Richard Burr

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Richard Burr
United States Senator from North Carolina
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2005 Serving with Kay Hagan
Preceded by	John Edwards
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 5th district
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Stephen L. Neal
Succeeded by	Virginia Foxx
Born	November 30, 1955 (1955-11-30) (age 53) Charlottesville, Virginia
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Brooke F. Burr
Residence	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Alma mater	Wake Forest University
Occupation	sales executive
Religion	Methodist

Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is a United States Senator from North Carolina. A Republican, Burr represented North Carolina's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for five terms, and was elected to represent North Carolina as a U.S. Senator in the 2004 election. He defeated the Democratic Party nominee, former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, in the open seat contest. With the 2008 election of Kay Hagan (D), Burr became North Carolina's senior senator.

[edit] Background

Burr was born in Charlottesville, Virginia to Martha Gillum and Rev. David Horace Burr, a minister.^[1] He graduated from Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, N.C. in 1974 and earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University in 1978. Burr was on the school football team at both Reynolds High School and Wake Forest. He is a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.

Prior to running for Congress, Burr worked for 17 years as a sales manager for Carswell Distributing Company, a distributor of lawn equipment.^[2] Burr is currently a board member of Brenner Children's Hospital, as well as of the group Idealliance - a group of local, academic, and government officials working to expand North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad Research Park,^[3]

In 1984, Burr married Brooke Fauth; the couple have two sons.

Burr's father claims he is a 12th cousin of Aaron Burr. He is the first Burr in the Senate -- and only the second person with his last name to win election to Congress (the first being the presumably unrelated Albert G. Burr) -- since Aaron.^[4][5]

[edit] House career

In 1992, Burr ran against incumbent Democratic Representative Stephen L. Neal and lost. He ran again in 1994 after Neal chose not to seek re-election, and was elected to Congress during a landslide year for Republicans. He ran on a platform that advocated accountability for the federal government, lower health care costs, economic development, and strong school systems^[6]. Burr was elected to the legislature by increasingly larger margins during his term in the House, especially because of growing Republican trends within his district.

[edit] Senate career

In July 2004, Burr won the Republican primary to seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat John Edwards, who launched a presidential campaign. He faced Democratic party nominee Erskine Bowles and Libertarian Tom Bailey.

Burr won the election by five percentage points. Bowles' and Burr's combined campaign expenditures totaled over $26 million, making it one of the most expensive Senate races in the country. Burr raised more money from political action committees, $2.8 million, than any other Senate candidate in 2004, primarily from the business community. Of the 100 largest companies in America, at least 72 contributed to Burr. Those included the PACs for such corporations as Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Ford, General Electric and ChevronTexaco.^[7]

In 2007, Burr ran for the leadership post of Republican Conference chairman^[8] but lost to Sen. Lamar Alexander by a vote of 31 to 16.^[9]

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Airland
  • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
  • Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on National Parks (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs (Ranking Member)
• Select Committee on Intelligence
• Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

[edit] 2010 election

Burr has been listed as one of the Senate incumbents most likely to face a difficult re-election race in 2010. One poll in June 2009 found that only 29 percent of North Carolina voters supported Burr for another term, while 49 percent preferred that he be replaced.^[10]

[edit] Political positions

Burr is pro-life, supports the death penalty, and favors a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

In May 2007, he was one of 14 Senators to vote against an Iraq War funding bill despite his strong support of the war, due to his opposition to the clauses of the bill that provide for an increase in domestic spending.^[11] In February 2009, Burr added an amendment to the proposed economic stimulus package that would end the automatic pay increases of Congress.^[12] Burr wrote on his Senate blog: "As the law is currently written, Congress has to hold a vote to disapprove an automatic pay raise. As you can guess, these votes don't happen too often."^[12]

On June 26, 2007, Burr voted in favor of cloture for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. Two days later, he voted against cloture.^[13][14][15]

Burr opposes the regulation of the tobacco industry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).^[16] During the 108th Congress, Burr proposed the National Uniformity for Food Act, which would have banned states from forcing manufacturers to include labels other than those that are required by the Food and Drug Administration on consumables and health and beauty products.^[17] The Consumers Union opposed the bill, since it would have lowered safety regulations that are more stringent in certain states.[4] A similar bill passed the House, but it died in the more politically balanced Senate.

Burr was the sponsor of Senate bill 1873, the Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005, nicknamed "Bioshield Two", which he says will give the Department of Health and Human Services "additional authority and resources to partner with the private sector to rapidly develop drugs and vaccines." .^[18] Portions of Senate Bill 1873 were eventually included in Senate Bill 3678 (the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act^[19]), which was signed into law in December 2006.

In the fall of 2008, in response to problems with the U.S. financial system, Burr said that he had done the following:

“On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, ‘Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.’ I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash.”^[20]

These remarks attracted considerable attention from the national press when an April 2009 story in the News and Observer made it more widely known. ^[21] In late April, Burr told WFAE, a public radio station in North Carolina, "Absolutely I'd do it [again]." He said that "The exact situation we were faced with was a freeze bank to bank. And as I stated, my attempt was to make sure my wife had enough cash at home to make it through the next week." Burr also said that "It was not an attempt to run a bank," and "Nor was it a bank that was even considered then or now to be in trouble."^[22]

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Richard Burr, official U.S. Senate site
• Burr for Senate, official campaign site
• News & Observer profile

• 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
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Richard Burr profile

v • d • e United States Senators from North Carolina Class 2: Johnston • Martin • Franklin • Turner • Stokes • Branch • Brown • Mangum • Reid • Bragg • Abbott • Ransom • Butler • Simmons • Bailey • Umstead • Broughton • F. Graham • Smith • Lennon • Scott • Jordan • Helms • Dole • Hagan Class 3: Hawkins • Bloodworth • Stone • Franklin • Stone • Locke • Macon • Iredell • Mangum • Strange • W. Graham • Haywood • Badger • Biggs • Clingman • Pool • Merrimon • Vance • Jarvis • Pritchard • Overman • Morrison • Reynolds • Hoey • Ervin • Morgan • East • Broyhill • Sanford • Faircloth • Edwards • Burr

v • d • e Current statewide political officials of North Carolina U.S. Senators Richard Burr · Kay Hagan State government Beverly Perdue, Governor · Walter Dalton, Lieutenant Governor · Elaine Marshall, Secretary of State · Roy Cooper, Attorney General · Steve Troxler, Commissioner of Agriculture · Wayne Goodwin, Commissioner of Insurance · Cherie Berry, Commissioner of Labor  · June Atkinson, Superintendent of Public Instruction  · Janet Cowell, State Treasurer · Beth Wood, State Auditor Senate Walter Dalton, President · Marc Basnight, President Pro Tempore  · Tony Rand, Majority Leader · Phil Berger, Minority Leader House Joe Hackney, Speaker · Hugh Holliman, Majority Leader · Paul Stam, Minority Leader Supreme Court (elected) Sarah Parker Chief Justice · Mark Martin · Robert H. Edmunds, Jr. · Edward Thomas Brady · Paul Martin Newby · Patricia Timmons-Goodson · Robin E. Hudson