Trent Franks' Biography

Trent Franks is a conservative Reagan Republican, and he has spent most of his life working on children’s issues and trying to build a better future for all children.

He is a former Member of the Arizona State House of Representatives where he was Chairman of the Subcommittee on Child Protection and Family Preservation. He was a high-profile sponsor of numerous bills designed to protect the family including the “Child Obscenity and Pornography Bill” (which survived major challenges in the U.S. Federal District Court) and the “Dangerous Crimes Against Children Bill”. Both became nationally recognized.

Trent later oversaw all of Arizona's state programs for children when he became the Cabinet level Director of the Arizona Governor’s Office for Children. This office is the equivalent of the Department for Children in other states. He was also Chairman of the Arizona State Children's Cabinet as well as Chairman of the Inter-Agency Study Committee on Children and AIDS.

Trent founded and served four and a half years as Executive Director of the Arizona Family Research Institute which is a non-profit organization associated with Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family for the purpose of advocating and advancing public policy to protect children and families in Arizona.

Trent Franks is serving his third term in Congress, representing the Second District of Arizona. He serves on the Armed Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee, where he is the ranking member of the Constitution Subcommittee. He chairs the House Republican Conference Voter Values Public Affairs Team and is a member of the Republican Study Committee, the House Working Group on Judicial Accountability, the Education Freedom Caucus, the House Working Group on Waste, Fraud and Abuse, the Congressional Hispanic Conference, the Liberty Caucus, the Human Rights Caucus and the India Caucus, the Anti-Terrorism Caucus, and is co-founder of the Israel Allies Caucus (IAC).

Representative Franks has committed his life to protecting children. He is passionate in his commitment to protecting innocent life, including that of unborn children.

Congressman Franks has a longstanding commitment to providing parental empowerment and educational choice for families. In 1997, he authored and was the leading advocate for the Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit. This incredibly successful program has helped provide scholarships for over 50,000 children in its 8 year history. In order to build on this success, Rep. Franks has introduced the Children's Hope Act in Congress. This act would encourage states to create their own scholarship tax credit by providing an additional federal credit for individuals who participate in a state scholarship tax credit of $250 or more.

Representative Franks has received numerous honors since his arrival in Washington, including the Family Research Council's "True Blue Award," given to those who have "demonstrated extraordinary integrity and character in their defense of the family and the sanctity of human life...and hold perfect voting records on issues of importance to the American family," the "Spirit of Enterprise" award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the "Legislative Achievement Award" from the Seniors Coalition, the "Guardian of Seniors' Rights Award" from the 60 Plus Association, the "Constituent Communication Award" from National Write Your Congressman, the "2004 Medicare Choices Leadership Award" from the Coalition for Medicare Choices, a "Presidential Citation" from the President of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the "Thomas Jefferson Award" from the Food Industry, the "Tax Fighter Award" (100% rating) from the National Tax Limitation Committee, was named a "Small Business Advocate" by Americans for Tax Reform, 2004's "Lawmaker of the Year" by Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc., "Taxpayer Hero" by the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, "Champion of Property Rights" (100% rating) by the League of Private Property Voters, "Friend of Farm Bureau" by the American Farm Bureau Federation, and he received the "Friend of Education Award" from the Education Freedom Coalition.

Mr. Franks and his wife Josephine have been married since 1980 and are members of North Phoenix Baptist Church.