113th Congress: Susan W. Brooks, R-Ind. (5th District)

By Paul Hendrie, CQ Staff

Susan W. Brooks will make job creation her top priority — and she has the standing to do so, having honed her leadership skills on workforce development issues.

“There is a lot of duplication in the workforce system and in the job-training system,” says Brooks, who served as senior vice president at Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana’s largest public post-secondary educational institution. “I think it can be a much more effective, efficient system than we currently have.”

Brooks also backs efforts to relax regulations, overhaul the tax code, cut medical costs and boost homeland security efforts.

Brooks thinks her well-rounded professional experience prepared her for the challenge of representing a district that encompasses urban neighborhoods, affluent suburbs and farm communities.

“What might help make me different is that I do have economic development experience now, combined with national security and criminal justice experience combined with local government,” she says.

Given the 5th District’s diverse economy, the Energy and Commerce Committee’s broad jurisdiction appeals to Brooks. The Education and the Workforce, Homeland Security and Agriculture panels also interest her.

Brooks says she is a committed conservative with experience “working through tough challenges with people who disagree.”

“It is important that we restore some civility to the process,” she adds.