Mark Pryor

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Mark Pryor
Junior Senator from Arkansas
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 7, 2003 Serving with Blanche Lincoln
Preceded by	Tim Hutchinson
53rd Arkansas Attorney General
In office January 12, 1999 – January 3, 2003
Governor	Mike Huckabee
Preceded by	Winston Bryant
Succeeded by	Mike Beebe
Born	January 10, 1963 (1963-01-10) (age 45) Fayetteville, Arkansas
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jill Pryor
Residence	Little Rock, Arkansas
Alma mater	University of Arkansas
Occupation	attorney
Religion	Southern Baptist

Mark Lunsford Pryor (born January 10, 1963) is a Democratic politician in Arkansas. He is the state's junior U.S. Senator.

[edit] Personal Background

Pryor was born in Fayetteville, the seat of Washington County in Northwest Arkansas, to the former Barbara Lunsford and former Governor and U.S. Senator David Hampton Pryor. He is married to Jill Pryor, and has two children, Adams and Porter, as well as a dog named Nick. He received both his bachelor's and Juris Doctor (J.D.) degrees from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Prior to entering politics, Pryor worked as a private practice attorney. He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1991 to 1994. He was elected the state Attorney General in 1998 and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2000.

[edit] Religious Views

Pryor is featured in the 2008 Bill Maher documentary Religulous, in which he tells Maher that he believes in creationism. ^[1]

[edit] U.S. Senate Career

In late 2001, Pryor announced his candidacy for the Senate seat held by Tim Hutchinson, who six years earlier had become the first Arkansas Republican to serve in that body since Reconstruction. The seat had been held by David Pryor, who actively campaigned for his son. Hutchinson's popularity was considerably dragged down by the fact that he had divorced his wife of 29 years and married a congressional aide, but Pryor didn't make an issue of it during the campaign.

Pryor defeated Hutchinson 54% to 46%. He was the only Democratic candidate for the Senate to defeat a Republican incumbent in that election cycle. He will face no major-party opposition in 2008, which is unusual for a freshman Senator. The only Republican to express interest in the race, health care executive Tom Formicola, decided not to run.^[2] His only announced opponent is Green candidate Rebekah Kennedy.

There had been speculation that former Governor Mike Huckabee would run against Pryor if his presidential bid were unsuccessful, but on March 8, Huckabee said he wouldn't contest the race.^[3]

Pryor places great emphasis on constituent service. He has a sign on his desk that reads "Arkansas comes first," as his father did when he held the seat.

On May 23, 2005, Pryor was one of the 14 senators who forged a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster. This effectively ended any threat of a Democratic filibuster (and thus also avoided the Republican leadership's threatened implementation of the so-called "nuclear option.") Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance." The threat of a filibuster removed, Republicans were able to force cloture on the three most conservative Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor-no relation), who subsequently passed a vote by the full Republican-controlled Senate. He did, however, vote against the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court, citing his concerns over Alito's views on the president's powers during wartime.

On September 28, 2006, Pryor was one of 12 Senate Democrats who voted to adopt S.3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006^[4], which restricts from an entire class of people the writ of Habeas Corpus ^[5], admits as legal evidence information obtained by coercion or torture ^[6], and provides for an effective amnesty to government officials who might otherwise face criminal charges for having authorized torture or abuse of prisoners prior to the bill's passage. He voted against the flag burning amendment in June 2006, and against repeal of the Federal Inheritance/Estate Tax.

On March 15, 2007, Pryor was one of 2 Democratic Senators to vote against a resolution aimed at withdrawing most American combat troops from Iraq in 2008. The vote, requiring 60 votes to pass, was 50 to 48 against.^[7]

Pryor was one of six Democrats to vote for the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. In 2007, however, he called for Gonzales to resign due to the firing of eight federal prosecutors. One of the attorneys fired was Bud Cummins, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Pryor and his Senate colleague, Blanche Lincoln, both say that Gonzales promised Cummins' replacement, Tim Griffin, would go before the Senate for confirmation. In truth, Gonzales used a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act that allowed Griffin to bypass Senate confirmation.

Pryor and Lincoln were very upset when the details of Griffin's appointment came to light. In an angry speech before the Senate on March 15, Pryor said that Gonzales had "broken faith" with him regarding the Cummins affair, and therefore had lost his confidence. "When the Attorney General lies to a United States Senator," Pryor said, "I think it's time for that Attorney General to go." [1]

In June 2007, before the annual Arkansas Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson dinner, Pryor announced his endorsement of his colleague Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), who served as First Lady of Arkansas for 12 years, for the President of the United States. Pryor noted the ability and competence of Clinton as a Senator and former U.S. First Lady. ^[8]

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
  • Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Insurance, and Automotive Safety (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism
  • Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation
  • Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration (Chairman)
  • Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
  • Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Airland
  • Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
• Committee on Rules and Administration
• Select Committee on Ethics

[edit] Electoral History

See also: United States Senate election in Arkansas, 2008

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Mark Pryor, U.S. Senate site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Mark Pryor profile

v • d • e United States Senators from Arkansas Class 2: Fulton • Ashley • Sebastian • McDonald • Clayton • Garland • Berry • Davis • Heiskell • Kavanaugh • Robinson • Miller • Spencer • McClellan • Hodges • D. Pryor • Hutchinson • M. Pryor Class 3: Sevier • Borland • Johnson • Mitchel • Rice • Dorsey • Walker • Jones • Clarke • Kirby • T. Caraway • H. Caraway • Fulbright • Bumpers • Lincoln