Pat Roberts
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Charles Patrick Roberts (born April 20, 1936) is a United States Senator from Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he is currently chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Newspaper Background
Roberts hails from a family that has long published the smalltown weekly Oskaloosa Independent, which claims to be the second oldest newspaper in Kansas. His father was C. Wesley Roberts, who served for four months as Chairman of the Republican National Committee under Dwight D. Eisenhower.Born in Topeka, Kansas, Roberts earned a B.A. in Journalism from Kansas State University in 1958 where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a captain from 1958-62. He was a reporter and editor for several Arizona newspapers before joining the staff of Republican Kansas Senator Frank Carlson in 1967. In 1969, he became administrative assistant to Kansas's 1st District Congressman Keith Sebelius.
House of Representatives (1981-1996)
After Sebelius' retirement, Roberts was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1980, serving eight terms until 1997.U.S. Senator (1997-Present)
Following the retirement of Senator Nancy Kassebaum, he was elected to the Senate in 1996 and re-elected in 2002 by the largest margin ever for a statewide office in Kansas history.Roberts served as the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee from 1995 to 1997.
In addition to his chairmanship on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chairing the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. This subcommittee oversees the military's work in the area of homeland security and the efforts to prevent proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
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 Iraq. The first half of the Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq 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 Reid called senate into a rare closed session[link]. 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 of 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 later since finishing of phase I investigation, on April 5, 2006, Senator Roberts released the Committee's schedule for completion of Phase II [link]. Senator Roberts said, “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 Congress (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 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 [link] because the program is claimed by many scholars as breaking the 1978 law of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The New York Times editorial page accuses Sen. Roberts of "busy trying to give legal cover to the president's trampling on the law and the Constitution." [link] and "Doing the President's Dirty Work" [link]. ThinkProgressive even call his committee "Senate Cover-Up Committee" [link]
Family
Roberts and his wife Franki have three grown children, David, Ashleigh, and Anne Wesley. He is the son of the late Wes Roberts, Chairman of the Republican National Committee under President Dwight Eisenhower. His great-grandfather, J.W. Roberts, founded the Oskaloosa Independent, Kansas' second oldest newspaper.In a poll by Washington Staffers, Roberts is considered the funniest senator.[link]
External links
- [Official Senate website]
- [Senator Pat Roberts Receives Eisenhower Leadership Award]
- [Quick Synopsis of Roberts Voting Record, And Position Statements]
- [record maintained by the Washington Post]
| Kansas Congressional Delegation currently serving in the United States Congress | |
|---|---|
| Senators : | Sam Brownback (R), Pat Roberts (R) |
| Representative(s) : | Jerry Moran (R), Jim Ryun (R), Dennis Moore (D), Todd Tiahrt (R) |
|
Current Delegation: AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY | AS DC GU PR VI | |
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