Charles Patrick "Pat" Roberts (born April 20, 1936) is the senior
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from
KansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. A member of the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, he has served since 1997. He is the ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture and previously served as the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Born in
Topeka, KansasTopeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, Roberts is a graduate of
Kansas State UniversityKansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
. He served as a captain in the
U.S. Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and worked as a newspaper reporter before entering politics in the late 1960s. He was elected to the
U.S. House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in 1980 to succeed 1st District Congressman
Keith SebeliusKeith George Sebelius was an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1969 to 1981....
, for whom he had worked. He served eight terms in the House, including one as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.
Roberts was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, and is currently serving his third term. He has a conservative voting record. On the Intelligence Committee he was responsible for an investigation into the intelligence failures prior to the
2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. He led the creation of the
Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars ProgramThe Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program was established by the US Congress in 2004. In 2010 it became a permanent, authorized funded IC program. By 2011 most IC agencies participate in this program which is designated to recruit and train analysts and linguists...
in 2004.
Early life, education, and early political career
Roberts was born in
Topeka, KansasTopeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, to Ruth B. Patrick and
C. Wesley RobertsCharles Wesley Roberts was a Kansas businessman who was Chairman of the Republican National Committee for four months in 1953 under Dwight D. Eisenhower....
. His father served for four months as Chairman of the Republican National Committee under
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
. Roberts's great-grandfather, J.W. Roberts, was the founder of the
Oskaloosa Independent, which claims to be the second-oldest newspaper in Kansas.
Roberts graduated in 1954 from high school in
Holton, KansasHolton is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,329. It is part of the Topeka, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. He went on to earn a
B.A.A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in
JournalismJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
from
Kansas State UniversityKansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
in 1958, where he became a member of the
Pi Kappa AlphaPi Kappa Alpha is a Greek social fraternity with over 230 chapters and colonies and over 250,000 lifetime initiates in the United States and Canada.-History:...
fraternity. From 1958 to 1962, he served as a captain in the
U.S. Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. Roberts was a reporter and editor for several
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
newspapers before joining the staff of Republican Kansas Senator
Frank CarlsonFrank Carlson was an American politician who served as the 30th Governor of Kansas and United States Representative and United States Senator from Kansas.-Biography:...
in 1967. In 1969, he became administrative assistant to Kansas's 1st District Congressman
Keith SebeliusKeith George Sebelius was an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1969 to 1981....
.
Elections
After Keith Sebelius announced his
retirementRetirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
, Roberts easily won the Republican primary, which was
tantamount to election"Tantamount to election" is a phrase to describe a situation in which one political party so dominates the demographics of a voting district, that the person winning the party nomination for a race will virtually be assured of winning the general election...
in the heavily Republican 1st District. He was re-elected seven times without serious difficulty, never receiving less than 60 percent of the vote; in 1988, he ran unopposed.
Committee assignments
Roberts served as the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee from 1995 to 1997.
Elections
Following the retirement of Senator
Nancy KassebaumNancy Landon Kassebaum Baker represented the State of Kansas in the United States Senate from 1978 to 1997. She is the daughter of Alf Landon, who was Governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937 and the 1936 Republican nominee for president...
, Roberts easily won the Republican primary. In the general election, he defeated Democratic State Treasurer Sally Thompson with 62 percent of the vote, almost certainly helped by the presence of
Bob DoleRobert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
atop the ticket as the Republican presidential candidate. No Democratic candidate opposed Roberts in 2002, allowing him to win re-election to a second term with 82.5% of the vote. Roberts won a third term in 2008, taking 60% of the vote against former Congressman
Jim SlatteryJames Charles Slattery is an American politician and was the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator from Kansas.- Early life and career :...
.
Tenure
Roberts became Kansas's senior senator in the 112th Congress, as Brownback is retired from the Senate to run for
GovernorThe Governor of the State of Kansas is the head of state for the State of Kansas, United States. Under the Kansas Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the Kansas executive branch, of the government of Kansas. The Governor is the...
. Roberts was a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chairing the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. This subcommittee oversaw the military's work in the area of
homeland securityHomeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
and the efforts to prevent proliferation of
nuclear, chemical, and biological weaponsA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
.
