Marion Berry
Encyclopedia
Robert Marion Berry is the former U.S. Representative
for . He is a member of the Democratic Party
.
, Berry was raised in nearby Bayou Meto, Arkansas County
in the Arkansas Delta
. The son of a rice farmer, he was encouraged by his parents to work towards a career outside the farm. Moving to Little Rock, he earned a pharmacy degree at the University of Arkansas
and then ran a pharmacy for two years. In 1967, he returned to the family business and became a farmer in his own right, harvesting soybeans and rice, establishing a business that he carries on today. The family farm holdings have a reported net worth in excess of $1 million.
He ran and was elected to a position as a city alderman in Stuttgart, Arkansas in 1976. He was appointed as a member of the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission by Governor Bill Clinton in 1986, and continued in that role until 1994. In 1993, then President Bill Clinton went on to appoint Berry as a member of the White House Domestic Policy Council (1993–1996) and special assistant to the President
for Agricultural Trade and Food Assistance (1993–1996).
Berry has been appointed to the House Appropriations Committee
and serves on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Energy and Water
, and Transportation subcommittees. He was also chosen by Democratic Leadership to serve as Vice-Chair of the Steering and Policy Committee
and as a member of the Leader's Senior Whip
Team.
Berry is a self-described Blue Dog Democrat
, and has voted against the 2001 tax cuts.
Berry has a seat on the House Appropriations Committee. He co-founded the Democrats' Prescription Drug Task Force and has pursued his interests in health care policy while in the Congress. As one of the three House Democrats that sat on the House-Senate conference committee on the Medicare/prescription drug bill in 2003, he voiced many complaints about the administration's healthcare policies. Berry voted for the Democratic health care reform bill, HR 3962, during its first House Floor vote. He has also voted for the Troubled Assets Relief Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
He visited Cuba with Blanche Lincoln
to promote the removal of the trade embargo to create more markets for Arkansas
agricultural products. He drew some controversy when he supported the dumping of nuclear waste from Entergy Corporation reactors into the Arkansas River. Berry also made headlines when he called Rep. Adam Putnam
(R-Florida
) a "Howdy Doody looking nimrod" while on the House floor.
On October 10, 2002, Marion Berry was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq
.
Berry was the only Democrat to vote against the GIVE Act, an act which could expand the AmeriCorps
program.
On March 21, 2010, Berry joined 33 other Democrats and 178 Republicans and voted no on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Berry was one of four Democrats to vote against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, joining 155 of 159 Republicans, blocking the vote (which needed a 2/3 majority to pass, as it was brought to vote under a motion to suspend rules.)
. With tough opposition from more progressive candidates, Berry narrowly won the primary with 52% of the vote, thanks to aggressive campaigning in the rural areas north of the Mississippi Delta region. In a district that has never elected a Republican, and with Berry outspending his opponent two-to-one in the general election, attorney Warren Dupwe, he claimed a modest victory (53%–44%) that November. He has declined to run for statewide office, citing health, family responsibilities, and unspecified social issues. However, he has enjoyed easy re-election since 1996, carrying the district 67%–33% in 2004, and then running unopposed in 2008, while receiving support from donors and groups also opposing the Barack Obama
presidential campaign that year. He decided not to stand for re-election in 2010.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, like most Arkansas Democrats, Berry endorsed former U.S. Senator and former First Lady of Arkansas Hillary Rodham Clinton
for President.
, with wife Carolyn and identifies as a Methodist. He recently was dignosed with a brain tumor, and is undergoing treatment.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for . He is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
Early life, education and career
Born in Stuttgart, ArkansasStuttgart, Arkansas
Stuttgart is a city in and the county seat of the northern district of Arkansas County, Arkansas, United States. It is located on U.S. Route 79 about miles southeast of Little Rock. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 9,376.The town proclaims itself the "Rice...
, Berry was raised in nearby Bayou Meto, Arkansas County
Arkansas County, Arkansas
Arkansas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,019. The county has two county seats, De Witt and Stuttgart...
in the Arkansas Delta
Arkansas Delta
The Arkansas Delta is one of the five natural regions of the state of Arkansas. It runs along the eastern border of the state next to the Mississippi River. It is part of the Mississippi River alluvial plain, itself part of the Mississippi embayment...
. The son of a rice farmer, he was encouraged by his parents to work towards a career outside the farm. Moving to Little Rock, he earned a pharmacy degree at the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
and then ran a pharmacy for two years. In 1967, he returned to the family business and became a farmer in his own right, harvesting soybeans and rice, establishing a business that he carries on today. The family farm holdings have a reported net worth in excess of $1 million.
He ran and was elected to a position as a city alderman in Stuttgart, Arkansas in 1976. He was appointed as a member of the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission by Governor Bill Clinton in 1986, and continued in that role until 1994. In 1993, then President Bill Clinton went on to appoint Berry as a member of the White House Domestic Policy Council (1993–1996) and special assistant to the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
for Agricultural Trade and Food Assistance (1993–1996).
Committee assignments
- Committee on AppropriationsUnited States House Committee on AppropriationsThe Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government of the United States...
