Mary Landrieu

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Mary Landrieu
United States Senator from Louisiana
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 7, 1997 Serving with David Vitter
Preceded by	J. Bennett Johnston
Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2009
Preceded by	John Kerry
Louisiana State Treasurer
In office 1988 – 1996
Governor	Buddy Roemer Edwin Edwards
Preceded by	Mary Evelyn Parker
Succeeded by	Ken Duncan
Born	November 23, 1955 (1955-11-23) (age 53) Arlington, Virginia
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Frank Snellings
Children	Connor Snellings Mary Shannon Snellings
Residence	New Orleans, Louisiana
Alma mater	Louisiana State University
Occupation	real estate agent
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

Mary Loretta Landrieu (born November 23, 1955) is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana, and is the second woman elected to the U.S. Senate for Louisiana. Landrieu is the daughter of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Moon Landrieu and the sister of current Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu. By national standards, Landrieu is among the most conservative Democrats in the U.S. Senate,^[1] and is a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

[edit] Personal life

Landrieu was born in Arlington, Virginia to Verna Satterlee and former New Orleans mayor Moon Landrieu,^[2] and raised in New Orleans. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Ursuline Academy of New Orleans. She graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1977 where she was a member of Delta Gamma sorority. Before entering politics, she worked as a real estate agent. She was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1980 to 1988, representing a New Orleans-based district. She then served as Louisiana state treasurer from 1988 to 1996. Landrieu ran for governor of Louisiana in 1995, but finished third in the state's jungle primary (which at that time was considered the actual election in Louisiana). The eventual winner was Democrat-turned-Republican Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.

Landrieu and her husband, attorney Frank Snellings (born 1949), who grew up in Monroe, have two adopted children, Connor and Mary Shannon. Frank Snellings' parents, George and Marie Louise Snellings, were originally Republicans but later switched party affiliations.

[edit] 1996 Senate election

Landrieu was elected in 1996 to the U.S. Senate seat previously held by John Bennett Johnston, Jr. of Shreveport after winning a close and controversial runoff election against Louisiana State Representative Woody Jenkins.

[edit] Landrieu as senator

Landrieu speaks during the second day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Landrieu narrowly won re-election in the 2002 mid-term election. She defeated Suzanne Haik Terrell of New Orleans. Without her large base from Orleans Parish, Landrieu would have been unseated. Some experts and pundits had considered Landrieu as a possible running mate for presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election before Kerry's selection of then- Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. With the departure of John Breaux from the Senate in December 2004, his seat being taken by Republican David Vitter, Landrieu became Louisiana's senior senator.

She has made securing funding for Louisiana projects one of her top priorities as a US Senator. She has also held high profile hearings on the mistakes of FEMA in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In a break from her previous two close elections, she won a relatively comfortable 52% to 46% re-election to a third term on November 4, 2008, in a race against her challenger, Louisiana State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 2007.^[3]

On December 15, 2008, it was announced that Landrieu would become Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship for the 111th Congress upon resignation of Vice President-elect Joe Biden.^[4]

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on National Parks
  • Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery (Chairwoman)
• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Chairwoman)

Source: 2009 Congressional Record, Vol. 155, Page S729

[edit] Senate Career

Landrieu supports eliminating the estate tax permanently, and voted for the tax cut passed in 2001. On November 17, 2005, she was one of only four Democrats to vote against repealing the portions of the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 that more Democrats have charged unfairly benefit the wealthy. She voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. In 2004, Landrieu was one of only six Democrats to vote against renewing the ban on semi-automatic firearms. She has also been one of the few Democrats to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Landrieu voted for the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005, but in 2006, she opposed Samuel Alito, though she did vote in favor of cloture to send the nomination to an up-or-down vote.

Subsequent to the 2006 midterm election, in which the Democratic Party gained control of both houses of Congress, Landrieu announced (along with Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine) the formation of the "Common Ground Coalition", a group of moderate senators of both parties, with the goal of finding bipartisan consensus on legislative matters.^[4]

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

Sen. Landrieu (center) joins Women of the Storm from the Gulf Coast

Hurricane Katrina destroyed Landrieu's lakeside New Orleans home. The senator has become a national spokeswoman for victims of the hurricane, and has complained of "the staggering incompetence of the national government."^[5]

In the weeks following Katrina, Landrieu and fellow Senator David Vitter co-sponsored the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act of 2005 (S.1765),^[6] a 440-page aid package worth an estimated $250 billion^[7][8] (roughly $550,000 per resident) in order to rebuild New Orleans, a city of 453,726 pre-Katrina.^[9] The bill was read twice by Congress, then referred to the United States Senate Committee on Finance.^[10]

[edit] Protect America Act

On August 3, 2007, Landrieu broke ranks with Democrats when she and Louisiana Rep. Charlie Melancon sided with Republicans and the Bush Administration in voting for the Protect America Act, an amendment to the USA Patriot Act further expanding wiretap powers.^[11]

[edit] Voyager reading program

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (June 2009)

Landrieu earmarked $2 million for a reading program whose founder supported her campaign for reelection. Randy Best, founder of the Voyager Expanded Learning literacy program, had hosted a fundraising event that raised $30,000 for Landrieu's reelection campaign days before she proposed his reading program in the earmark. Best and his company's his top associates were among those who donated to Landrieu's campaign.^[12] This earned her a spot on the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington advocacy group's "Top 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" report.^[13]

[edit] Election history

United States Senate, 1996

Threshold > 50%

First ballot, September 21, 1996

Second ballot, November 5, 1996

United States Senate, 2002

Threshold > 50%

First ballot, November 5, 2002

Second ballot, December 7, 2002

United States Senate, 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mary Landrieu

• United States Senator Mary Landrieu, official Senate site
• Landrieu for US Senate official campaign website

• 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
• New York Times – Mary Landrieu News collected news and commentary
• SourceWatch Congresspedia – Mary Landrieu profile
• About.com Profile of US Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana

v • d • e United States Senators from Louisiana Class 2 Destréhan • Posey • Brown • Claiborne • Johnson • Bouligny • Livingston • Waggaman • Nicholas • Barrow • Soulé • Downs • Benjamin • Harris • West • Kellogg • Gibson • Caffery • Foster • Ransdell • H. Long • R.M. Long • Ellender • Edwards • J.B. Johnston • Landrieu Class 3 Magruder • Fromentin • Brown • J.S. Johnston • Porter • Mouton • Conrad • Johnson • Soulé • Slidell • Kellogg • Eustis • Jonas • Eustis • White • Blanchard • McEnery • Thornton • R. Broussard • Guion • Gay • E. Broussard • Overton • Feazel • R.B. Long • Breaux • Vitter

v • d • e Current elected statewide political officials of Louisiana U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D) · David Vitter (R) State government Bobby Jindal (R), Governor · Mitch Landrieu (D), Lieutenant Governor · Jay Dardenne (R), Secretary of State · Buddy Caldwell (D), Attorney General · John Neely Kennedy (R), Treasurer · Mike Strain (R), Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner · Jim Donelon (R), Insurance Commissioner Senate Joel Chaisson (D), President · Sharon Weston Broome (D), President pro tempore House Jim Tucker (R), Speaker · Karen Carter Peterson (D), Speaker pro tempore Supreme Court Pascal Calogero, Jr., Chief Justice · Jeffrey Victory · Jeanette Theriot Knoll · Chet Traylor · Catherine Kimball · John Weimer · Bernette Joshua Johnson