Byron Dorgan

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Byron Dorgan
Junior U.S. Senator, North Dakota
Incumbent
Assumed office  December 14, 1992– Serving with Kent Conrad
Preceded by	Kent Conrad
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2011)
Born	May 14, 1942 (age 64) Regent, North Dakota
Political party	Democratic-NPL
Spouse	Kim Dorgan
Religion	Lutheran

Byron Leslie Dorgan (born May 14, 1942) is the junior United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. In the Senate, he is Chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee and Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs.

[edit] Early life and career

Dorgan was born in Regent, North Dakota to Dorothy Bach and Emmett Patrick Dorgan.^[1] He earned a B.S. from the University of North Dakota in 1964 and an M.B.A. from the University of Denver in 1966. He served as tax commissioner of North Dakota from 1969 until 1980, when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, of which he was a member from 1981 until 1992 (being re-elected every two years).

[edit] United States Senate

In 1992 he ran for the U.S. Senate when the Democratic incumbent, Kent Conrad (winner of a special election to fill the remaining term of North Dakota's deceased senior Senator Quentin N. Burdick) did not run. Dorgan won the election. He took office a few weeks early, in December 1992, when North Dakota's governor appointed him to fill the rest of Conrad's term. Dorgan was re-elected in 1998 and 2004. Conrad later was elected to North Dakota's other Senate seat.

Sen. Dorgan and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) talk after attending a press conference over developing alternative fuels. Dorgan has been a strong advocate for alternate fuels to combat dependence on oil.

As chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, Dorgan is one of the most powerful Democrats in the Senate. In recent years he has been increasingly sought by the national media for comment on political issues. He is a strong opponent of U.S. policy toward Cuba. He has introduced, with varying levels of success, several amendments to end the U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, and to terminate funds for anti-Castro broadcasting. Dorgan has also opposed most bills "liberalizing" trade policies between the USA and other countries. He has a mixed record on civil lawsuit issues, voting against the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and the Class Action Lawsuit Fairness Act of 2005, but voting in favor of the failed Common Sense Product Liability and Legal Reform Act and legislation to shield gun manufacturers and distributors from lawsuits.

In 2006 he was a major supporter of Net Neutrality legislation in the Senate.

He is briefly featured in Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, in which he discusses the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was not being interviewed by Moore.

His book Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America, about the impact of outsourcing on the economy of the United States, was published in 2006. On October 4th, 2006, he appeared on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central to discuss his book, and his views on American labor.

Dorgan is married to the former Kimberly Olson. They have had four children, Scott, Brendon, Haley, and Shelly, who is deceased.

[edit] Controversy

In November 2005, Dorgan was accused of receiving campaign contributions arranged by controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Because Dorgan is the top Democrat on the committee investigating Abramoff, questions were raised about a possible conflict of interest.

(Counterclockwise): Sen. Dorgan listens on as Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) discuss the nuclear option regarding President George W. Bush's judicial nominees off the floor of the U.S. Senate.

In a statement released on November 28, 2005, Dorgan responded by asserting that he has never personally met Jack Abramoff, nor has he ever received money from Abramoff. Dorgan did acknowledge receiving money from Abramoff's clients, but the donations began prior to their involvement with Abramoff. Dorgan's statement went on to say that he has supported the programs that benefited Abramoff's clients years prior to the contribution.

Dorgan's statement pointed out other errors in the news reports, such as correcting who made a call to the Department of the Interior and for what purpose. The news reports claimed that one of Dorgan's staff members made the call in order to express support for the program that benefited Abramoff's clients, whereas in reality it was a staff member for the Chairman of the Interior Subcommittee who made the call, and the call was made in opposition to the program.

On December 13, 2005 Dorgan announced that he was returning all donations from Abramoff's clients as a precaution that the contributions may have been directed or requested by Abramoff [1].

[edit] Writings

• Dorgan, Byron Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America Thomas Dunne Books (July 25, 2006) ISBN 0-312-35522-X
• Dorgan, Byron (editor) Electric Transmission Infrastructure and Investment Needs: Hearing Before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate Diane Pub Co (January 2003) ISBN 0-7567-2997-1

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Byron Dorgan official Senate site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission - Byron L Dorgan campaign finance reports and data
• New York Times - Byron L. Dorgan News collected news and commentary
• On the Issues - Byron Dorgan issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org - Byron L. Dorgan campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia - Byron L. Dorgan profile
• Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Byron Dorgan voting record
• Dorganisms video clips of featuring Sen. Dorgan's unique rhetorical style