Scott P. Brown
Encyclopedia
Scott Philip Brown is an American politician and the junior United States Senator
from Massachusetts
. Brown previously served as a member of the Massachusetts General Court
, first in the State House of Representatives
(1998–2004) and then in the State Senate
(2004–2010).
Brown is a member of the Republican Party, and faced the Democratic candidate, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley
, in the 2010 special election
to succeed U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy
. While initially trailing Coakley in polling by a large margin, Brown won the election and in January 2010 became the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts since Edward Brooke
in 1972.
Prior to entering the state legislature, he had experience as a town selectman
and assessor. He is a practicing attorney, concentrating in real estate law
and serving as defense counsel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Brown is a graduate of Wakefield High School
(1977), Tufts University
(1981), and Boston College Law School
(1985).
and grew up in Wakefield, Massachusetts
. He often spent his summers in Newburyport, Massachusetts
, where his father served as a city council
or for 18 years. The Brown family are of Scottish
heritage. Brown's father, Claude Bruce Brown, and mother, Judith, divorced when he was about a year old. Both his parents have since remarried three times. His father and his grandfather were Republicans. His father has said that young Scott became interested in running for political office in the mid 1960s while accompanying him on a campaign for state office. Scott Brown recalls holding campaign signs for his father.
Brown had a difficult childhood; after her divorce his working mother received welfare
benefits. Brown experienced sexual abuse
from a camp counselor who threatened to kill the 10-year-old boy if he told anyone—which he did not disclose even to his family until his autobiography Against All Odds (2011)—and physical abuse from his stepfathers. During various periods of his childhood, Brown lived with his grandparents and his aunt. He shoplifted many times, and was arrested for stealing record albums and brought before Judge Samuel Zoll
in Salem, Massachusetts
at the age of 13 or 14. Zoll asked Brown if his siblings would like seeing him play basketball in jail and required Brown to write a 1,500-word essay on that question as his punishment. Brown later said, "that was the last time I ever stole.
He graduated from Wakefield High School
in 1977. He received a Bachelors of Arts in History, cum laude from Tufts University
in 1981 and a Juris Doctor
from Boston College Law School
in 1985. During his undergraduate career at Tufts, Brown was a member of the Kappa Chapter of Zeta Psi
International Fraternity.
during the Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978
impressed him. He joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard when he was 19, receiving his basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey
, and attending Reserve Officers' Training Corps
(ROTC) classes at the campus of Northeastern University. He was trained in infantry
, quartermaster, and airborne
duties, and in 1994 he joined the Judge Advocate General's Corps
(JAG). He has been active in the Guard for about 30 years and has risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel
. As the Army Guard's head defense attorney in New England
, Brown defended Guard members who had disciplinary difficulties such as positive drug tests, and provided estate planning
and real estate
advice to those who are about to deploy to war zones. Brown has not served in Iraq
or Afghanistan
, but said in 2009 that he was prepared to go if called. "I go where they order me to go... I'm just proud to serve and be part of the team." He spent ten days to two weeks with the Guard in Kazakhstan
and a week in Paraguay
.
He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal
for meritorious service in homeland security
shortly after the September 11 attacks. He credits his military experience with causing him to focus on veteran
's issues as well as issues of war and peace. He has served on the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee, the Hidden Wounds of War Commission, and the Governor's Task Force on Returning Veterans during his career as a legislator.
On May 2, 2011, Brown announced that he would soon go to Afghanistan
for training as part of his Army National Guard service.
magazine's "America's Sexiest Man" contest. After two weeks on a crash diet
of "three cans of tuna a day" and intensive workouts he was featured in the magazine's centerfold
, posing nude but strategically positioned so that according to Brown, "You don't see anything". In the accompanying interview, he referred to himself as "a bit of a patriot" and stated that he had political ambitions. The Cosmopolitan appearance and its $1,000 fee helped pay for law school, and began for Brown a "long, lucrative" part-time catalog and print modeling career in New York and Boston during the 1980s.
of Wrentham, Massachusetts
. In 1995, he was elected to the Wrentham Board of Selectmen
.
He successfully ran for the Massachusetts House of Representatives
in 1998, representing the 9th Norfolk District for three terms. Brown again moved up the ladder of state politics to the state Senate in March 2004 when he won a special election to replace Democrat Cheryl Jacques
. Brown was re-elected for a full term in November 2004, and again in November 2006, running without opposition the second time. He won re-election in November 2008, defeating Democratic candidate Sara Orozco by a 59–41 percent margin. Following his re-election, Brown was one of five Republicans in the 40-seat Massachusetts senate. In the Massachusetts Senate, Brown served on committees dealing with consumer protection, professional licensing, education, election laws, public safety, and veterans' affairs.
In February 2007, a controversy arose after Brown's appearance at King Philip Regional High School
in Wrentham, Massachusetts
as part of a debate on gay marriage. The high school students had launched a Facebook
group attack on Brown and had made a derogatory remark about his daughter, Ayla
. During his presentation, Brown defended himself and his daughter by directly quoting several vulgar statements they had made and announcing the names of the students who had written the statements. Critics questioned whether Brown should have quoted the profane comments in front of a high school audience.
In January 2010, The Boston Globe
reported that during six terms in the Legislature, three each in the House and Senate, Brown had a modest record of legislative initiatives, but he had carved out a niche as a leading advocate for veterans. Richard R. Tisei
of Wakefield, Massachusetts
, the leader of the Republican minority in the state Senate, called Brown "the acknowledged expert on veterans' issues." State Senator Jack Hart
, a Democrat of South Boston, said: "He does his homework, he's comprehensive in his approach, and on veterans' issues, he's one of them and has done a very good job on their behalf."
Brown lists among his achievements as a legislator his authorship of a 2007 law that created a check-off box on state income tax forms for veterans to indicate whether they served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The state uses the information to notify veterans of available services and benefits, including the Welcome Home Bonus that provides $1,000 for those returning from active duty in Afghanistan or Iraq.
On September 12, 2009 (his 50th birthday), Brown announced his run for the U.S. Senate seat that became vacant with the death of Ted Kennedy
, saying the state "needs an independent thinker." Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker
said that Brown's political positions did not fall neatly into party lines, and called Brown "mainstream in a nation that defines itself as mostly conservative". Boris Shor, political scientist at the Harris School of Public Policy, described Brown as a liberal Republican by national standards, but well-suited for his Massachusetts constituency. Shor explained the support Brown was receiving from the conservative national GOP as due to their "decentralized decision" to support the candidate most likely to win.
