Tom Coburn

• Born: March 14, 1948
• Birthplace: Casper, Wyoming
• Died: March 28, 2020
• Deathplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Republican Tom Coburn represented Oklahoma in the United States Senate from 2005 to 2015.

Thomas "Tom" Allen Coburn was born on March 14, 1948, in Casper, Wyoming, and he grew up in various eastern Oklahoma towns. In 1970, Coburn received a degree in accounting from Oklahoma State University. He then went to work for his father's business, a small-scale ophthalmologic supply company.

In 1973, with his wife and children in tow, Coburn moved to northern Virginia, where he helped grow Coburn Optical Industries. As a result of the firm's success, the family sold the business in 1978. Coburn returned to the University of Oklahoma Medical School, where he received his medical degree in 1983. Following his residency program, he settled his family in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and established a small obstetrics practice.

In 1994, frustrated with the bureaucratic medical regulations imposed by the federal government, Coburn challenged eight-term Congressman Mike Synar (D-OK) for his seat in the House of Representatives representing Oklahoma's Second District. Coburn's ran an aggressive campaign and managed to defeat Synar in the primary. Coburn went on to win the election that November, defeating his Democrat opponent by a comfortable margin. He became the first Republican to represent the Second District since 1921.

Congressional Career

In 1994, the Republican Party achieved a stunning electoral upset by taking fifty-four seats from Democratic control. Led in the House by Speaker Newt Gingrich, the new Congress promised the country a Republican revolution that would radically change the federal government. Gingrich publicly laid out his "Contract with America," which called for massive public spending cuts to federal programs and entitlements across the country.

Representative Coburn was an ardent supporter of those cuts to the federal budget and quickly became known for his opposition to "pork barrel spending," which refers to the use of taxpayer money on pet projects that enrich special interests in the home districts of congressional representatives. Coburn quickly gained a popular following for his opposition to unnecessary government spending and for his credentials as a social conservative; Coburn was opposed to abortion, stem cell research, the gay rights movement, and same-sex marriage.

The Contract with America was repeatedly vetoed by President Bill Clinton. Without sufficient votes to override the president's veto, the Republican goal of a leaner, smaller government lost momentum. Before long, Republicans in Congress were pushing forward the very same needless spending bills that they had vowed to eliminate just two years earlier. However, Coburn stuck to his principles and refused to endorse such federal spending. He frequently challenged Gingrich on spending bills and continued to lead a one-man crusade against government pork.

As a proponent of congressional term limits, Coburn fulfilled a campaign promise by retiring after three terms in the House of Representatives and moved back to Muskogee to practice medicine. However, in 2004, at the urging of several taxpayer groups, Coburn decided to run for the US Senate seat left vacant by retiring senator Don Nickles. Despite a lack of national party support, Coburn swept the field in the Republican primaries and later defeated his Democratic opponent in a landslide. After assuming his seat in 2005, Coburn was appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Controversies

Known for his libertarian tax philosophy and conservative social positions, Senator Tom Coburn was no stranger to controversy.

In the House, Coburn first came to national attention for condemning an uncensored television broadcast of the film Schindler's List on NBC. Coburn condemned the uncensored version since it contained profanity and nudity, both of which he believed could encourage immoral behavior in American children. After a storm of criticism from Jewish groups and fellow Republicans, Coburn retreated and apologized for the way he had expressed his opinion.

Coburn was criticized by women's groups for his positions on abortion. He believed that doctors who perform abortions should be punished with the death penalty. Moreover, he stated that he opposes abortion in every case except when the woman's life is in danger. In addition, he faced accusations by a former patient that Coburn himself bungled an abortion procedure during an operation that rendered the patient sterile. The case did go to trial but was settled in Coburn's favor.

During his Senate campaign, Coburn made many remarks about LGBT interests and once voted in favor of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Coburn was condemned by his colleagues in the Senate for his opposition to pork projects. In October 2005, Coburn exposed the huge earmarks and pork barrel spending measures attached to the 2006 budget then under debate in the Senate. Coburn cited specifically Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and his pet project, a $315 million bridge connecting a practically uninhabited Alaskan island to the mainland, known as the "bridge to nowhere."

