Republican Scott Brown the former senator from Massachusetts has run a number of attack ads that criticized Senator Jeanne Shaheen a Democrat representing New Hampshire, for not securing the border between the United State and Mexico.
However, while a member of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee of the Senate, Brown missed the six hearings held on border security that he could have attended, suggest records.
Brown was not present for five 2011 hearings and one during 2010, according to public records that were reviewed along with videos and transcripts from Congress.
A review of the hearings of the Homeland Security Committee while Brown was still a senator showed that those were the only six he could have attended.
Senators missing committee a hearing is not something that is uncommon. Conflicts with scheduling, including other meetings can make it difficult to attend.
Shaheen has been criticized as well for committee meeting absences.
However, the absences of Brown from the hearings on border security are notable since he has attempted to make the issue important in his current campaign.
He has railed on a routine basis against all amnesty for immigrants who are undocumented and has argued that his opponent has been too soft on security at the border.
Brown was in the U.S. Senate for close to three years from 2010 to 2013. Polls indicate the race between he and Shaheen is close with the outcome likely to affect which of the parties will control the Senate for the next two years.
The U.S. Senate does not maintain a record of committee attendance.
As the security at the border became an issue nationally earlier in 2014, amidst the influx of minors who were unaccompanied crossing the border, Brown created the issue as the central focus of his campaign.
He blamed Shaheen for not voting in favor of border security and for amnesty.
He sought to tie Senator Shaheen with President Obama on border security and immigration. Currently Obama is not popular in New Hampshire polls.
