Sen. Conrad Burns (R) Elected 1988, 3d term up 2006
Born:	Jan. 25, 1935, Gallatin, MO
Home:	Billings
Education:	U. of MO, 1952-54
Religion:	Lutheran
Marital Status:	married (Phyllis)
Elected  Office:	Yellowstone Cnty. Comm., 1986-88.
Military Career:	Marine Corps, 1955-57.
Professional Career:	TWA and Ozark Airlines, 1958-61; Field rep., Polled Hereford World, 1962; Mgr., Billings Livestock Show, 1968; Radio & TV broadcaster, 1968-86.
Additional Info
Recent Articles · Offices · Committees · Ratings · Key Votes · Election Results
More On Montana
At A Glance · State Profile Senior Senator · Almanac Home

Conrad Burns makes weighty speeches on foreign policy and the future of the Internet even as he cuts the figure of a stereotypical Westerner, picking his teeth with a pocketknife, chewing tobacco, telling deadpan jokes. He grew up in northwest Missouri, joined the Marines after two years of college, worked for two airlines, then became a livestock fieldman and auctioneer and field representative of the Polled Hereford World and moved to Billings. When he was reassigned back east (to Des Moines), he quit so he could stay in Montana. He set up the Northern Ag Network, which grew from four radio stations in 1975 to 29 radio and six TV stations in 1988. Piqued at a local politician, Burns ran for Yellowstone County commissioner in 1986 and won; two years later, he ran against Democratic Senator John Melcher. Burns attacked him as ''a liberal who is soft on drugs, soft on defense and very high on social programs.'' Melcher was hurt by public opposition to the ''let-it-burn'' policy that resulted in the Yellowstone fires of summer 1988. Burns, who ended every speech with a Western ''You bet!'' won 52%-48%. In 1994, he faced poorly-funded law professor Jack Mudd; Burns won 62%-38%, the first time Montana voters have ever re-elected a Republican senator.

Burns has a solidly conservative voting record in the Senate. In 1997, he became chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, one of the key regulatory posts in Congress. There, this former broadcaster has generally favored deregulation and encouragement of Internet commerce. He wrote Section 706 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which provided incentives for broadband data networks. More than one-third of Montana households subscribe to satellite TV; Burns wants commercial network stations to be available on satellite TV. His bill to provide for electronic authentication of online contracts and user identities became law in June 2000. In November 2001, a bill he co-sponsored extended the moratorium enacted by the Internet Tax Freedom Act through November 2003. He got the Commerce Committee to approve a bill co-sponsored by Democrat Ron Wyden to require mass e-mailers to include return addresses to allow recipients to opt out; it awaited action in the 108th Congress.

Burns has weighed in on other issues as well. On the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks, he delivered a National Press Club speech--vetted by the Bush administration, according to the National Review--on the future of American foreign and energy policy in the Middle East. In it, Burns argued for diversifying energy sources to increase national security, and called for greater imports of oil from West Africa, Russia and Caspian nations. He decried America's "dependency on rogue oil," and singled out Saudi Arabia for especially harsh criticism. He was a strong advocate of allowing airline pilots to carry guns, and called for shifting airport security from the Transportation Department to Justice. He cast the lone vote against the election procedures bill passed in April 2002, on the grounds that it imposed too many mandates on state and local government.

On Montana issues, Burns is often critical of environmentalists. He opposed reintroduction of grey wolves into Yellowstone National Park, estimating the cost at $1.8 million per wolf. He has blocked Democrats' plans for a Montana wilderness bill and they have blocked his. He opposed Clinton proposals for national monument status for the 149-mile Missouri Breaks region and a ban on snowmobiles in national parks. He joined several Democrats in 2002 in seeking over $5 billion for drought relief for farmers, on the ground that they deserve it as much as victims of hurricanes and floods; this was opposed by George W. Bush, and Burns and others had to settle for $752 million coming out of farm programs. As chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, he is well-positioned to steer money to Montana projects, like the Minuteman installations at Malmstrom Air Force Base or the Rocky Boy project to bring water to the Chippewa-Cree in north central Montana.