Brown won a landslide victory in the Republican primary on December 8, 2009, defeating late entrant and perennial candidate
Jack E. Robinson
by a margin of 89 percent to 11 percent.
Brown's opponents in the general election were Democratic nominee, Attorney General Martha Coakley, and independent
Joseph L. Kennedy (no relation to the Kennedy family
). At the outset, he faced overwhelming odds because he was relatively unknown compared to Coakley, he was running as a Republican in a very Democratic state, and much of his campaigning had to be done during the Christmas and New Year's season when citizens do not generally pay much attention to politics. No Republican had been elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts since Edward Brooke
in 1972. He polled far behind Coakley for several months, but closed the gap in the early weeks of January.
A week before the general election, Brown raised $1.3 million from over 16,000 donors in a 24-hour money bomb. His campaign office stated it raised $5 million over the period from January 11–15. Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report
stated on January 17 that he would put his "finger on the scale" for Scott Brown as the favorite. The Rothenberg Political Report released a statement that "the combination of public and private survey research and anecdotal information now strongly suggests that Republican Scott Brown will defeat Democrat Martha Coakley in tomorrow's race". Suffolk University
's polling of three bellwether
counties on January 18 had Brown leading Coakley by double-digit margins. Brown won the January 19 election, performing well in traditional Republican strongholds and holding rival Coakley's margins down in many Democratic precincts.
One week before the January special election, a controversy arose over a Coakley approved television ad. The ad referenced the conscientious objector
amendment Brown had sponsored for inclusion in a 2005 proposed state measure on patients' rights. This amendment would have allowed individual healthcare workers and hospitals to refuse to provide emergency contraceptive care to rape victims if they objected due to a religious belief
. After the amendment failed, Brown did vote for the main bill which, along with other patient rights, requires healthcare workers and hospitals to provide such care. Coakley's ad featured a male voice that said, "Brown even favors letting hospitals deny emergency contraception to rape victims," over the ad's graphic which had the words, "Deny care to rape victims." Brown's daughter Ayla
called the Coakley ad "completely inaccurate and misleading", and stated that her father would never deny care to a rape victim. Brown criticized Coakley for running what he described as attack ads.
In the 2010 Senate race, although Brown was not endorsed by the Greater Boston Tea Party group, the group organized a fund-raising breakfast for him in Boston. The Tea Party Express also endorsed Brown and bought ads on the national cable networks supporting Brown.
When told that at various times he has been labeled a conservative, moderate
and a liberal Republican, he responded "I'm a Scott Brown Republican." According to Politifact, while Brown was a Massachusetts legislator, he voted about 90 percent with the state Republican leadership; however, Republican Leadership in the Massachusetts legislature is generally considered far more moderate than the national Republican Party.
On election night, after Coakley conceded, Brown gave a victory speech that stated, "It all started with me, my truck, and a few dedicated volunteers. It ended with Air Force One making an emergency run to Logan. I didn't mind when President Obama came here and criticized me - that happens in campaigns. But when he criticized my truck, that's where I draw the line."
2012
In late June 2010, Brown was ranked as "the most popular officeholder in Massachusetts" according to a poll conducted by the Boston Globe. 55% of those polled had favorable opinions of Brown nearly five months after his January 19, 2010, special election victory to finish the term of the late Senator Edward Kennedy. 50% of respondents generally approved of how Brown had handled his new position.
On March 30, 2011, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee released a poll showing that Brown remained the "most popular politician in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with an approval rating of 73 percent." Brown's "'re-elect' score was comfortably above 50 percent, which is unusual for a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic state."
October 2011 polling showed Brown's approvals had fallen and he faced a competitive re-election if matched against Democrat Elizabeth Warren
.
Joe Biden
, in his capacity as President of the Senate
, on the floor of the Senate. As a Class I Senator, his term will last until January 3, 2013.
Brown was among the speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) in Washington, D.C.
, introducing former Massachusetts governor
Mitt Romney
. Despite his appearance at CPAC, where he alluded to his election as making "big government spenders...[not] feel good at all", Brown refused to rule out a vote for a Democratic "jobs bill" proposal, and has praised both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
of Nevada
and senior Senator John Kerry
of Massachusetts
for indicating their willingness to work with him across party lines. Scott was one of five Republican senators to vote for cloture
on the jobs bill
. The motion passed in the Senate 62–30 on February 22, 2010. In an up or down vote
on the bill itself on February 24, 2010, Brown voted for final passage, helping to pass the bill 70-28.
According to the Washington Post, Brown voted with the majority of Republicans 80% of the time. In the same poll, "56% of Massachusetts voters believed he has kept his promise to be an independent voice in the U.S. Senate."
Brown's views on the 2011 budget cuts have been at odds with some of his fellow Republicans and Tea Party conservatives. His reluctance to go along with some of the more drastic budget cuts has placed him at odds with Glenn Beck and other prominent conservatives. He said he opposed these measures because he believed that they would have a negative impact on low income families and children.
fees. In September 2010, Brown opposed a Senate bill creating a $30 billion government fund aimed at encouraging lending to small businesses. The bill combines the fund with $12 billion in new tax breaks. Brown criticized the bill for including a provision much like TARP, stating: "Banks making lending decisions with government funds is not the way to get our economy moving again.’’
On December 12, 2010, the Boston Globe reported that "[c]ampaign contributions to [Brown] from the financial industry spiked sharply during a critical three-week period last summer as the fate of the Wall Street regulatory overhaul hung in the balance and Brown used the leverage of his swing vote to win key concessions sought by firms." Brown received more than ten times the amount of contributions from the financial services industry as House Financial Services Committee chairman (and author of the legislation) Barney Frank
during the same period. According to the Globe:
. He cited Stanley McChrystal's recommendations as a reason for his support. He also advocates that suspected terrorists be tried in military tribunal
s and not civilian courts. He also supports the limited use of "enhanced interrogation techniques
", including waterboarding
against non-citizen terrorist suspects. He supports a two-state solution
for the Israel-Palestinian conflict in which Israel and a new, independent Palestinian state would co-exist side by side.
wars. The measure's purpose is to locate and inform returning veterans of benefits they qualify for. Known as the "Welcome Home" bonus, it was passed with bipartisan support. Brown also amended the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, with Senator Jack Reed (RI
), to create a dedicated military liaison office within the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which aside from defending against unscrupulous lenders, also ensures protection of military families against fraudulent life insurance policies. The measure passed the U.S. Senate 99 to 1.
