Mark Pryor
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- This article is about the United States Senator. For the Major League Baseball pitcher with a similar name, see Mark Prior.
| Mark Pryor | |
| | |
| 2003–Present | |
| Political party: | Democratic |
|---|---|
| Preceded by: | Tim Hutchinson |
| Succeeded by: | Incumbent (2009) |
| Born: | January 10, 1963 Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Spouse: | Jill Pryor |
| Religion: | Evangelist |
Contents |
[edit] Personal Background
Mark Lunsford Pryor (born January 10, 1963) is a politician in Arkansas.
He is a Democratic Senator for the state of Arkansas, having defeated incumbent Republican Tim Hutchinson in 2002. He was the only Democrat to defeat a Republican incumbent in that election cycle. Pryor currently sits on the Commerce Committee, Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, and the Select Committee for Ethics.
The son of former Senator and governor David H. Pryor, he was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1991 to 1994. He was elected the state Attorney General in 1999, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2000.
[edit] U.S. Senate Career
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.
On September 28, 2006, Pryor was one of 12 Senate Democrats who voted to adopt S.3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 <ref> 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 </ref>, which restricts from an entire class of people the writ of Habeas Corpus <ref> Military Commissions Act of 2006, Section 7, HABEAS CORPUS MATTERS </ref>, admits as legal evidence information obtained by coercion or torture <ref> Military Commissions Act of 2006, SUBCHAPTER IV--TRIAL PROCEDURE, Section 949a(2)(C) </ref>, 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.
While Pryor is for the most part a social conservative—he opposes abortion rights—he voted against the Flag Burning Amendment.
Pryor received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Arkansas.
Pryor and his wife Jill have a son, Adams, and a daughter, Porter.
[edit] Trivia
Pryor is ranked as the least powerful senator (100 out of 100) partly due to his currently low seniority in office.[1].
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Winston Bryant | Attorney General of Arkansas 1999–2003 | Succeeded by: Mike Beebe |
| Preceded by: Tim Hutchinson | United States Senator from Arkansas 2003- | Succeeded by: Incumbent |
| Arkansas's current delegation to the United States Congress |
|---|
| Senators: Blanche Lincoln (D), Mark Pryor (D)
Representative(s): Marion Berry (D), Vic Snyder (D), John Boozman (R), Michael Avery Ross (D) All delegations: Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming — American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Gang of 14 (in the United States Senate) |
|---|
| Republicans: McCain • Graham • Warner • Snowe • Collins • DeWine • Chafee Democrats: Lieberman • Byrd • Nelson • Landrieu • Inouye • Pryor • Salazar |