Burns had a surprisingly hard time winning reelection in 2000 in a state that was voting 58%-33% for George W. Bush. One reason was term limits: In February 1999, he announced he would break his pledge to serve only two terms. That same month, speaking before a Montana group, he referred to Arabs as ''ragheads'' and had to make a quick apology--his penchant for quips had gone too far. The next month, he got a tough opponent when Brian Schweitzer, a Whitefish rancher who raises cattle, mint and dill, and used to export bull semen, got into the race. Schweitzer had some political connections--he was a Clinton appointee to the Farm Service Agency--but, driving a Dodge pickup with a cracked windshield, he effectively portrayed himself as nonpolitical. Schweitzer once worked on irrigation projects in the Middle East, and charged that Montana had a third-world economy, exporting raw materials and exporting educated young people. Schweitzer was the first candidate in the 1999-2000 cycle to call for a prescription drug benefit, and in fall 1999, he organized the first busload of seniors to Canada to buy drugs at lower prices. Burns responded ineptly and did not seem comfortable arguing that pharmaceutical companies set prices in order to fund pathbreaking research. At one point, he said that many Montanans choose to be uninsured and suggested that some seniors like to go to the doctor to have "somebody to visit with. There's nothing wrong with them."

Another issue that played a role was asbestos. There was heavy publicity about the asbestos-related illnesses and deaths in the town of Libby, where children played in tailings from a closed vermiculite plant. In January 2000, a trial lawyer-financed group attacked Burns for supporting a bill that would limit compensation to those who had asbestos-related disease and shut down the giant asbestos tort cases; it showed a Libby resident accusing Burns of "standing up for the people who made me sick and killed my father." In March, Burns withdrew his support of the bill and pushed for $3.5 million for a Libby hospital and $8 million for local economic development. In addition, a group backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an asbestos company ran ads showing relatives of an asbestos victim blaming "asbestos lawyers" for clogging the courts and preventing them from getting compensation. Later, another group backed by pharmaceutical companies ran ads saying Schweitzer favored "Canadian-style government controls on prescription medicine." On the defensive, Burns in April voted for a Democratic resolution to bar tax cuts until a prescription drug benefit was passed.

Burns outspent Schweitzer by 2-1, and in ads talked about bringing $1 billion of federal money to Montana. He also linked Schweitzer to Al Gore. Polls in the closing weeks showed the race close, and Burns won by only 51%-47%--a margin similar to that by which Republicans won the races for congressman-at-large, governor and secretary of state. After the election, Burns said he did not rule out running for a fourth term in 2006.

Recent News Coverage
Search the CongressDaily, Hotline, National Journal and Technology Daily archives using the form below:

DC Office
187 DSOB 20510, 202-224-2644; Fax: 202-224-8594; Web site: burns.senate.gov

State Offices
Billings, 406-252-0550; Bozeman,406-586-4450; Butte,406-723-3277; Glendive,406-365-2391; Great Falls,406-452-9585; Helena,406-449-5401; Kalispell,406-257-3360; Missoula,406-329-3528.

Committees

• Appropriations: Agriculture & Rural Development; Defense; Energy & Water Development; Interior (Chmn.); Military Construction; VA, HUD & Independent Agencies.
• Budget.
• Commerce, Science & Transportation: Aviation; Communications (Chmn.); Competition, Foreign Commerce & Infrastructure; Consumer Affairs & Product Safety; Science, Technology & Space; Surface Transportation & Merchant Marine.
• Energy & Natural Resources: Energy; National Parks; Public Lands & Forests (Vice Chmn.).
• Small Business & Entrepreneurship.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	10	40	29	12	25	88	53	90	100	94	--
2001	10	--	8	0	--	--	81	100	96	--	80

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	17%	--	77%		11%	--	87%
Social	0%	--	79%		0%	--	62%
Foreign	7%	--	72%		39%	--	60%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 2. Expand Patients' Rights N 3. Campaign Finance Reform N 4. Permit ANWR Development Y 5. Confirm Ashcroft as AG Y 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts Y		7. $ for Hate Crime Prosecution N  8. Overseas Military Abortions N  9. Bar Coop. with Intl. Court Y 10. Trade Promotion Authority Y 11. Authorize Force in Iraq Y 12. Homeland Sec. Dept. Union N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2000 general	Conrad Burns (R)	208,082	51%	$4,337,961
	Brian Schweitzer (D)	194,430	47%	$2,033,530
	Other	9,089	2%
2000 primary	Conrad Burns (R)	unopposed
1994 general	Conrad Burns (R)	218,542	62%	$3,518,574
	Jack Mudd (D)	131,845	38%	$1,107,591
Prior winning percentages: 1988 (52%)