From Power to Purpose, by Sam Brownback: on Principles & Values
1994: First elected, but didn't sign Contract With America
In the 1994 election, I hadn't signed the Contract with America that Republican leaders had introduced--mainly because I had a different idea about how to manage welfare reform. Also I wanted to be an independent candidate and not simply as part of a
machine. I made my principles and beliefs clear to the voters, and I did my best to assure them that I was a Reagan conservative.When the smoke finally cleared, a Republican was chosen as Speaker of the House for the first time since 1953.
Fully half of the freshman class of 1994 had never held elective office before. In some ways that was a good thing. We weren't frightened by anything and didn't know what was possible or impossible.
Our advantage was in our numbers and in our fearlessness--a rare trait in politicians! We may have been green, but the key was to attack the system hard--and that's just what we did.
Source: From Power to Purpose, by Sam Brownback, p. 18-21
Jul 3, 2007
Considers "constituency of one"--God--in every decision
The pivot point in my understanding of my role in the Senate was a 1997 Bible study held by the Senate chaplain, who asked a simple question: "How many constituents do you have? I'd like to suggest to you that each of you has just one constituent, and
that constituent is God. If God is happy with what you're doing and the measures you're supporting in the Senate, then everything is going to be fine. But if he isn't happy, none of this is going to matter." That was an important insight. From then on
I was going to think seriously about that "constituency of one" in every decision.
After about 6 months I began thinking, "I wonder if you can get reelected with one happy constituent. He's a good constituent, and a key one, but is that
really enough?" My poll numbers had gone up during that period. Once again, the words recorded in Matthew 6:33 rang true: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (NKJV).
Source: From Power to Purpose, by Sam Brownback, p. 34-5
Jul 3, 2007
A Kemp-Bennett Republican: pro-growth & pro-cultural renewal
One of my first meetings when I entered the Senate in 1996 was with Bill Bennett, who had served as Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration, and as drug czar in the first Bush administration.
I had been an admirer of his work on cultural issues for a long time, and Jack Kemp and he had recently founded Empower America to work for economic and social reform. As far as operational politics, I viewed myself as a Kemp-Bennett
Republican, pro-growth & pro-cultural renewal. Jack had the economic issues, and Bill had the family issues, and between those two, that was a key set of domestic agenda items for me. Empower America has done some great work on cultural issues such
as song lyrics and the impact of popular culture on young people. Bill Bennett was dealing with that from a conservative perspective, which was not so much legislative as talking to the culture and saying, “Look what we’re doing.”
Source: From Power to Purpose, by Sam Brownback, p.104
Jul 3, 2007
Embrace faith; don't run it out of the public square
A country that walks away from God, walks away from its future. This is particularly true for America. We are a faith-based country. Our motto is "In God we trust." We should encourage and embrace faith, not run it out of the public square and into a
closet to be brought out in an emergency or for sentimental purposes. To be clear, I'm adamantly opposed to a theocracy. It would be bad for religion and bad for government and bad for America. But let's end the war on faith in the West.
Source: From Power to Purpose, by Sam Brownback, p.216
Jul 3, 2007
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