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water DevelopmentUnited States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water DevelopmentThe House Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies is a standing subcommittee within the House Appropriations Committee.-Members, 112th Congress:-External links:* Official page...
- Subcommittee on Homeland SecurityUnited States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland SecurityThe House Subcommittee on Homeland Security is a standing subcommittee within the House Appropriations Committee.-Members, 112th Congress:-External links:**...
- Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
- Committee on the BudgetUnited States House Committee on the BudgetThe U.S. House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress...
Caucuses
- House Democratic Health Care Task Force (Co-Chair)
- House Affordable Medicine Task Force (Co-Chair)
- Congressional Soybean Caucus (Co-Chair)
- New Madrid Working Group (Co-Chair)
Berry has been appointed to the House Appropriations Committee
United States House Committee on Appropriations
The Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government of the United States...
and serves on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Energy and Water
United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
The House Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies is a standing subcommittee within the House Appropriations Committee.-Members, 112th Congress:-External links:* Official page...
, and Transportation subcommittees. He was also chosen by Democratic Leadership to serve as Vice-Chair of the Steering and Policy Committee
Steering and Policy Committee of the United States House of Representatives
In the United States House of Representatives, the House Democratic Caucus includes a Steering and Policy Committee. Its primary purpose is to assign fellow party members to other House committees, and it also advises party leaders on policy...
and as a member of the Leader's Senior Whip
Party whips of the United States House of Representatives
A whip in the United States House of Representatives manages his party's legislative program on the House floor. The Whip keeps track of all legislation and ensures that all party members are present when important measures are to be voted upon....
Team.
Berry is a self-described Blue Dog Democrat
Blue Dog Democrat
The Blue Dog Coalition, commonly known as the Blue Dogs, is a group of United States Congressional Representatives from the Democratic Party who identify themselves as moderates....
, and has voted against the 2001 tax cuts.
Berry has a seat on the House Appropriations Committee. He co-founded the Democrats' Prescription Drug Task Force and has pursued his interests in health care policy while in the Congress. As one of the three House Democrats that sat on the House-Senate conference committee on the Medicare/prescription drug bill in 2003, he voiced many complaints about the administration's healthcare policies. Berry voted for the Democratic health care reform bill, HR 3962, during its first House Floor vote. He has also voted for the Troubled Assets Relief Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
He visited Cuba with Blanche Lincoln
Blanche Lincoln
Blanche Meyers Lambert Lincoln is a former U.S. Senator from Arkansas and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1998, she was the first woman elected to the Senate from Arkansas since Hattie Caraway in 1932 and, at age 38, was the youngest woman ever elected to the...
to promote the removal of the trade embargo to create more markets for Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
agricultural products. He drew some controversy when he supported the dumping of nuclear waste from Entergy Corporation reactors into the Arkansas River. Berry also made headlines when he called Rep. Adam Putnam
Adam Putnam
Adam H. Putnam is the current Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2001 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:...
(R-Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
) a "Howdy Doody looking nimrod" while on the House floor.
On October 10, 2002, Marion Berry was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
.
Berry was the only Democrat to vote against the GIVE Act, an act which could expand the AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is a U.S. federal government program that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and later expanded by 50 percent under President George W. Bush...
program.
On March 21, 2010, Berry joined 33 other Democrats and 178 Republicans and voted no on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Berry was one of four Democrats to vote against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, joining 155 of 159 Republicans, blocking the vote (which needed a 2/3 majority to pass, as it was brought to vote under a motion to suspend rules.)
Political campaigns
Returning to Arkansas in 1996, Berry announced his intention to run for the 1st District being vacated by now Senator Blanche LincolnBlanche Lincoln
Blanche Meyers Lambert Lincoln is a former U.S. Senator from Arkansas and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1998, she was the first woman elected to the Senate from Arkansas since Hattie Caraway in 1932 and, at age 38, was the youngest woman ever elected to the...
. With tough opposition from more progressive candidates, Berry narrowly won the primary with 52% of the vote, thanks to aggressive campaigning in the rural areas north of the Mississippi Delta region. In a district that has never elected a Republican, and with Berry outspending his opponent two-to-one in the general election, attorney Warren Dupwe, he claimed a modest victory (53%–44%) that November. He has declined to run for statewide office, citing health, family responsibilities, and unspecified social issues. However, he has enjoyed easy re-election since 1996, carrying the district 67%–33% in 2004, and then running unopposed in 2008, while receiving support from donors and groups also opposing the Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
presidential campaign that year. He decided not to stand for re-election in 2010.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, like most Arkansas Democrats, Berry endorsed former U.S. Senator and former First Lady of Arkansas Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
for President.
Electoral History
Personal life
Berry resides in Gillett, ArkansasGillett, Arkansas
Gillett is a city in Arkansas County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 819 at the 2000 census. Gillett is the home of the annual Gillett Coon Supper. The Arkansas Post National Memorial is located southeast of the town....
, with wife Carolyn and identifies as a Methodist. He recently was dignosed with a brain tumor, and is undergoing treatment.