Roberts's voting record is
conservativeConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
. Among other issues, he is
pro-lifeOpposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
, opposes
same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and supports the Patriot Act, and loosening restrictions on NSA wiretapping.
Roberts opposed President Barack Obama's health reform legislation; he voted against the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care ActThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
in December 2009, and he voted against the
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 is a law that was enacted by the 111th United States Congress, by means of the reconciliation process, in order to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...
.
Investigation into pre-war intelligence on Iraq
As chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Roberts was responsible for the committee's investigation into the intelligence failures prior to the
2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. The first half of the
Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on IraqThe Senate Report on Iraqi WMD Intelligence was the report by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concerning the U.S. intelligence community's assessments of Iraq during the time leading up to the 2003 U.S. invasion...
was released on July 9, 2004. The second half, according to language voted on by the full Committee, consists of five parts including: whether public statements and reports and testimony regarding Iraq by U.S. Government officials made between the Gulf War period and the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom were substantiated by intelligence information; the postwar findings about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and weapons programs and links to terrorism and how they compare with prewar assessments; prewar intelligence assessments about postwar Iraq; any intelligence activities relating to Iraq conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG) and the Office of Special Plans within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; and the use by the Intelligence Community of information provided by the Iraqi National Congress (INC).
On November 1, 2005, Senate Minority Leader
Harry ReidHarry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
called the Senate into a rare closed session. The move was "an attempt to get around the perceived stalling by Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS). Roberts had promised in July 2004 to investigate the Bush administration's misuse of intelligence before the Iraq War, but to date has not released any findings of such an investigation."
Almost two years after finishing of Phase I investigation, Roberts released the Committee's schedule for completion of Phase II on March 14, 2006, saying, “Today members of the Committee were provided three draft reports of the Phase II inquiry including: postwar findings about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs and links to terrorism and how they compare with prewar assessments, the use by the Intelligence Community of information provided by the
Iraqi National CongressThe Iraqi National Congress is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. It was formed with the aid and direction of the United States government following the Gulf War, for the purpose of fomenting the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.-History:INC was set up following the...
(INC), and prewar intelligence assessments about postwar Iraq.
“The Committee’s efforts on Phase II must be completed in a timely manner,” Roberts said. “I intend to complete this inquiry within the agreed upon Phase II parameters and turn the Committee’s attention to other pressing national security matters.
“Two of the drafts given to members today are complete or close to completion. The third is still being revised. Members were briefed by Committee staff, in detail, about each draft. Staff continues to work on a draft of the fourth report on public statements. The Committee will receive this draft when it is ready.
“It is my intention to complete work on the drafts presented to members today following the Easter recess. During the recess, staff will receive and incorporate member input where appropriate in order to complete the three drafts. They will begin drafting conclusions for member consideration.
“In order to expedite the declassification process so that the American people can review the information, the drafts of the factual findings of the report will be sent to the Intelligence Community for fact checking and declassification with the understanding that they are not final until approved by the Committee.
“Following the recess, the Committee will engage in a series of closed business meetings to move forward on Phase II which will include Committee approval of factual findings and conclusions.”
On August 3, 2006, Chairman Roberts publicly released the findings of fact and conclusions of the first two of the Phase II reports.
On February 16, 2006, the Committee voted to create a seven member subcommittee to conduct enhanced oversight of the National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program, instead of a vote called by committee Democrats to investigate the misconduct by administration because the program is claimed by many scholars as breaking the 1978 law of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. A
New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
editorial accused Roberts of "trying to give legal cover to the president's trampling on the law and the Constitution."
Torture
Roberts was one of nine Senators to vote against the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 on October 5, 2005.
On September 28, 2006, Roberts voted with a largely Republican majority to suspend
habeas corpus is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
provisions for anyone deemed by the Executive Branch an "unlawful combatant," barring them from challenging their detentions in court. Roberts's vote gave a retroactive, nine-year immunity to U.S. officials who authorized, ordered, or committed acts of torture and abuse, permitting the use of statements obtained through torture to be used in military tribunals so long as the abuse took place by December 30, 2005.
