{{Short description|American politician (born 1937)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ellen Sauerbrey | image = Ellen Sauerbrey, DoS official photo.jpg | office = 11th Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration | president = George W. Bush | term_start = January 4, 2006 | term_end = December 31, 2007 | predecessor = Gene Dewey | successor = Eric P. Schwartz | state_delegate1 = Maryland | district1 = 10th | alongside1 = Wade Kach, Thomas Chamberlain, Bob Ehrlich | term_start1 = January 12, 1983 | term_end1 = January 11, 1995 | predecessor1 = {{unbulleted list|Thomas Kernan|Mark Medairy|Donald Hughes}} | successor1 = {{unbulleted list|Emmett C. Burns Jr.|Shirley Nathan-Pulliam|Joan Neverdon Parker}} | state_delegate2 = Maryland | district2 = 5B | alongside2 = Richard Matthews | term_start2 = January 10, 1979 | term_end2 = January 12, 1983 | predecessor2 = George Price | successor2 = Lawrence LaMotte | birth_name = Ellen Richmond | birth_date = {{nowrap|{{birth date and age|1937|9|9}}}} | birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = Republican | spouse = {{marriage|Wil Sauerbrey|1959}} | education = McDaniel College {{small|(BA)}} | website = {{url|ellensauerbrey.blogspot.com|Official blog}} }} '''Ellen Richmond Sauerbrey'''<ref name="state.gov">{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/sauerbrey-ellen-richmond |title=Ellen Richmond Sauerbrey |website=U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian |access-date=November 15, 2021 }}</ref> (born September 9, 1937)<ref name=wp1998>{{cite news|first=Daniel |last=LeDuc |title=Sauerbrey Plays Down '94 Issues |url=http://sitesearch.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/mdelect/statewide/sauerbrey0906.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 6, 1998 |access-date=28 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716221117/http://sitesearch.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/mdelect/statewide/sauerbrey0906.htm |archive-date=16 July 2011 }}</ref> is an American politician from Maryland and the former head of the United States Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. She was nominated to the Bureau in September 2005 by President George W. Bush. On January 4, 2006, Bush placed her in office by way of a recess appointment, bypassing the need for Senate confirmation. Her confirmation was unlikely, given strong objections by some senators. Sauerbrey's recess appointment caused some controversy; however, her experience as minority leader in the Maryland House of Delegates and managing a complex U.S. Census project helped rally others to her cause.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/oct/24/20051024-094721-2766r/|title=Confirm Ellen Sauerbrey|work=The Washington Times|date=October 24, 2005}}</ref> After her tenure in the house of delegates, she ran for governor of Maryland in 1994 and 1998 as the Republican nominee, losing both elections to Democrat Parris Glendening.
==Life and career== Sauerbrey was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the only child of Ethel, a secretary/stenographer, and Edgar Richmond, a steelworker for Bethlehem Steel at Sparrows Point.<ref name=cbs98>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/md-gov-sauerbrey/ |title=Former State Rep. Ellen Sauerbrey |date=October 6, 1998 |work=CBS News |access-date=November 15, 2021 }}</ref> She is a 1955 graduate of Towson High School and a 1959 graduate of Western Maryland College, and was a teacher before entering politics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/012300/012334/html/12334extbio.html |title=Ellen R. Sauerbrey |date=August 1, 2013 |work=Maryland State Archives |first=Rachel |last=Alexander |access-date=November 15, 2021 }}</ref> In 1959, she married Wilmer J.E. Sauerbrey,<ref name="cbs98" /> who is credited with having introduced her to conservative politics.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-09-07-1998250014-story.html |title=Maryland's first gentleman? Mentor: In the Sauerbrey household, Ellen's running for governor, but her husband, Wilmer, is the real conservative. |date=September 7, 1998 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |first=JoAnna |last=Daemmrich |access-date=November 15, 2021 }}</ref>
From 1978 to 1994, she was a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates, and served as minority leader from 1986 to 1994. Her committee assignments included the Appropriations Committee; Subcommittee on Education and Transportation; Ways and Means and Economic Matters.
In 1990, she was elected as the national chairwoman of the American Legislative Exchange Council,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/womenshall/html/sauerbrey.html |title=Maryland Women's Hall of Fame: Ellen Sauerbrey |access-date=March 11, 2017 |year=2013 |publisher=Maryland State Archives }}</ref> serving in 1991 when President George H. W. Bush spoke to the organization.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=19351 |title=George Bush: Remarks to the American Legislative Exchange Council |date=March 1, 1991 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |publisher=The American Presidency Project |quote=he referred to Ellen R. Sauerbrey and Samuel A. Brunelli, national chairperson and executive director of the council }}</ref>
Sauerbrey ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Maryland twice, in 1994 and 1998. She was defeated by Democrat Parris Glendening both times, the first time by a very narrow margin. The 1994 election was in doubt as charges of voter fraud led to a lawsuit by the Sauerbrey campaign to overturn the election, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
[[Image:Sauerbrey, Kadeer and Seytoff 2006.jpg|thumb|left|270px|Sauerbrey meeting Rebiya Kadeer (center), President of the International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation, and Alim Seytoff (right), General Secretary of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, 2006.]]