, which requires all residents to have health insurance
, with a state-subsidized plan created for those who cannot afford to insure themselves. Brown does not support President Obama's health care reform plan in its current form as approved by the Democratic-led House and Senate. He has stated this plan is fiscally unsound, and during his campaign notably pledged to be the 41st vote to filibuster
the bill in the Senate.
Brown voted for a state measure on patients' rights that, among other provisions, requires emergency rooms to provide what is known as the morning-after pill
to rape victims to prevent an unwanted pregnancy from developing. In consideration of health care workers who might have a religious objection to administering this medication, Brown attached what became known as the Conscientious Objector amendment which would have exempted these workers, as well as religious hospitals, from being required to provide this medication. However, Brown's amendment also required that all hospitals still had to provide a means for the patient to receive the medication, either by providing another healthcare worker willing to administer the medication, or, in the case of religious hospitals, to provide transportation to another facility, and in a timely manner. The amendment did not pass. Brown remains in favor of allowing religious hospitals to refuse to provide emergency contraception on moral or religious grounds, as he stated in the January 5, 2010 candidate debate.
, wind
, and nuclear power
, and offshore drilling
exploration as a means to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil. But, when faced with the controversial issue of whether an offshore wind farm
should be allowed in the waters off the Cape Cod coast in Massachusetts, a major tourist destination and boating location, he expressed opposition due to the fact he believed it would hinder tourism and boating in the area.
as a settled issue, which he does not wish to change. Brown has said he personally believes marriage is between a man and a woman, but would oppose a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. He is in favor of civil unions
. He opposes ending the Defense of Marriage Act
, but otherwise favors leaving the issue to the states to decide. After initially claiming neutrality on "don't ask, don't tell
", the ban on openly gay military personnel, he joined a handful of Republicans who broke with their party to repeal the ban in December 2010.
Brown has supported a presumption of shared parenting after divorce and was a co-sponsor of Fathers and Families HB 1460.
Brown has stated that Roe v. Wade
is settled law. He is against intact dilation and evacuation abortions (known by opponents as "partial birth abortion") and has spoken in favor of parental consent
for minors who seek an abortion. He said he would not use abortion as a litmus test
in Supreme Court confirmations
. He opposes federal funding for elective abortion in accordance with the Hyde Amendment
.
(with some restrictions such as licenses and background checks) and strengthening border enforcement and creating an employment verification system with penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants. He opposes providing driver's licenses and in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.
, in which he currently holds the rank of lieutenant colonel
in the Judge Advocate General's Corps
. Brown was awarded the Army Commendation Medal
for meritorious service in organizing the National Guard to quickly support homeland security
following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He has also completed Airborne School
and been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal
.
Brown has received the Public Servant of the Year Award from the United Chamber of Commerce for his leadership in reforming the state's sex offender
laws and protecting victims' rights
. Brown's family has helped raise funds for such non-profit organizations as Horace Mann Educational Associates (HMEA,Inc.), Wrentham Developmental Center, Charles River Arc, and the Arc of Northern Bristol County, all for the care and support of those with developmental disabilities. He has also been recognized by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) for his work in creating an environment that encourages job growth and expansion in Massachusetts. The Boston Globe selected Brown as the 2010 Bostonian of the Year, citing his "profound impact on national politics in the last year".
reporter Gail Huff
, whom he met through modeling. They have two daughters, Ayla
, an American Idol
semi-finalist and a student at Boston College
, and Arianna, a competitive equestrian and pre-medical student at Syracuse University
. Besides their primary home in Massachusetts
, the couple owns a home in Rye, New Hampshire
, three rental condos in Boston
, and a timeshare on the Caribbean island of Aruba
.
and attend New England Chapel in Franklin, Massachusetts
. They also have a relationship with a community of Cistercians, more commonly known as Trappistine
, Roman Catholic nuns at Mount St. Mary's Abbey in Wrentham, Massachusetts
. The Brown family has raised over $5 million for the order, helping to install solar panels, a wind turbine
and a candy manufacturing plant that the order operates.
United States Senate
The 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 Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Brown previously served as a member of the Massachusetts General Court
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...
, first in the State House of Representatives
Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
(1998–2004) and then in the State Senate
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...
(2004–2010).
Brown is a member of the Republican Party, and faced the Democratic candidate, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley
Martha Coakley
Martha Mary Coakley is the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Prior to serving as Attorney General, she was District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1999 to 2007....
, in the 2010 special election
United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was a special election held on January 19, 2010, in order to fill the Massachusetts Class I United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2013...
to succeed U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
. While initially trailing Coakley in polling by a large margin, Brown won the election and in January 2010 became the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts since Edward Brooke
Edward Brooke
Edward William Brooke, III is an American politician and was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody, 60.7%–38.7%...
in 1972.
Prior to entering the state legislature, he had experience as a town selectman
Board of selectmen
The board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms.-History:...
and assessor. He is a practicing attorney, concentrating in real estate law
Property law
Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property and in personal property, within the common law legal system. In the civil law system, there is a division between movable and immovable property...
and serving as defense counsel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Brown is a graduate of Wakefield High School
Wakefield High School (Wakefield, Massachusetts)
Wakefield Memorial High School is a public school located in Wakefield, Massachusetts that offers a broad range of Advanced Placement Program courses....
(1977), Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
(1981), and Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts.With approximately 800 students and...
(1985).
Early life and education
Brown was born on September 12, 1959 in Kittery, MaineKittery, Maine
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...
and grew up in Wakefield, Massachusetts
Wakefield, Massachusetts
-History:-Geography:The diagram above shows what is to the east, west, north, south, and other directions of the center of Wakefield. Towns with population above 25,000 are in bold italics.-Demographics:-Notable residents:...
