Sam Brownback in State of Michigan Archives

On Energy & Oil: Energy security: drill every place you can find resources

Q: On the issue of exploration, you said yes to the coast of Florida, and you say yes to ANWR?

A: I voted yes for ANWR, and I would support those in other places, environmentally sound. We have to do it in environmentally sound fashion.

On Jobs: Unions do good, but need effective oversight

A: Sure. They’ve been good for the United States, I think, historically. My mother was a union member. It helped her on health care. There can be abuses, and I think you’re seeing some of them taking place. And I think the government has to work aggressively to see that those don’t take place and that there is effective oversight, which I don’t think you see during a Democrat administration. I think that is good for union members to have that effective oversight.

On Technology: Cut the Advanced Technology Program; it’s corporate welfare

A: Advanced Technology Program would be a good one to start with. It goes towards high-end spending, corporate welfare programs. There’s an abundance of those. That’s why you got to change the system, so that it regularly requires a vote of Congress on things to cut. That’s what’ll actually reduce spending.

On War & Peace: Iraq war is about terrorism, not oil

A: I don’t believe that in the least. What I voted for was the war on terrorism. And Afghanistan was where the Taliban was -- where al Qaeda was located; it was run by the Taliban. And we saw in Iraq what we thought was the mixture of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. And it was in 2003, this was in close proximity to 2001, when we had the 9/11 crisis, and I wasn’t about to trust that Saddam Hussein wasn’t going to mix terrorists with weapons of mass destruction. And we haven’t found the weapons of mass destruction, but that doesn’t mean we leave. And I think the Bush administration has generally done well military, and I think the military has done a fabulous job. I think we have done poorly on the political side. That’s what has been poorly done by the Bush administration--it hasn’t been well-handled politically. We’ve got to get a better bipartisan political solution--we can.