Mar 24, 2026
Why does religious freedom matter in today’s world? Ambassador Sam Brownback draws on decades of experience to explain why it is central to advancing human rights and strengthening global security. He also examines how Russia’s actions and Ukraine’s wartime challenges have brought new urgency and complexity to these issues.
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Sam Brownback has spent decades in senior public service advancing human dignity, democratic values, and freedom of religion around the world. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit and Chairman of the National Committee for Religious Freedom, leading global efforts to protect religious liberty and counter repression.
From 2018 to 2021, Brownback served as United States Ambassador at
Large for International Religious Freedom, where he worked across
regions and faith communities to confront religious persecution and
advocate for the rights of believers facing state repression. His
diplomatic service built on a long legislative record focused on
freedom, human rights, and the rule of law.
Previously, Brownback represented Kansas in the United States
Senate from 1996 to 2011. During his tenure, he was a principal
architect of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998,
landmark legislation that institutionalized U.S. advocacy for
religious liberty worldwide, and the author of the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000, the first comprehensive federal law
to criminalize human trafficking and expand protections for
victims. He was a commissioner with the Helsinki Commission from
1999 to 2010, serving as chairman from 2005 to 2006. While on the
Commission, Brownback was outspoken about countering human rights
abuses worldwide, particularly in Russia and North
Korea.
Earlier in his career, Brownback served in the U.S. House of
Representatives representing Kansas’s Second Congressional District
and as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, becoming
the youngest person to hold that office. Honoring a term limits
pledge, he left the Senate and ran for Kansas governor in 2010. He
was inaugurated in 2011 as the 46th Governor of Kansas and was
re-elected in 2014 before returning to national and international
service. He is one of only six individuals in American history to
have served in all four roles: congressman, senator, governor, and
ambassador.
A native of Garnett, Kansas, Brownback was raised on his family’s
Linn County farm. He earned his undergraduate degree from Kansas
State University, where he served as student body president, and
his law degree from the University of Kansas. He and his wife,
Mary, have five children and eleven
grandchildren.
This podcast is hosted by Bakhti Nishanov and produced by Alanna Novetsky, in conjunction with the Senate Recording Studio.