. He often spent his summers in Newburyport, Massachusetts
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Newburyport is a small coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles northeast of Boston. The population was 21,189 at the 2000 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island...
, where his father served as a city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
or for 18 years. The Brown family are of Scottish
Scottish American
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scots-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and celebrate a common heritage...
heritage. Brown's father, Claude Bruce Brown, and mother, Judith, divorced when he was about a year old. Both his parents have since remarried three times. His father and his grandfather were Republicans. His father has said that young Scott became interested in running for political office in the mid 1960s while accompanying him on a campaign for state office. Scott Brown recalls holding campaign signs for his father.
Brown had a difficult childhood; after her divorce his working mother received welfare
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
benefits. Brown experienced sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
from a camp counselor who threatened to kill the 10-year-old boy if he told anyone—which he did not disclose even to his family until his autobiography Against All Odds (2011)—and physical abuse from his stepfathers. During various periods of his childhood, Brown lived with his grandparents and his aunt. He shoplifted many times, and was arrested for stealing record albums and brought before Judge Samuel Zoll
Samuel Zoll
Samuel Edward Zoll was an American lawyer, judge and politician. He began his career as a high school teacher then became a lawyer, politician, then a judge. Later in life he was named to be Chief Justice of the District Courts in Massachusetts.-Early life and education:Zoll was born in Peabody,...
in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
at the age of 13 or 14. Zoll asked Brown if his siblings would like seeing him play basketball in jail and required Brown to write a 1,500-word essay on that question as his punishment. Brown later said, "that was the last time I ever stole.
He graduated from Wakefield High School
Wakefield High School (Wakefield, Massachusetts)
Wakefield Memorial High School is a public school located in Wakefield, Massachusetts that offers a broad range of Advanced Placement Program courses....
in 1977. He received a Bachelors of Arts in History, cum laude from Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in 1981 and a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts.With approximately 800 students and...
in 1985. During his undergraduate career at Tufts, Brown was a member of the Kappa Chapter of Zeta Psi
Zeta Psi
The Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America was founded June 1, 1847 as a social college fraternity. The organization now comprises about fifty active chapters and twenty-five inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand brothers, and is a founding member of the North-American...
International Fraternity.
Army National Guard service
Brown has said the rescue efforts of Army National GuardArmy National Guard
Established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the Army National Guard is part of the National Guard and is divided up into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia operating under their respective governors...
during the Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978
Northeastern United States Blizzard of 1978
The Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978 was a catastrophic and historic nor'easter that brought blizzard conditions to the New England region of the United States and the New York metropolitan area. The "Blizzard of '78" formed on February 5, 1978 and broke up on February 7, 1978...
impressed him. He joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard when he was 19, receiving his basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey
Fort Dix, New Jersey
JB MDL Dix , better known as Fort Dix, is a United States Army base located approximately south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Dix is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Reserve Command...
, and attending Reserve Officers' Training Corps
Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college-based, officer commissioning program, predominantly in the United States. It is designed as a college elective that focuses on leadership development, problem solving, strategic planning, and professional ethics.The U.S...
(ROTC) classes at the campus of Northeastern University. He was trained in infantry
Infantry Branch (United States)
The Infantry Branch is a branch of the United States Army First established in 1775.-History:Ten companies of riflemen were authorized by a resolution of the Continental Congress on 14 June 1775...
, quartermaster, and airborne
Airborne forces
Airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and 'dropped' into battle. Thus they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have an ability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning...
duties, and in 1994 he joined the Judge Advocate General's Corps
Judge Advocate General's Corps
Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, refers to the legal branch or specialty of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called Judge Advocates. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard do not maintain separate JAG Corps...
(JAG). He has been active in the Guard for about 30 years and has risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
. As the Army Guard's head defense attorney in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, Brown defended Guard members who had disciplinary difficulties such as positive drug tests, and provided estate planning
Estate planning
Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging for the disposal of an estate. Estate planning typically attempts to eliminate uncertainties over the administration of a probate and maximize the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses...
and real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
advice to those who are about to deploy to war zones. Brown has not served in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
or Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, but said in 2009 that he was prepared to go if called. "I go where they order me to go... I'm just proud to serve and be part of the team." He spent ten days to two weeks with the Guard in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
and a week in Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
.
He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal
Commendation Medal
The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. For valorous actions in direct contact with an enemy force, but of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Bronze Star, the Valor device may...
for meritorious service in homeland security
Homeland security
Homeland 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...
shortly after the September 11 attacks. He credits his military experience with causing him to focus on veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
's issues as well as issues of war and peace. He has served on the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee, the Hidden Wounds of War Commission, and the Governor's Task Force on Returning Veterans during his career as a legislator.
On May 2, 2011, Brown announced that he would soon go to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
for training as part of his Army National Guard service.
Modeling
In June 1982, Brown, then a 22-year-old law student at Boston College, won CosmopolitanCosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
magazine's "America's Sexiest Man" contest. After two weeks on a crash diet
Crash diet
A crash diet is a diet which is extreme in its nutritional deprivations, typically severely restricting calorie intake. It is meant to achieve rapid weight loss and may differ from outright starvation only slightly. It is not meant to last for long periods of time, at most a few weeks. ...
of "three cans of tuna a day" and intensive workouts he was featured in the magazine's centerfold
Centerfold
The centerfold of a magazine refers to a gatefolded spread, usually a portrait such as a pin-up or a nude, inserted in the middle of the publication, or to the model featured in the portrait...
, posing nude but strategically positioned so that according to Brown, "You don't see anything". In the accompanying interview, he referred to himself as "a bit of a patriot" and stated that he had political ambitions. The Cosmopolitan appearance and its $1,000 fee helped pay for law school, and began for Brown a "long, lucrative" part-time catalog and print modeling career in New York and Boston during the 1980s.
State political career
Brown "caught the political bug" in 1992 when he was elected property assessorAssessor (property)
An assessor is a specialist who calculates the value of property. The value calculated by the assessor is then used as the basis for determining the amounts to be paid or assessed for tax or insurance purposes....
of Wrentham, Massachusetts
Wrentham, Massachusetts
Wrentham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,955 at the 2010 census.- History :Wrentham was first settled by the English in 1660 and officially incorporated in 1673. It was burned down during King Philip's War 1675-1676. For a short time, it was the...
