Biography

Broun grew up in Athens, Georgia where he attended Athens High School and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1967 with a B.S. in Chemistry. In 1971, he received his Medical Doctor degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. An internship at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon and a residency at University Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama followed. [4]

Issues

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Broun voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[6]

Analysis

Congressional Staff Salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Broun paid his congressional staff a total of $964,907 in 2011. He ranks 166th on the list of the lowest paid Republican Representative Staff Salaries and he ranks 222nd overall of the lowest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Georgia ranks 24th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[11]

Net worth

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Broun's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $309,018 and $860,000. That averages to $584,509, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.[12]

National Journal vote ratings

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Broun ranked 178th in the conservative rankings.[13]

Political Positions

Percentage voting with party

Paul C. Broun voted with the Republican Party 86 of the time, which ranked 223 among the 242 House Republican members as of November 2011.[14]

Controversies

Anti-science comments

At the Sportsman's Banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Georgia on September 27, 2012, Broun made a number of anti-science comments that incited controversy, especially since Broun at the time was a high-ranking member of the House Science Committee.

Broun stated, "God's word is true. I've come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell." He went on to say, "You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I've found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don't believe that the earth's but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That's what the Bible says."[15]

In response to the criticism, a spokeswoman for Broun explained the comments, saying that they were of a personal nature and that Broun was “speaking off the record to a large church group about his personal beliefs regarding religious issues.”[16]

Personal

Broun has been married to his wife Niki since 1985 and has two grown daughters, a son, and two grandchildren. [4]