Nancy Landon Kassebaum United States Senator (R) Kansas * Elected to the U.S. Senate, 1978 * Re-elected in 1984 and 1990 * Born July 29, 1932, Topeka, Kansas * B.A., University of Kansas, political science * M.A., University of Michigan, diplomatic history * Mother of four Committee Assignements * Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Ranking Member * Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Economic Policy, Trade, Oceans and Environment, Ranking Member * Committee on Indian Affairs * Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress Nancy Landon Kassebaum was introduced to the world of politics at an early age. Kassebaum, the daughter of Alfred M. Landon, 1936 Republican presidential nominee and Kansas governor, grew up listening to political discussions between her father and the many politicians and journalists who came to visit him. Kassebaum's family background provided an environment that spurred an intense interest in politics. Although her interest in politics never subsided, Kassebaum's involvement was limited during the time that she raised her four children on the farm in Maize, Kansas. She did, however, stay involved as a member of the Maize School Board, Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, and the Kansas Committee for the Humanities. In 1975, with her children nearly raised, Kassebaum accepted a position in washington as an aide to Republican Senator James Pearson of Kansas. When Pearson decided to retire at the end of his term in 1978, Kassebaum joined eight other candidates in a bid for the empty Senate seat. Her forthright manner and her father's name helped propel her to victory. Today, Kassebaum is serving her third term in the United States Senate and has risen to become the ranking Republican on the Labor and Human Resources Committee. She is known as a coalition builder in the Senate and has earned respect as an independent thinker. As a strong Republican voice, Kassebaum has advocated fiscal responsibility and in 1984 became one of our first senators to propose a one-year across the board budget freeze. Kassebaum has often been a vocal critic of Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who often, she says, discard the basic principal that government should live with its means. Kassebaum is viewed as a moderate on social issues. She has focused efforts on improving education and reforming the health care system, which she says is her top priority in the 103rd session of Congress. She advocates greater government coordination of family and children's programs. She supports abortion rights, which she views as a moral decision that must be made with the family and church, not by the federal government. Foreign policy has always been a keen interest for Kassebaum. A member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations since 1980, Kassebaum has focused her efforts on African issues. She is credited with orchestrating passage of the bill that imposed economic sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid policies. More recently, she has attempted to bring world attention to the famine in the Horn of Africa. Kassebaum believes that the United States must continue to take a leadership role in world affairs. In her spare time, Kassebaum enjoys cooking, hiking, reading, and spending time on her family ranch in the Flint Hills of Kansas.