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Senator Sarbanes was born in Salisbury, Maryland. After graduating Wicomico Senior High School he attended Princeton University.

       Sarbanes has been working for the people of Maryland for more than three decades, first as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and then serving as a Congressman from the Third Congressional District for three terms. Since 1977, he has served with integrity and distinction in the United States Senate where he serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and is a senior member of the Foreign Relations, Budget and Joint Economic Committees.

A CALL TO PUBLIC SERVICE

       Paul Sarbanes was born in Salisbury, on Maryland's Eastern Shore on February 3, 1933. He was the son of Greek immigrants from Laconia, Greece -- Spyros (deceased 1957) and Matina Sarbanes (deceased 2001) who owned the Mayflower Restaurant on Salisbury’s Main Street. The principles Senator Sarbanes learned growing up in Salisbury that have guided his public life are opportunity and fairness -- principles that he strongly believes are fundamental to a decent and just society. While there were no diplomas on the wall, Sarbanes’ parents understood the importance of hard work and the value of education. They instilled these values in their children along with an appreciation of the benefits of living in a democratic society.

      After graduation from Wicomico High School in Salisbury, Sarbanes received an academic and athletic scholarship to Princeton University (A.B. degree, 1954). He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship that brought him to Oxford, England (First Class B.A., 1957). Sarbanes then returned to the United States and attended Harvard Law School. After graduating in 1960, he clerked for Federal Judge Morris A. Soper before going into private practice with two Baltimore City law firms.

       Sarbanes learned from his parents early in life how privileged we are to live in a democracy, the importance of community participation and, in particular, the importance of exercising the right to vote. In his many conversations with students across the State of Maryland, when he speaks of his passion for public service, Sarbanes talks about the high premium placed on involvement in public life by the ancient Greeks. In Athens, he says, "those who lived only in private life were falling short. They were called 'idiotes,' from which our word 'idiot' is derived today.

       The principles of fairness and opportunity instilled in Sarbanes by his parents from a very early age led him to a life of public service. In 1966, Sarbanes ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in Baltimore City and won. During his four years as a State Legislator in Annapolis he served on the Judiciary and the Ways and Means Committees.

       In 1970 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, the first of three terms. While in the House, from 1971-76, Sarbanes served on the House Judiciary Committee, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, and the Select Committee on House Reorganization. It was during his service in the House, in August 1974, that Sarbanes was selected by his Democratic colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to introduce the first Article of Impeachment, for obstruction of justice, against President Richard Nixon.

       On November 2, 1976, Sarbanes was elected to the United States Senate. He was re-elected in 1982, 1988, 1994, and 2000. Throughout his public service, Senator Sarbanes has worked hard to provide the citizens of Maryland with dedicated, independent representation; representation based upon intelligence and integrity; representation which gives people the confidence that elected officials are there to serve the public interest.

“THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT”
– RESTORING CONFIDENCE IN THE MARKETS

      In response to the failure of Enron Corporation in 2001, which, at the time, was the 7th largest corporation in the United States, Sarbanes, in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, held a series of comprehensive hearings resulting in the passage of a bi-partisan bill designed to reform the accounting industry and restore the investor confidence that had been eroded following the collapse of Enron.

      Immediately following the Senate Banking Committee’s approval of the legislation in June 2002, the accounting woes of WorldCom further shook the financial markets and created a tidal wave of support for the Sarbanes legislation. Sarbanes appeared on ABC’s This Week, NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN, and CNBC. In addition, he was chosen by Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle to deliver the Democratic response to the President’s weekly national radio address on June 29, 2002.

      “The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act” was signed into law on July 30, 2002, and has been referred to as “the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.” The law is now known as the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act,” named for the principal sponsors of the legislation.

      The legislation creates a strong independent oversight board to oversee the auditors of public companies and enables the board to set accounting standards, and investigate and discipline accountants. It addresses conflicts of interest, ensures auditor independence, strengthens corporate governance, by requiring corporate leaders to be personally responsible for the accuracy of their company’s financial reports, and establishes safeguards to protect against investment analysts’ conflicts.

      As a result of his work in shepherding this historic legislation through the Congress and into law, Sarbanes was honored in June 2003 with the prestigious Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award from the University of Illinois. The award, established in 1992 to honor Senator Douglas, a man often labeled “the conscience of the United States Senate,” was designed to honor individuals who have made a substantial contribution to promoting ethics. Additional awards include receipt of the “Rolfe Award for Extraordinary Impact on Policy in Economics, Business and Finance,” from the Women’s Economic Roundtable in November 2003, and the “Cox, Coleman, Richardson Award for Distinguished Public Service,” from Harvard Law School in March 2004.

FAMILY

       In June 1960, Sarbanes married Christine Dunbar of Brighton, England, a graduate of St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University; Lecturer in Classics at Goucher College, 1960-1973; and teacher of Latin and Classical Greek at the Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland, 1978-2000. They are the parents of three children and the grandparents of six. Sarbanes is a member of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore.

Contact: (202) 224-4524
http://sarbanes.senate.gov

Biographical Summary

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