Sen. Tom Coburn (R.-Okla.) wants the country’s future leaders to start setting a good example now. He told a group of Washington, D.C., interns about the importance of ethical leadership in government.
Coburn used the speech, sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation, to challenge interns to raise the standard for future politicians by advocating “courageous moral leadership.”
“Politicians should make decisions based on the best interest of the country-not his political career,” he said.
Coburn stated that politicians too often get their priorities reversed, placing their own job security above the needs of other people. He feels that hard-working American citizens from non-political career backgrounds might better represent the people instead of representatives from inner-circle Washington cliques.
“It’s time for people other than politicians to represent us. The Senate is not about the senators, it’s about the United States of America.”
Before taking a Senate seat, Coburn served as a medical practitioner and has delivered more than 4,000 babies. He has pledged to serve no more than two terms in the Senate in order to continue patient care.
He also spoke of his two-time battle, surviving cancer: “Life is too precious to be waste it on partisan politics.”