. In 1995, he was elected to the Wrentham Board of Selectmen
Board of selectmen
The board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms.-History:...
.
He successfully ran for the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
in 1998, representing the 9th Norfolk District for three terms. Brown again moved up the ladder of state politics to the state Senate in March 2004 when he won a special election to replace Democrat Cheryl Jacques
Cheryl Jacques
Cheryl Ann Jacques is a United States politician who, beginning in January 2004, served for 11 months as president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, advocacy organization...
. Brown was re-elected for a full term in November 2004, and again in November 2006, running without opposition the second time. He won re-election in November 2008, defeating Democratic candidate Sara Orozco by a 59–41 percent margin. Following his re-election, Brown was one of five Republicans in the 40-seat Massachusetts senate. In the Massachusetts Senate, Brown served on committees dealing with consumer protection, professional licensing, education, election laws, public safety, and veterans' affairs.
In February 2007, a controversy arose after Brown's appearance at King Philip Regional High School
King Philip Regional High School
King Philip Regional High School is a regional high school in Massachusetts drawing students from three towns: Wrentham, Norfolk and Plainville...
in Wrentham, Massachusetts
Wrentham, Massachusetts
Wrentham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,955 at the 2010 census.- History :Wrentham was first settled by the English in 1660 and officially incorporated in 1673. It was burned down during King Philip's War 1675-1676. For a short time, it was the...
as part of a debate on gay marriage. The high school students had launched a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
group attack on Brown and had made a derogatory remark about his daughter, Ayla
Ayla Brown
Ayla Marie Brown is an American NCAA basketball player and recording artist from Wrentham, Massachusetts. She is also known for her American Idol showing placing in the Top 16 on season 5 in 2005/06. She is the elder daughter of United States Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts and WCVB-TV...
. During his presentation, Brown defended himself and his daughter by directly quoting several vulgar statements they had made and announcing the names of the students who had written the statements. Critics questioned whether Brown should have quoted the profane comments in front of a high school audience.
In January 2010, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
reported that during six terms in the Legislature, three each in the House and Senate, Brown had a modest record of legislative initiatives, but he had carved out a niche as a leading advocate for veterans. Richard R. Tisei
Richard R. Tisei
Richard R. Tisei is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Republican, he served in the Massachusetts state legislature for 26 years, most recently as the minority leader in the Massachusetts Senate...
of Wakefield, Massachusetts
Wakefield, Massachusetts
-History:-Geography:The diagram above shows what is to the east, west, north, south, and other directions of the center of Wakefield. Towns with population above 25,000 are in bold italics.-Demographics:-Notable residents:...
, the leader of the Republican minority in the state Senate, called Brown "the acknowledged expert on veterans' issues." State Senator Jack Hart
Jack Hart (state senator)
John A. Hart., Jr., known as Jack Hart, is a Democratic member of the Massachusetts State Senate. He was educated at Boston College High School, Worcester Academy, Tufts University , and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University...
, a Democrat of South Boston, said: "He does his homework, he's comprehensive in his approach, and on veterans' issues, he's one of them and has done a very good job on their behalf."
Brown lists among his achievements as a legislator his authorship of a 2007 law that created a check-off box on state income tax forms for veterans to indicate whether they served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The state uses the information to notify veterans of available services and benefits, including the Welcome Home Bonus that provides $1,000 for those returning from active duty in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Elections
2010 Special electionOn September 12, 2009 (his 50th birthday), Brown announced his run for the U.S. Senate seat that became vacant with the death of Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
, saying the state "needs an independent thinker." Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker
Kathleen Parker
Kathleen Parker is an American syndicated columnist. Her columns are syndicated nationally by The Washington Post. Parker is a consulting faculty member at the Buckley School of Public Speaking, and is a regular guest on television shows like The O'Reilly Factor and The Chris Matthews Show....
said that Brown's political positions did not fall neatly into party lines, and called Brown "mainstream in a nation that defines itself as mostly conservative". Boris Shor, political scientist at the Harris School of Public Policy, described Brown as a liberal Republican by national standards, but well-suited for his Massachusetts constituency. Shor explained the support Brown was receiving from the conservative national GOP as due to their "decentralized decision" to support the candidate most likely to win.
Brown won a landslide victory in the Republican primary on December 8, 2009, defeating late entrant and perennial candidate
Perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is one who frequently runs for public office with a record of success that is infrequent, if existent at all. Perennial candidates are often either members of minority political parties or have political opinions that are not mainstream. They may run without any serious hope...
Jack E. Robinson
Jack E. Robinson III
Jack E. Robinson III is an African-American Republican politician from Massachusetts. He ran for the United States Senate in 2000 against Ted Kennedy and Carla Howell , losing to Kennedy. He ran for Secretary of the Commonwealth in 2002 losing to William F...
by a margin of 89 percent to 11 percent.
Brown's opponents in the general election were Democratic nominee, Attorney General Martha Coakley, and independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
Joseph L. Kennedy (no relation to the Kennedy family
Kennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
). At the outset, he faced overwhelming odds because he was relatively unknown compared to Coakley, he was running as a Republican in a very Democratic state, and much of his campaigning had to be done during the Christmas and New Year's season when citizens do not generally pay much attention to politics. No Republican had been elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts since Edward Brooke
Edward Brooke
Edward William Brooke, III is an American politician and was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody, 60.7%–38.7%...
in 1972. He polled far behind Coakley for several months, but closed the gap in the early weeks of January.
A week before the general election, Brown raised $1.3 million from over 16,000 donors in a 24-hour money bomb. His campaign office stated it raised $5 million over the period from January 11–15. Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report
Cook Political Report
The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, Governor's offices and the American Presidency. The Cook Political Report is led by a staff of five...
stated on January 17 that he would put his "finger on the scale" for Scott Brown as the favorite. The Rothenberg Political Report released a statement that "the combination of public and private survey research and anecdotal information now strongly suggests that Republican Scott Brown will defeat Democrat Martha Coakley in tomorrow's race". Suffolk University
Suffolk University
Suffolk University is a private, non-sectarian, university located in Boston, Massachusetts and with over 16,000 students it is the third largest university in Boston...