In 2002, George W. Bush nominated Sauerbrey to be Representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador. In that post, Sauerbrey focused mostly on three issues: the need for more education for women, the importance of empowering women economically and politically, and protection of the right to life.
In January 2006, while the Senate was recessed, President Bush appointed Sauerbrey as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration. It was reported then that this and other such appointments would end at the conclusion of the congressional session in January 2007.<ref>{{cite news |first=Thomas B. |last=Edsall |author-link=Thomas Edsall |title=Bush Appointments Avert Senate Battles |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010401953.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 5, 2006 |access-date=28 August 2009}}</ref>
In a January 15, 2007, hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democratic lawmakers and advocates for refugees called for increased help for fleeing Iraqis. Sauerbrey said a UN-predicted wave of refugees did not occur right after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and was instead occurring at that present time.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ann Scott |last=Tyson |title=Iraqi Refugee Crisis Seen Deepening |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011601478.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 17, 2007 |access-date=28 August 2009}}</ref>
Sauerbrey was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 2013<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mbrg.org/ellen-r-sauerbrey/ |title=Ellen R. Sauerbrey |work=MBRG – Maryland Business For Responsive Government |publisher=Maryland Business for Responsible Government |access-date=February 11, 2016 }}</ref> and has written opinion articles published by ''The Washington Times'' as recently as 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/7/ellen-sauerbrey-fear-a-martin-omalley-presidency/ |title=Surviving Martin O'Malley |date=April 7, 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Times |first=Ellen |last=Sauerbrey |access-date=February 11, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/3/ellen-sauerbrey-baltimore-broken-families-breed-br/ |title=The dreadful truth of Moynihan's prophecy |date=June 3, 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Times |first=Ellen |last=Sauerbrey |access-date=February 11, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/25/why-donald-trump-is-still-the-safer-choice/ |title=Why Donald Trump is still the safer choice |newspaper=The Washington Times |date=October 25, 2016 |first=Ellen |last=Sauerbrey |access-date=March 11, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/26/russia-collusion-investigation-without-results-ang/ |title=An investigation in search of a crime |first=Ellen |last=Sauerbrey |access-date=December 20, 2019 |date=June 26, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Times }}</ref>
In November 2020, amid attempts to overturn the U.S. presidential election, Sauerbrey expressed no regrets about challenging her 1994 election outcome, saying, "I think when you have a pretty good indication that the election is rigged, you should fight". Sauerbrey also questioned the transparency, accuracy, and timeliness involved with counting mail-in ballots.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/11/07/glendening-sauerbrey-reflect-on-the-ballot-impasse-and-their-own/ |title=Glendening, Sauerbrey Reflect on the Ballot Impasse — And Their Own |date=November 7, 2020 |work=Maryland Matters |first=John |last=Rydell |access-date=November 15, 2021 }}</ref> {{clear}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== *[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/11/opinion/11tue4.html Inexpert Selection], ''The New York Times'', October 11, 2005 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20051122123142/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/25/AR2005102501533.html Democrats Zero In On Another Nominee] ''The Washington Post'', October 26, 2005 *[http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20051024-094721-2766r.htm/ Confirm Ellen Sauerbrey] ''The Washington Times'', October 25, 2005 *[https://archive.today/20070709172943/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTQ0ZDBkYzY1MjZhNjNmOTkxYzY1YTQyMjhiZjA5Y2M=/ Sisterhood V. Sauerbrey] ''National Review Online'', November 14, 2005
==External links== * [https://ellensauerbrey.blogspot.com/ Freedom Works] – Sauerbrey's blog *{{C-SPAN|26758}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=William Shepard}} {{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Governor of Maryland|years=1994, 1998}} {{s-aft|after=Bob Ehrlich}} |- {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Gene Dewey}} {{s-ttl|title=Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration|years=2006–2007}} {{s-aft|after=Samuel Witten<br>{{small|Acting}}}} {{s-end}}
{{Maryland Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauerbrey, Ellen}} Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly Category:20th-century American women politicians Category:21st-century American women politicians Category:Ambassadors of the United States Category:Women ambassadors of the United States Category:Candidates in the 1994 United States elections Category:Candidates in the 1998 United States elections Category:George W. Bush administration personnel Category:Republican Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates Category:Towson High School alumni Category:United States assistant secretaries of state Category:Western Maryland College alumni Category:Women state legislators in Maryland