The Issues

Coburn expressed strong antiabortion views and was considered one of the most influential antiabortion senators in Washington. He voted in favor of banning late-term abortion and also voted for the mandatory notification of parents when minors seek an abortion. In 2006, he voted against a $100 million initiative designed to reduce teen pregnancies through public education and improved access to contraceptives. During the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in 2005, Coburn went on record as condemning abortion even in the case of rape, citing in defense of his position the fact that his great-grandmother had been raped by a local sheriff.

Coburn voted in favor of lessening the number of appeals allowed to federal inmates who have been sentenced to death. However, Coburn also voted against programs that would provide more public funding for local police programs. He continued to support the war on drugs and voted against a medicinal marijuana and needle exchange program that was earmarked for the District of Columbia. With regard to gun control and the Second Amendment, Coburn enjoyed an A-rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA).

When President George W. Bush unveiled his comprehensive immigration reform plan in the spring of 2007, Coburn was the first Republican senator to speak out against it. He rallied opposition to the bill in the Senate and condemned what he saw as wholesale amnesty for undocumented immigrants. Coburn voted in favor of constructing a 1,000-mile-long border fence with Mexico. In addition, he voted in favor of a bill that would designate English as the official language of the United States.

Coburn stated that he fully supported the Bush administration's goals in the war on terror. In 2006, Coburn voted in favor of re-authorizing the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act, which critics said violates elements of the Constitution. In addition, Coburn voted against awarding enemy combatants detained at Guantánamo the right to appeal in federal court. He voted against a measure that would require the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to release reports on detainees and the interrogation methods employed to elicit information from them. In 2007, he voted against implementing any of the homeland security recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Coburn was well known for his assaults on government spending, popularized by a coalition known as "porkbusters," a group designed to publicize egregious examples of government waste promoted by congressional representatives for their districts. He earned the respect of several American taxpayer groups for his efforts to restrict government spending. In speech after speech, Coburn criticized both parties for their overspending.

Coburn advocated for greater tax cuts for American taxpayers, specifically calling for cuts in capital gains and the estate tax. He voted in favor of making permanent the highly controversial tax cuts put in place by President Bush in 2002.

Coburn was a political maverick. His hard-line stances on social issues alienated him from both liberal and libertarian groups. He was reelected handily in 2010, defeating Democratic Party challenger Jim Rogers.

Despite a well-deserved reputation for obstructing Senate votes on measures he disliked, Coburn was known to engage in bipartisan negotiations on major political issues, from immigration to health care reform to gun legislation, although none proved fruitful. At various points, he also worked on initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS.

In his later years Coburn developed prostate cancer. He experienced multiple bouts of cancer and treatments for it, but his health continued to decline. He announced his resignation from the Senate in 2014, citing partisan gridlock, and stepped down on January 3, 2015.

Coburn went on to join the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, as a consultant in 2015 and then a senior fellow, beginning in 2016. He also remained engaged with political issues, such as a proposed balanced-budget amendment and opposition to Oklahoma tax increases.

In addition to his medical and political careers, Coburn wrote or cowrote several books about national politics including Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders (2003), The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting America (2012), and Smashing the DC Monopoly: Using Article V to Restore Freedom and Stop Runaway Government (2017).

Coburn died on March 28, 2020, from prostate cancer. He was seventy-two.

Bibliography

Axelrod, Tal. “Former Sen. Tom Coburn Dies at 72.” TheHill, 28 Mar. 2020, thehill.com/homenews/senate/489975-former-sen-tom-coburn-dies-at-72. Accessed 30 Oct. 2020.‌

Casteel, Chris. “Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn Dies at 72.” The Oklahoman, 29 Mar. 2020, oklahoman.com/article/5658847/former-us-sen-tom-coburn-dies-at-72. Accessed 30 Oct. 2020.‌

“Coburn, Thomas Allen.” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Congress.gov, bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=C000560. Accessed 30 Oct. 2020.‌

McFadden, Robert D. “Tom Coburn, the ‘Dr. No’ of Congress, Is Dead at 72.” The New York Times, 28 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/us/tom-coburn-dead.html. Accessed 30 Oct. 2020.‌

“Tom Coburn.” Manhattan Institute, www.manhattan-institute.org/expert/dr-tom-coburn. Accessed 30 Oct. 2020.‌