Mark Pryor

This article is about the United States Senator. For the Major League Baseball pitcher with a similar name, see Mark Prior.

Mark Pryor
United States Senator from Arkansas
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2003 Serving with John Boozman
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
Personal details
Born	January 10, 1963 (1963-01-10) (age 48) Fayetteville, Arkansas
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Jill Pryor
Children	Adams Pryor Porter Pryor
Residence	Little Rock, Arkansas
Alma mater	University of Arkansas (B.A., J.D.)
Occupation	Attorney Politician
Religion	Southern Baptist
Signature
Website	Senator Mark Pryor

Mark Lunsford Pryor (born January 10, 1963) is the senior United States Senator from Arkansas, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party and former Attorney General of Arkansas.

Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Pryor is the son of former Arkansas Governor and U.S. Senator David Hampton Pryor. He received his bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He worked in private practice for several years until being elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1990. He was elected the state Attorney General in 1998. Pryor announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2001, running for the same Senate seat his father had held from 1979 to 1997. He was elected with 54 percent of the vote.

A moderate Democrat, Pryor was a member of the bipartisan Gang of 14 formed in 2005 to forge a compromise on the use of the Senate filibuster. He was re-elected with no Republican opposition in 2008. In January 2009 he briefly became the youngest member of the Senate, the oldest "youngest member" of the Senate ever to serve. In the 112th Congress he is the chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance.

Personal background

Pryor was born in Fayetteville, 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 Nic. He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and went on to receive his Juris Doctor from the university's law school in 1988. During college, he 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.

Religious views

Pryor is featured in the 2008 Bill Maher documentary Religulous, in which he tells Maher that he could believe in Young Earth creationism,^[1] yet he also sees evolution as a feasible idea.^[2] He states at the beginning of the interview that he is an Evangelical Christian. He also states that he believes in the Rapture, and that "You don't need to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate".^[3]

According to author Jeff Sharlet, Pryor is affiliated with a political organization called the Family. Sharlet quoted Pryor as stating that through the Family he "had learned that the separation of church and state was a sort of secular exaggeration" and that "Jesus did not come to bring peace. Jesus came to take over."^[4]

U.S. Senate

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 faced 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.^[5] His only announced opponent was Green candidate Rebekah Kennedy whom he defeated 80% to 20%.

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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

Main issues Timeline Summary of attorneys Documents Congressional hearings List of Dismissed Attorneys Complete list of related articles

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." ^[9]

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.^[10]

Somewhat atypically, he was, for 19 days in January 2009, the Baby of the Senate, despite not having previously held that distinction during his first term, because of the defeat of the younger John E. Sununu (elected in the same year as Pryor). He was succeeded by Michael Bennet (who himself held it for only five days before the appointment of Kirsten Gillibrand). He also has the distinction of being the oldest Senator (at 45) to become Baby of the Senate.

Pryor opposes bringing Guantanamo Bay prisoners to the United States for trial.^[11]

Pryor voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009,^[12] but later voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.^[13]

On December 18, 2010, Pryor voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.^[14][15]

Pryor has expressed opposition to abortion on demand, and voted in favor of the partial birth abortion ban; however, he has voted in favor of the expansion of embryonic stem cell research and has also voted no on restricting UN funding for population control policies, on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion, and on barring HHS grants to organizations that perform abortions.^[16]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
  • Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
• Committee on Commerce, Science, Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
  • Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Insurance, and Automotive Safety (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
  • Subcommittee on Science and Space
  • Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
  • Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration (Chairman)
• Committee on Rules and Administration
• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• Select Committee on Ethics

Electoral history

2008

See also: United States Senate election in Arkansas, 2008

United States Senate election in Arkansas, 2008[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Mark Pryor (incumbent)	804,678	79.53%
	Green	Rebekah Kennedy	207,076	20.47%
Totals			1,011,754	100.00%
Invalid or blank votes			75,586	n/a%
	Democratic hold

2002

See also: United States Senate election in Arkansas, 2002

Arkansas U.S. Senate Election 2002
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mark Pryor	435,347	54.1
	Republican	Tim Hutchinson (Incumbent)	372,909	46.3

Footnotes

1. ^ Patrick Goldstein (2008-08-07). "Bill Maher hates your (fill in the blank) religion". The Big Picture (Los Angeles Times). http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/08/bill-maher-hate.html. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
2. ^ "Larry King: Bill Maher On His Movie Religulous". YouTube. August 19, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CWiASiqDdU&feature=player_embedded. Retrieved April 11, 2010. 
3. ^ Religulous (2008).
4. ^ "Behind the closed doors on C Street.". Las Vegas Sun (July 19, 2009). Retrieved on July 26, 2009.
5. ^ Mark Pryor uncontested for second term in U.S. Senate. KTHV Little Rock, 2008-03-10
6. ^ Huckabee says he won't run against Pryor, Nasdaq.com
7. ^ U.S. Senate roll call votes, 109th Congress http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00259
8. ^ Toner, Robin (March 15, 2007). "Senate Rejects Measure for Iraq Pullout". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/washington/15cnd-cong.html?hp. Retrieved 2007-03-15. 
9. ^ "Senator Mark Pryor Press Releases". Pryor.senate.gov. http://pryor.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=270742. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
10. ^ HillaryClinton.com - Media Release
11. ^ "Lincoln, Pryor back bid to block funding to hold terror suspects in U.S. | Arkansas News". Arkansasnews.com. http://arkansasnews.com/2009/11/17/lincoln-pryor-back-bid-to-block-funding-to-hold-terror-suspects-in-u-s/. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
12. ^ [1]
13. ^ "U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote". Senate.gov. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00105. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
14. ^ [2]
15. ^ "Senate Vote 281 - Repeals ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell'". The New York Times. http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/senate/2/281?ref=politics. 
16. ^ [3]
17. ^ "U.S. Senate Statewide Results". Secretary of State of Arkansas. 2008-12-02. http://www.arelections.org/index.php?ac:show:contest_statewide=1&elecid=181&contestid=9. Retrieved 2008-12-09. 

External links

• United States Senator Mark Pryor official U.S. Senate site
• Mark Pryor for U.S. Senate official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch

United States Senate
Preceded by Tim Hutchinson	United States Senator (Class 2) from Arkansas 2003–present Served alongside: Blanche Lincoln, John Boozman	Incumbent
Legal offices
Preceded by Winston Bryant	Attorney General of Arkansas 1999–2003	Succeeded by Mike Beebe
Party political offices
Preceded by Winston Bryant	Democratic Party nominee for United States Senator from Arkansas (Class 2) 2002, 2008	Succeeded by Most recent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by John Cornyn R-Texas	United States Senators by seniority 51st	Succeeded by Richard Burr R-North Carolina
Honorary titles
Preceded by John E. Sununu	Youngest Member of the United States Senate January 3, 2009 – January 22, 2009	Succeeded by Michael Bennet

Persondata
Name	Pryor, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 10, 1963
Place of birth	Fayetteville, Arkansas
Date of death
Place of death