's polling of three bellwether
Bellwether
A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep.The movements of...
counties on January 18 had Brown leading Coakley by double-digit margins. Brown won the January 19 election, performing well in traditional Republican strongholds and holding rival Coakley's margins down in many Democratic precincts.
One week before the January special election, a controversy arose over a Coakley approved television ad. The ad referenced the conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
amendment Brown had sponsored for inclusion in a 2005 proposed state measure on patients' rights. This amendment would have allowed individual healthcare workers and hospitals to refuse to provide emergency contraceptive care to rape victims if they objected due to a religious belief
Religious belief
Religious belief is a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny. Such a state may relate to the existence, characteristics and worship of a deity or deities, divine intervention in the universe and human life, or values and practices centered on the teachings of a...
. After the amendment failed, Brown did vote for the main bill which, along with other patient rights, requires healthcare workers and hospitals to provide such care. Coakley's ad featured a male voice that said, "Brown even favors letting hospitals deny emergency contraception to rape victims," over the ad's graphic which had the words, "Deny care to rape victims." Brown's daughter Ayla
Ayla Brown
Ayla Marie Brown is an American NCAA basketball player and recording artist from Wrentham, Massachusetts. She is also known for her American Idol showing placing in the Top 16 on season 5 in 2005/06. She is the elder daughter of United States Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts and WCVB-TV...
called the Coakley ad "completely inaccurate and misleading", and stated that her father would never deny care to a rape victim. Brown criticized Coakley for running what he described as attack ads.
In the 2010 Senate race, although Brown was not endorsed by the Greater Boston Tea Party group, the group organized a fund-raising breakfast for him in Boston. The Tea Party Express also endorsed Brown and bought ads on the national cable networks supporting Brown.
When told that at various times he has been labeled a conservative, moderate
Moderate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
and a liberal Republican, he responded "I'm a Scott Brown Republican." According to Politifact, while Brown was a Massachusetts legislator, he voted about 90 percent with the state Republican leadership; however, Republican Leadership in the Massachusetts legislature is generally considered far more moderate than the national Republican Party.
On election night, after Coakley conceded, Brown gave a victory speech that stated, "It all started with me, my truck, and a few dedicated volunteers. It ended with Air Force One making an emergency run to Logan. I didn't mind when President Obama came here and criticized me - that happens in campaigns. But when he criticized my truck, that's where I draw the line."
2012
In late June 2010, Brown was ranked as "the most popular officeholder in Massachusetts" according to a poll conducted by the Boston Globe. 55% of those polled had favorable opinions of Brown nearly five months after his January 19, 2010, special election victory to finish the term of the late Senator Edward Kennedy. 50% of respondents generally approved of how Brown had handled his new position.
On March 30, 2011, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee released a poll showing that Brown remained the "most popular politician in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with an approval rating of 73 percent." Brown's "'re-elect' score was comfortably above 50 percent, which is unusual for a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic state."
October 2011 polling showed Brown's approvals had fallen and he faced a competitive re-election if matched against Democrat Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren is an American bankruptcy expert, policy advocate, Harvard Law School professor, and Democratic Party candidate in the 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts. She has written several academic and popular books concerning the American economy and personal finance. She...
.
Tenure
Brown was sworn in to office on February 4, 2010, by Vice PresidentVice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
, in his capacity as President of the Senate
President of the Senate
The President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate, and is the speaker of other assemblies.The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for example, the President of the Senate of Nigeria is second in line...
, on the floor of the Senate. As a Class I Senator, his term will last until January 3, 2013.
Brown was among the speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference
Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States....
(CPAC) in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, introducing former Massachusetts governor
Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
. Despite his appearance at CPAC, where he alluded to his election as making "big government spenders...[not] feel good at all", Brown refused to rule out a vote for a Democratic "jobs bill" proposal, and has praised both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry 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...
of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
and senior Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
for indicating their willingness to work with him across party lines. Scott was one of five Republican senators to vote for cloture
Cloture
In parliamentary procedure, cloture is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. It is also called closure or, informally, a guillotine. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. Clôture is French for "ending" or "conclusion"...
on the jobs bill
Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act
The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010 is a law in the 111th United States Congress to provide payroll tax breaks and incentives for businesses to hire unemployed workers...
. The motion passed in the Senate 62–30 on February 22, 2010. In an up or down vote
Up or down vote
An up or down vote refers to a direct vote in the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate on an amendment or bill; it is sometimes referred to as a "clean vote". Members vote yea or nay on the matter rather than voting on a related procedural maneuver...
on the bill itself on February 24, 2010, Brown voted for final passage, helping to pass the bill 70-28.
According to the Washington Post, Brown voted with the majority of Republicans 80% of the time. In the same poll, "56% of Massachusetts voters believed he has kept his promise to be an independent voice in the U.S. Senate."
Brown's views on the 2011 budget cuts have been at odds with some of his fellow Republicans and Tea Party conservatives. His reluctance to go along with some of the more drastic budget cuts has placed him at odds with Glenn Beck and other prominent conservatives. He said he opposed these measures because he believed that they would have a negative impact on low income families and children.
Committee assignments
Brown's committee assignments are as follows.- Committee on Armed ServicesUnited States Senate Committee on Armed ServicesThe Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
- Subcommittee on AirlandUnited States Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on AirlandThe Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland is one of six subcommittees within the Senate Armed Services Committee.-Jurisdiction:The Airland Subcommittee has primary jurisdiction over all issues related to the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S...
- Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and CapabilitiesUnited States Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and CapabilitiesThe Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities is one of six subcommittees within the Senate Armed Services Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Strategic ForcesUnited States Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic ForcesThe Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces is one of six subcommittees within the Senate Armed Services Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Airland
- Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsUnited States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsThe United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland security concerns, as well as the functioning of the government itself, including the National Archives, budget and...
- Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery
- Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security (Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
- Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipUnited States Senate Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipThe U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and is also charged with researching and investigating all problems of American small business enterprises.-History:The...
- Committee on Veterans' AffairsUnited States Senate Committee on Veterans' AffairsThe United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs deals with oversight of United States veterans issues.-Members, 112th Congress:The Committee is chaired by Democrat Patty Murray of Washington, and the Ranking Member is Republican Richard Burr of North Carolina.Source: -Chairmen of the Senate...
