Officeholder roles and responsibilities

¶ … Tennessee senator, Bill Frist. The author of this paper discusses Frist's biography, political leanings and voting record on many important issues. There were three sources used to complete this paper.

Republican Senator Bill Frist, who is also the senate's majority leader, did not spend his life preparing for politics. While most of his counterparts spent their adult lives as attorneys or other careers that are geared toward the eventual entrance to the world of politics, Frist did not take that path. Frist, who is from a prominent Nashville medical family, spent his adult life as a heart surgeon before entering the world of voting and constituents (National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition

Jan 07, 2003 (http://www.ftcr.org/healthcare/nw/nw002986.php3).

When Bill Frist ran for Senate in 1994, he was a self-styled citizen senator, a regular guy going to Washington to do some good and come home. He spoke with NPR just days before he took the Oath of Office and said he felt like an outsider, even though there were 11 new senators that year. Senator BILL FRIST (Republican, Tennessee): In my first meeting, as I looked around the room, I started saying, 'You know, I think I'm the only outsider here (National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition

Jan 07, 2003 (http://www.ftcr.org/healthcare/nw/nw002986.php3).'Seven are from Congress and one a governor and two have worked in Washington as high-level aides, and then there's me. And I think there's a real advantage in that, and that is what I ran on, the whole concept of citizen legislator, not coming here forever, but coming with a mission to accomplish and then leaving. And I think I do represent that (National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition

Jan 07, 2003 (http://www.ftcr.org/healthcare/nw/nw002986.php3)."

Many people who are not supporters of Frist are uncomfortable with the number of important people and organizations that they believe owe favors to the former heart surgeon, turned politician.

Frist comes from an extremely wealthy family, which meant that he was able to finance a large part of his campaign though he did receive several contributions from certain corners (National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition

Jan 07, 2003 (http://www.ftcr.org/healthcare/nw/nw002986.php3).

He is the Senate's only doctor, and his family founded the nation's largest chain of private hospitals. During last year's campaigns, he raised more money from pharmaceutical companies than any other senator, more than $265,000. Jamie Court is with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and an author of "Making a Killing: HMOs and the Threat to Your Health (National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition

Jan 07, 2003 (http://www.ftcr.org/healthcare/nw/nw002986.php3)." Court says Frist has a close relationship with the drugmaker Eli Lilly. He sponsored legislation that would have limited legal liability for side effects of Lilly vaccinations and that Eli Lilly had recently purchased 5,000 copies of Frist's recent book. Court says Frist's health-care votes have fit a pattern (National Public Radio (NPR) (Morning Edition Jan 07, 2003 (http://www.ftcr.org/healthcare/nw/nw002986.php3)."

Frist is halfway through his current term, which expires in 2006. He was first elected in 1994(Senator William H. 'Bill' Frist (TN) (http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=CNIP7879).

He is a Republican who participates in several committees including:

Rules & Administration [Senate]

Finance [Senate]

Health, Education, Labor & Pensions [Senate]

Frist belongs to the following organizations (Senator William H. 'Bill' Frist (TN) (http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=CNIP7879):

Caucuses/Non-Legislative

Senate Rural Health Caucus, 108th Congress

Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare

Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition

Chair, National Republican Senatorial Committee

Co-Chair, Organ and Tissue Donation Task Force (Frist's Rightwing Voting Record (http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/000647.shtml)"

The majority of Frist's campaign funds came from two primary sources. The Frist family fortune funded a lot of it and what it didn't fund, the medical field provided. He received funds from the following:

As for where Frist's money comes from-- having heavily self-financed his own election back in 1994, his reelection in 2000 was heavily indebted to the corporate medical industry. See Open Secrets for his industry support.

In fact, Frist in 2000 was a top recipient (#1 to #4 among Senators) from 260,373 Pharmaceutical/Health Products (#2)

75,707 Pharmaceutical manufacturing (#3)

825,504 Health Professionals (#3)