Conrad Ray Burns (January 25, 1935 – April 28, 2016) was an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator from Montana from 1989 to 2007.

In 1962, he traveled the state of Montana as a field representative for Polled Hereford World magazine in Billings, He married Phyllis Jean Kuhlmann in 1967; they had three children, Kate, Keely, and Garrett.

Though a political novice, Burns had a great deal of name recognition from his previous jobs, and the Republican Party recruited him to run against incumbent Democratic Senator John Melcher, a popular veterinarian.

Former Senator Melcher was among the candidates in the Democratic primary, but that race was won by Jack Mudd, former dean of the University of Montana law school in Missoula.

"[4] Later that same month, while giving a speech about American dependence on foreign oil to the Montana Equipment Dealers Association, he referred to Arabs as "ragheads."

"[6] Schweitzer challenged Burns primarily on the issue of prescription drugs, organizing busloads of senior citizens to take trips to Canada and Mexico for cheaper medicine.

[7] Burns charged that Schweitzer favored "Canadian-style government controls"[6] and claimed that senior citizens went to doctors to have "somebody to visit with.

In December 2003, Burns and Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, were pleased that their legislation to combat spam, the CAN-SPAM Act, had been signed into law.

In the November general election, his Democratic opponent was Montana State Senate President and organic farmer Jon Tester.

On November 15, he angrily responded to questions about his remaining time as a lame-duck senator, saying, "I'm not going to negotiate my problems with the goddamn press... Goodbye!

[18] After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Burns invited a group of racially mixed lobbyists to a "slave auction."

Following criticism, Burns responded that in such events "you have an auction and you sell the kids and they perform a day's work for whoever buys them" and said they were "rather common in Montana.

"[20] During a visit to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Burns told one of the editors an anecdote about an elderly Montana rancher who asked him about life in Washington.

[22] After leaving office, Burns joined the lobbying firm of GAGE, founded by his former chief of staff, Leo Giacometto.

[25] On December 9, 2009, Burns was hospitalized after suffering from a stroke, likely as a result of atrial fibrillation, at his Arlington, Virginia home.

The organization said, "His ethics issues stem from campaign contributions he accepted in apparent exchange for exercising his authority as chairman of an appropriations subcommittee and on a trip some of his staff members took to the 2001 Super Bowl.

Baker is also affiliated with the DC lobbying firm Denny Miller Associates Inc.,[35] whose members donated at least $27,000 to Burns and his PAC during the same period.

Among their ranks was Shawn Vasell, an Appropriations aide who shuttled back and forth between jobs on Burns's staff and Abramoff's shop.

[40] In the 1990s, Burns opposed the transfer of management of the National Bison Range (NBR) in Moiese, Montana, to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), introduced a draft bill opposing tribal jurisdiction, and supported Senator Slade Gorton's S. 1691, which called Tribal Sovereign Immunity into question.

In 2001 and 2002, Burns's policies changed, and his DC staff told citizens of western Montana that he would not support any legislation concerning tribal government unless all 500+ tribes agree to it.

On March 14, 2005, the day before a new NBR agreement went into effect with the tribes, CSKT chairman Fred Matt wrote in a Missoulian guest column, "Sen. Burns has been a positive and aggressive advocate for Indian Country..." and "Burns fully understands and appreciates consultation with Indian country, our sovereignty, and our right to self-determination".

[39] In June 2005, former Burns staffer Shawn Vasell was called as a witness at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

"[48] In May 2006, a University of Montana spinoff that had federal funding of more than $4 million, through efforts by Burns, became part of an investigation by the NASA Office of Inspector General.

In October 2006, the Missoulian reported further problems with IMSA and with the University of Montana's Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization, which has a history of sharing employees with INSA, some of whom are related.

"I have talked with an FBI agent and an investigator with the NASA Office of Inspector General," Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg said.

"[53][54] Burns was also surprised when told by an employee of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation that the firefighters in question made about $8–12/hour.

[53] On August 14, 2006, a reporter from the Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia called Burns's office for comment on the firefighter remark.

A young staffer who answered, erroneously believing the reporter to be a friend, proceeded with a host of obscenity-laced comments not intended for public consumption.

During a debate in 2006 against Democratic opponent Jon Tester, Burns commented that he was on the telephone with his contractor when he saw an interview with an illegal immigrant on television.

Again, at a campaign event on August 30, 2006, Burns, while discussing the War on Terrorism, spoke of a "faceless enemy" of terrorists who "drive taxicabs in the daytime and kill at night."