Political positions
Brown has positioned himself as a conservative counterweight to Massachusetts' previously all-Democratic, 12-member congressional delegation. He describes himself as socially moderate and fiscally conservative. He identifies himself as a "Reagan Republican". He has said, "I'm going to be the only person down there who is going to be the independent voter and thinker... I've always been the underdog in one shape or form."Fiscal policy
Brown opposes a proposed multi-billion dollar tax on banks to recoup bailout money and prescribing of bank executive compensation. Brown, discussing the proposal through a spokesperson, said that he is "opposed to higher taxes, especially in the midst of a severe recession". He also opposes it on the grounds that the tax would likely be passed onto consumers in the form of higher service and ATMAutomated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
fees. In September 2010, Brown opposed a Senate bill creating a $30 billion government fund aimed at encouraging lending to small businesses. The bill combines the fund with $12 billion in new tax breaks. Brown criticized the bill for including a provision much like TARP, stating: "Banks making lending decisions with government funds is not the way to get our economy moving again.’’
On December 12, 2010, the Boston Globe reported that "[c]ampaign contributions to [Brown] from the financial industry spiked sharply during a critical three-week period last summer as the fate of the Wall Street regulatory overhaul hung in the balance and Brown used the leverage of his swing vote to win key concessions sought by firms." Brown received more than ten times the amount of contributions from the financial services industry as House Financial Services Committee chairman (and author of the legislation) Barney Frank
Barney Frank
Barney Frank is the U.S. Representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and...
during the same period. According to the Globe:
Brown’s efforts benefited large Massachusetts companies such as MassMutual Financial Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Fidelity InvestmentsFidelity InvestmentsFMR LLC or Fidelity Investments is an American multinational financial services corporation one of the largest mutual fund and financial services groups in the world. It was founded in 1946 and serves North American investors. Fidelity Ventures is its venture capital arm...
, and State Street Corp., whose executives and political action committeePolitical action committeeIn the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
s contributed $29,000 to Brown during the three-week period he was extracting the concessions from Democrats.
They also benefited major out-of-state institutions such as Goldman SachsGoldman SachsThe Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
, UBS, and JPMorgan Chase. Those and other out-of-state financial interests gave Brown a total of $50,000 during the period.
Foreign policy
Brown supports President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops to fight in AfghanistanWar in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
. He cited Stanley McChrystal's recommendations as a reason for his support. He also advocates that suspected terrorists be tried in military tribunal
Military tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
s and not civilian courts. He also supports the limited use of "enhanced interrogation techniques
Enhanced interrogation techniques
Enhanced interrogation techniques or alternative set of procedures are terms adopted by the George W. Bush administration in the United States to describe certain severe interrogation methods, often described as torture...
", including waterboarding
Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
against non-citizen terrorist suspects. He supports a two-state solution
Two-state solution
The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...
for the Israel-Palestinian conflict in which Israel and a new, independent Palestinian state would co-exist side by side.
Veteran services
In 2007, Brown wrote a law establishing a check off box on State income tax forms to allow a filer to indicate if he or she is a veteran of the Iraq or AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
wars. The measure's purpose is to locate and inform returning veterans of benefits they qualify for. Known as the "Welcome Home" bonus, it was passed with bipartisan support. Brown also amended the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, with Senator Jack Reed (RI
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
), to create a dedicated military liaison office within the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which aside from defending against unscrupulous lenders, also ensures protection of military families against fraudulent life insurance policies. The measure passed the U.S. Senate 99 to 1.
Health care
Brown supported the 2006 Massachusetts health care reformMassachusetts health care reform
The Massachusetts health care insurance reform law, enacted in 2006, mandates that nearly every resident of Massachusetts obtain a state-government-regulated minimum level of healthcare insurance coverage and provides free health care insurance for residents earning less than 150% of the federal...
, which requires all residents to have health insurance
Health insurance
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...
, with a state-subsidized plan created for those who cannot afford to insure themselves. Brown does not support President Obama's health care reform plan in its current form as approved by the Democratic-led House and Senate. He has stated this plan is fiscally unsound, and during his campaign notably pledged to be the 41st vote to filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
the bill in the Senate.
Brown voted for a state measure on patients' rights that, among other provisions, requires emergency rooms to provide what is known as the morning-after pill
Emergency contraception
Emergency contraception , or emergency postcoital contraception, refers to birth control measures that, if taken after sexual intercourse, may prevent pregnancy.Forms of EC include:...
to rape victims to prevent an unwanted pregnancy from developing. In consideration of health care workers who might have a religious objection to administering this medication, Brown attached what became known as the Conscientious Objector amendment which would have exempted these workers, as well as religious hospitals, from being required to provide this medication. However, Brown's amendment also required that all hospitals still had to provide a means for the patient to receive the medication, either by providing another healthcare worker willing to administer the medication, or, in the case of religious hospitals, to provide transportation to another facility, and in a timely manner. The amendment did not pass. Brown remains in favor of allowing religious hospitals to refuse to provide emergency contraception on moral or religious grounds, as he stated in the January 5, 2010 candidate debate.
Energy policy
He supports expanding solarSolar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
, wind
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
, and nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, and offshore drilling
Offshore drilling
Offshore 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...
exploration as a means to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil. But, when faced with the controversial issue of whether an offshore wind farm
Cape Wind
The Cape Wind Project is an approved offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, proposed by a private developer, Cape Wind Associates, the brainchild of Jim Gordon and a Limited Liability Company set up as a joint business venture...
should be allowed in the waters off the Cape Cod coast in Massachusetts, a major tourist destination and boating location, he expressed opposition due to the fact he believed it would hinder tourism and boating in the area.
Social issues
Brown refers to the currently legalized same-sex marriage in MassachusettsSame-sex marriage in Massachusetts
Same-sex marriage in the U.S. state of Massachusetts began on May 17, 2004, as a result of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that it was unconstitutional under the Massachusetts constitution to allow only heterosexual couples to marry...
as a settled issue, which he does not wish to change. Brown has said he personally believes marriage is between a man and a woman, but would oppose a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. He is in favor of civil unions
Civil union in the United States
A civil union is a legally recognized union similar to marriage. Many people are critical of civil unions because they say they represent separate status unequal to marriage...
. He opposes ending the Defense of Marriage Act
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act is a United States federal law whereby the federal government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, no U.S. state may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state...
