Chairman's Circle Profile : Comptroller Susan Combs

Chairman's Circle Profile : Comptroller Susan Combs Susan Combs is a strong conservative leader in the same tradition as those brave men and women, who fought for our freedoms and built our state into the legend it is today.  She has long stood strong for private property rights and it was her bill in 1995 that inspired other states across the country to follow our lead. When the government of Mexico refused to pay what it owed Texas for water under our 1944 international treaty – Susan was the one we sent to make things right.  She put on her highest heels and a red suit and personally demanded the state's water from Mexican President Vicente Fox. Her fearless stance earned cheers from Texas water rights owners and the respect of the Mexican President, who perhaps for the first time in his life was forced to look a fierce Texas woman right in the eyes. Fox is about 6' 5' you know and wears boots. And over the past eight years, Susan has reshaped the Comptroller's Office and saved millions for Texas taxpayers.  She is a true Texan-- reforming, reducing and reshaping state government the way our founders would have wanted. Susan Combs' conservative values are bred into her bones. She comes from a long line of West Texas ranchers. She's lived through those droughts out there. And if you know anything about life on the ranch, you know there's no one more tight-fisted than a cattle rancher whose cattle aren't getting any water. Susan knows how to get the most from every penny. And not just that, because of her heritage, she treats every tax dollar like a sacred trust. Because she knows that someone, somewhere in Texas put in a hard day's work to earn that dollar. She applies this fiscal discipline at the Comptroller's office and has saved 70 million dollars just through reforms to a highly convoluted purchasing process and reclaimed over 224 million fighting fraud. She's a 4th generation Texan whose great grandfather rode with Terry's Texas Rangers during the Civil War. She owns a ranch that has been in the family for nearly 130 years. Susan and her husband are proud CHL holders and, ranching along the Mexican border, she understands immigration and border security issues. In 2010 she was the Texas Victory Chairman for the Republican Party of Texas and her efforts were a huge success – Texas gained 22 seats in the House. Said RPT Chairman Steve Munisteri, "There is no elected official more worth of receiving the Chairman's Circle award than Susan Combs.  In the 10 months that I have been Chairman, she has been consistently involved with the Party on a regular basis.  When I was first elected to office, she personally met with me to assist me in developing a strategy to reduce the party's spending in order to balance our budget.  Also last year she served as the Chair for VictoryTexas 2010 and did a phenomenal job.  She was able to run the Victory effort on approximately 1/5th of the money that was available two years earlier - yet she still delivered a very effective organization that was very instrumental in our legislative and congressional victories.  The Victory committee Susan headed was responsible for running multiple offices as well as making nearly a million phone calls.  Since she finished her tenure as our Victory Chair she has remained in close contact with the party and still today she remains of assistance.  To top it all off, she has personally donated $50K of her campaign funds to the Party so that we can continue our growth and outreach moving forward into this next Presidential election.  We are exceptionally grateful to Comptroller Combs and are pleased to announce this presentation to her today."