U.S. Congressman Trent Franks
Member of the Advisory Board


Congressman Trent Franks is serving his third term in the United States 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 is an active member of the Republican Study Committee, and serves on several task force and caucus groups, including the House Working Group on Judicial Accountability, the Education Freedom Caucus, the House Working Group on Waste, Fraud and Abuse, the Liberty Caucus, the Human Rights Caucus, the India Caucus, the Anti-Terrorism Caucus, and is co-founder of the Israel Allies Caucus (IAC).

Congressman Franks has spent most of his life working on children's issues and trying to build a better future for all children. Previously, as a member of the Arizona State House of Representatives, Franks served as 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.

Franks 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. 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. In addition, he founded and served four and a half years as Executive Director of the Arizona Family Research Institute, a non-profit organization associated with Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family, where he further sought to advocate and advance public policy to protect children and families in Arizona.

Congressman Franks has dedicated himself to children’s issues, and is passionate in his commitment to protect all human life, including that of the unborn. His record marks an unswerving commitment to providing parental empowerment and educational choice for families. In 1997, he authored and advocated the Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit. This program has helped provide over 142,000 scholarships for children in its 9 year history. In order to build on this success, Rep. Franks introduced the Children's Hope Act in the U.S. Congress, legislation that 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.

Congressman Franks has received numerous honors since his arrival in Washington, including the Family Research Council's "True Blue Award", the "Guardian of Seniors' Rights Award" from the 60 Plus Association, the “Achievement Award" from the Seniors Coalition, and the "Spirit of Enterprise" award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He has also received numerous awards reflecting his commitment to limited government and a smaller tax burden.

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