, but otherwise favors leaving the issue to the states to decide. After initially claiming neutrality on "don't ask, don't tell
Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
", the ban on openly gay military personnel, he joined a handful of Republicans who broke with their party to repeal the ban in December 2010.
Brown has supported a presumption of shared parenting after divorce and was a co-sponsor of Fathers and Families HB 1460.
Brown has stated that Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...
is settled law. He is against intact dilation and evacuation abortions (known by opponents as "partial birth abortion") and has spoken in favor of parental consent
Parental consent
Parental consent laws in some countries require that one or more parents consent to or be notified before their minor child can legally engage in certain activities....
for minors who seek an abortion. He said he would not use abortion as a litmus test
Litmus test (politics)
A litmus test is a question asked of a potential candidate for high office, the answer to which would determine whether the nominating official would proceed with the appointment or nomination...
in Supreme Court confirmations
Appointment and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States
The appointment and confirmation of Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States involves several steps set forth by the United States Constitution, which have been further refined and developed by decades of tradition. Justices are appointed by the President of the United States, and must be...
. He opposes federal funding for elective abortion in accordance with the Hyde Amendment
Hyde Amendment
In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of certain federal funds to pay for abortions. It is not a permanent law, rather it is a "rider" that, in various forms, has been routinely attached to annual appropriations bills since 1976...
.
Crime and security
Brown supports strengthening Massachusetts sex offender penalties, the death penalty, the right to bear armsSecond Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.In 2008 and 2010, the Supreme Court issued two Second...
(with some restrictions such as licenses and background checks) and strengthening border enforcement and creating an employment verification system with penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants. He opposes providing driver's licenses and in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.
Organizational associations and honors
Brown is a 30-year member of the Massachusetts National GuardMassachusetts National Guard
The Massachusetts National Guard was founded as the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia on December 13, 1636, and contains the oldest units in the United States Army. It is currently headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts and commanded by Major General Joseph C...
, in which he currently holds the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
in the Judge Advocate General's Corps
Judge Advocate General's Corps
Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, refers to the legal branch or specialty of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called Judge Advocates. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard do not maintain separate JAG Corps...
. Brown was awarded the Army Commendation Medal
Commendation Medal
The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. For valorous actions in direct contact with an enemy force, but of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Bronze Star, the Valor device may...
for meritorious service in organizing the National Guard to quickly support homeland security
Homeland security
Homeland 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...
following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He has also completed Airborne School
United States Army Airborne School
The United States Army Airborne School — widely known as Jump School — conducts the basic paratrooper training for the United States armed forces. It is operated by the 1st Battalion , 507th Infantry, United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia...
and been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
The Meritorious Service Medal is a military decoration presented to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguished themselves by outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States subsequent to January 16, 1969...
.
Brown has received the Public Servant of the Year Award from the United Chamber of Commerce for his leadership in reforming the state's sex offender
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
laws and protecting victims' rights
Victims' Rights
-History:Victim movements in the U.S. grew in the 1970s. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan's Task Force on Victims of Crime released its Final Report. The report drew attention to the re-victimization of crime victims within the criminal justice system...
. Brown's family has helped raise funds for such non-profit organizations as Horace Mann Educational Associates (HMEA,Inc.), Wrentham Developmental Center, Charles River Arc, and the Arc of Northern Bristol County, all for the care and support of those with developmental disabilities. He has also been recognized by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) for his work in creating an environment that encourages job growth and expansion in Massachusetts. The Boston Globe selected Brown as the 2010 Bostonian of the Year, citing his "profound impact on national politics in the last year".
Family
Brown is married to former WCVB-TVWCVB-TV
WCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...
reporter Gail Huff
Gail Huff
Gail Huff is a former American broadcast journalist and television reporter for WCVB-TV, Channel 5, the ABC network affiliate in Bostonand the wife of Scott Brown, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. She has been employed as a reporter at WCVB since 1993, working the 3-10 a.m. shift while her...
, whom he met through modeling. They have two daughters, Ayla
Ayla Brown
Ayla Marie Brown is an American NCAA basketball player and recording artist from Wrentham, Massachusetts. She is also known for her American Idol showing placing in the Top 16 on season 5 in 2005/06. She is the elder daughter of United States Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts and WCVB-TV...
, an American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
semi-finalist and a student at Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
, and Arianna, a competitive equestrian and pre-medical student at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
. Besides their primary home in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, the couple owns a home in Rye, New Hampshire
Rye, New Hampshire
Rye is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,298 at the 2010 census.-History:The first settlement in New Hampshire, originally named Pannaway, was established in 1623 at Odiorne's Point. The first settler in Rye was William Berry...
, three rental condos in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and a timeshare on the Caribbean island of Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
.
Religion
Brown and his family are members of the Christian Reformed Church in North AmericaChristian Reformed Church in North America
The Christian Reformed Church in North America is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Having roots in the Dutch Reformed churches of the Netherlands, the Christian Reformed Church was founded by Gijsbert Haan and Dutch immigrants who left the Reformed Church in...
and attend New England Chapel in Franklin, Massachusetts
Franklin, Massachusetts
The Town of Franklin is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,635 at the 2010 census.-History:Franklin was first settled by Europeans in 1660 and was officially incorporated during the American Revolution. The town was formed from the western part of the town...
. They also have a relationship with a community of Cistercians, more commonly known as Trappistine
Trappists
The Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance , or Trappists, is a Roman Catholic religious order of cloistered contemplative monks who follow the Rule of St. Benedict...
, Roman Catholic nuns at Mount St. Mary's Abbey in Wrentham, Massachusetts
Wrentham, Massachusetts
Wrentham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,955 at the 2010 census.- History :Wrentham was first settled by the English in 1660 and officially incorporated in 1673. It was burned down during King Philip's War 1675-1676. For a short time, it was the...
. The Brown family has raised over $5 million for the order, helping to install solar panels, a wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
and a candy manufacturing plant that the order operates.
Plagiarism Controversy
In October 2011, it was reveled that a section of Brown's website in which he wrote about the lessons learned from his upbringing had been lifted from the website of former Senator Elizabeth Dole. Brown's spokesperson remarked that error was a "staff level oversight".External links
- Senator Scott P. Brown, official Senate website
- Scott Brown for U.S. Senate, U.S. Senate campaign website