Roberts's vote authorized the President to establish permissible interrogation techniques and to "interpret the meaning and application" of international Geneva Convention standards, so long as the coercion fell short of "serious" bodily or psychological injury. The bill became law on October 17, 2006.
Environmental record
Roberts worked to secure $15 million for research on carbon sequestration.
The nonpartisan
League of Conservation VotersThe League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement. LCV's mission is to "advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt...
has given Roberts a score of zero on environmental issues for 2006. In that year, the senator voted to increase
offshore oil drillingOffshore drilling refers to a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled through the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently produce hydrocarbons which lie in rock formations beneath the seabed...
, to include provisions for drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife RefugeThe Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
in the House Budget Amendment, to deny funding for low-income energy assistance and for environmental stewardship, and effectively to exempt Army Corps of Engineers project analyses from independent review. Roberts voted to confirm
Gale NortonGale Ann Norton served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush...
as
Secretary of the InteriorThe United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
, to exclude oil and gas smokestacks from
mercuryMercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
regulations, and to reclassify the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Cabinet department — moves widely seen as pro-business and anti-environment.
Intelligence program
The 2004
Intelligence Authorization ActThe Intelligence Authorization Act was implemented in order to codify covert, clandestine operations and defines requirements for reporting such operations to the Congress...
saw the creation of the
Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars ProgramThe Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program was established by the US Congress in 2004. In 2010 it became a permanent, authorized funded IC program. By 2011 most IC agencies participate in this program which is designated to recruit and train analysts and linguists...
. The program links undergraduate and graduate students with US security and intelligence agencies" by providing funding to selected US students entering university, in return for a commitment to join the agency for at least 18 months on graduation. PRISP is a decentralized program which funds students through various intelligence agencies.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
The Committee of Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of all matters relating to the nation's agriculture industry, farming programs, forestry and logging, and legislation relating to nutrition and...
- Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
The U.S. Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Innovation is one of five subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry....
- Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health
- Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support (Ranking Member)
- Committee on Finance
The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...
- Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-term Growth
The Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight is one of the six subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Finance-Members, 112th Congress:...
- Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy
The Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy is one of the six subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Finance-Members, 112th Congress:...
(Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
- Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions generally considers matters relating to health, education, labor, and pensions...
- Subcommittee on Children and Families
The Senate Health Subcommittee on Children and Families is one of the three subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Health-Jurisdiction:The Subcommittee's jurisdiction includes Head Start, the Family Medical Leave Act, child care and child support, and other issues involving children, youth,...
- Select Committee on Ethics
The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics is a select committee of the United States Senate charged with dealing with matters related to senatorial ethics. It is also commonly referred to as the Senate Ethics Committee...
Personal life
Roberts married Franki Fann in 1969. The couple has three adult children: David, Ashleigh, and Anne-Wesley.
Electoral history
United States Senate election in Kansas, 2008The 2008 United States Senate election in Kansas was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pat Roberts won re-election to a third term.-Background:The state of Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932...
| Pat Roberts (R) (inc.) 60% |
| Jim Slattery (D) 36% |
United States Senate election in Kansas, 2002The 2002 United States Senate election in Kansas was held on November 4, 2002. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pat Roberts won re-election to a second term easily because no Democrat filed to run.-Results:-Results:...
| Pat Roberts (R) (inc.) 82.5% |
| Steven Rosile (Lib.) 9.1% |
| George Cook (Reform) 8.4% |
United States Senate election in Kansas, 1996The 1996 United States Senate election in Kansas was held November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Republican Pat Roberts won the open seat.-Results:-Results:...
| Pat Roberts (R) 62% |
| Sally Thompson (D) 34.4% |
| Mark S. Marney (Reform) 2.3% |
| Steven Rosile (Lib.) 1.2% |
1994 Kansas 1st District United States Congressional Election
| Pat Roberts (R) (inc.) 77% |
| Terry L. Nichols (D) 23% |
1986 Kansas 1st District United States Congressional Election
| Pat Roberts (R) (inc.) 76.5% |
| Dale Lyon (D) 23.5% |
1980 Kansas 1st District United States Congressional Election
| Pat Roberts (R) 62% |
| Phil Martin (D) 38% |
External links