Trent Franks (R-Ariz.)

Despite an unsuccessful 1994 bid to represent his district-previously known as the Arizona 4th- Franks ran again in 2002 as the seat was being vacated by incumbent Rep. Bob Stump (R). After a narrow primary victory over Stump's chief of staff, Lisa Jackson Atkins (R), Franks won the general election.

Franks has staked out many strongly conservative views, including staunch opposition to abortion rights, skepticism about climate change and support for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. He co-sponsored two 2006 bills to prohibit various forms of online gambling.

In August 2009, Franks refuted a local news report that he was considering filing a lawsuit against President Obama because he couldn't prove he was a U.S. citizen. He said he had investigated the claims and found proof that the president was born in Hawaii.

But he sparked further controversy when he called Obama an "enemy of humanity" at a Take Back America conference in September 2009. He later clarified that he meant that Obama was an "enemy of unborn humanity" because of the president's pro-abortion rights stance.

In His Own Words

"While there are many sincere people on both sides of this issue, all of us must ask the central question. Does abortion kill a baby?" Franks says. "If it does not, then it is a non-issue. If abortion does kill a child, then you and I are living in the midst of the greatest human holocaust in the history of mankind."

Show less