votes to end a filibuster and to confirm his nomination.[19] Brownback resigned as governor of Kansas effective January 31, 2018,[20] and was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom on February 1, 2018.[21] His ambassadorial tenure ended in January 2021.

Early life and education

Sam Brownback was born on September 12, 1956, in

German-American ancestors settled in Kansas after leaving Pennsylvania following the Civil War.[24] Throughout his youth, Brownback was involved with the FFA (formerly the Future Farmers of America), serving as president of his local and state FFA chapters, and as national FFA vice president from 1976 to 1977.[25]

After graduating from Prairie View High School, Brownback attended

radio broadcaster for the now-defunct KSAC farm department, hosting a weekly half-hour show.[24][28] Brownback received his J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982.[29]

Early career

Brownback was an attorney in

U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by Bob Dole.[33]

U.S. Senator (1996–2011)

Elections

Sheila Frahm was appointed to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Bob Dole when Dole resigned in 1996 to campaign for president. Brownback defeated Frahm in the 1996 Republican primary and went on to win the general election against Democrat Jill Docking.[34] In 2001, the Federal Election Commission assessed fines and penalties against Brownback's campaign committee and against his in-laws for improper 1996 campaign contributions.[35] As a result of these improper contributions, the campaign was ordered to pay the government $19,000 and Brownback's in-laws, John and Ruth Stauffer, were ordered to pay a $9,000 civil penalty for improperly funneling contributions through Triad Management Services.[36]

In 1998, Brownback was elected to a full six-year term, defeating Democrat Paul Feleciano.[37] He won reelection in the 2004 Senate election with 69% of the vote, defeating Democratic former lobbyist Lee Jones.[38]

Throughout his U.S. Senate career, his principal campaign donors were the Koch brothers of Wichita-based Koch Industries, who donated more to Brownback than to any other political candidate during this period.[39][40]

Tenure

Senators Brownback and Feinstein in 2003, shown with Angelina Jolie, the Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, call for bipartisan legislation to reform the treatment of unaccompanied alien minors.

Brownback was a member of the

Joint Economic Committee, and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, which he at one time chaired. The Helsinki Commission monitors compliance with international agreements reached in cooperation with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.[41]

In 2000, Brownback and Congressman

trafficking cases eightfold in the five years after enactment.[43]

By August 12, 2007, in the 110th Session of Congress, Brownback had missed 123 votes due to campaigning (39.7 percent)–surpassed only by Tim Johnson (D) of South Dakota who due to a critical illness had missed 100% of the votes of the 110th Session, and John McCain (R) of Arizona with 149 votes missed due to campaigning (48.1 percent).[44]

In 2006, Brownback blocked a confirmation vote on a

Mel Martinez.[47]

In the mid-1990s, Brownback hired

CREW complaints

In 2009,

Robert Menendez, Barbara Mikulski, and Patty Murray.[50] A spokesman said Brownback had asked the group to stop sending the letter even before the complaint was filed.[50]

In 2010, CREW lodged an ethics complaint claiming a possible violation of the Senate's gifts rule by four senators and four congressmembers. The congressmembers lived in a $1.8 million Washington, D.C. townhouse[51] owned by C Street Center, Inc., which was in turn owned by Christian-advocacy group The Fellowship.[52][53] CREW alleged that the property was being leased exclusively to congressional members, including Brownback, and that the tenants were paying rent that was below market value.[54] Senator Tom Coburn's spokesman asserted that the rents charged were fair.[55][56]

Committees

2008 presidential campaign