Patty Murray

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Patty Murray
Senior Senator from Washington
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 5, 1993– Serving with Maria Cantwell
Preceded by	Brock Adams
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2011)
Born	October 11, 1950 (age 56) Bothell, Washington
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Rob Murray
Religion	Roman Catholic

Patty Murray (b. October 11, 1950, Bothell, Washington) is the Senior Democratic United States Senator from Washington State. She was first elected to the Senate in 1992 and has held the position ever since. She is currently the Senate Majority Conference Secretary, the fourth-highest rank in the caucus.^[1]

Murray was the chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2001 to 2003, and she is now a senior member of the powerful United States Senate Committee on Appropriations and the chairwoman of its Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.^[2]

[edit] Life and career

Patricia Lynn Murray was born in Bothell, Washington to Irish-American parents. Her father fought in World War II and was awarded a Purple Heart. Her mother was an accountant.

Murray received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington State University in 1972. She was a preschool teacher for several years and taught at Shoreline Community College from 1984 to 1987.

As a citizen-lobbyist for environmental and educational issues, she was once told that she couldn't make a difference because she was just a "mom in tennis shoes." The phrase stuck, and she later used it in her successful campaigns for Shoreline School District Board of Directors (1985-1989), Washington State Senate (1989-1993), and United States Senate (1993-).

Her husband is Rob Murray. They have two children, Randy and Sara.

[edit] United States Senate

In 1992, Murray announced her intention to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate following the publication of a series of articles by The Seattle Times alleging that incumbent Democrat Brock Adams had sexually assaulted a number of women.^[3]

Senator Murray at the podium, joined by (left to right), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), launching an interactive website regarding the nomination of Judge John Roberts as the Chief Justice of the United States of America.

When Adams dropped out of the election prior to the primary, Murray was the only Democrat remaining and won the nomination. In the general election she faced Republican Representative Rod Chandler, whom she defeated 54% to 46%. In 1998 she won reelection by beating Representative Linda Smith, 58% to 42%. In 2004 she faced another Republican Representative, George Nethercutt, whom she defeated 55% to 43%, making her only the fourth Washington senator to win three consecutive terms.

On August 2, 2006, the New York Times said, "In 1994, Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was said to have engaged in excessive touching of his then-freshman colleague Patty Murray of Washington. Ms. Murray later asked for and received an apology from Mr. Thurmond, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported at the time. Through a spokeswoman, Ms. Murray declined to comment."

[edit] The War In Iraq

In October 2002, Murray was one of 21 Democrats in the Senate to vote against the War Authoritization for invading Iraq. Quoted from her Senate speech:

Mr. President, if we do take action in Iraq, there is no doubt that our armed forces will prevail. We will win a war with Iraq decisively, and, God willing, we will win it quickly. But what happens after the war? That will have as big an impact on our future peace and security. Will we be obligated to rebuild Iraq? If so, how? Our economy is reeling, our budget is in deficit, and we have no estimate of the cost of rebuilding. And with whom? As New York Times columnist Tom Friedman points out, there's a retail store mentality that suggests to some -- if "you break it, you buy it."

[edit] Controversial remarks about bin Laden

In December 2002, while speaking to students at Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Murray made a number of comments she intended to provoke thought, but ended up creating controversy and even were used in a campaign ad by her opponent in 2004.^[4] These comments linked Osama bin Laden's popularity around the world to his building of infrastructure in Muslim countries and the lack of popularity for the U.S. due to it not helping to build infrastructure.^[5]

Republican pundits and the conservative media were quick to criticize Murray for saying bin Laden was a humanitarian and that she was grossly uninformed as to the nature of the US's lack of popularity in Muslim countries.^[6] Several local newspapers were quick to come to Murray's defense by saying that even though her comments were over-simplistic and poorly constructed, bin Laden has spent much of his personal fortune to gain influence over local leaders and promote his ideology by making investments, including infrastructure improvement projects, in those countries.^[7]

[edit] Recent Senate initiatives

In May 2006, Murray, along with 38 of 44 Senate Democrats, voted in favor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611).^[8] The bill includes provisions to improve border security, increases fines and other punishments for employers of illegal immigrants, creation of a guest worker program (which includes an almost doubling of the number of H1-B visas,^[9] and creates a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country.^[10] The bill, with support from GOP leadership, passed 62-36.

Senator Murray has repeatedly co-sponsored legislation that would create the Wild Sky Wilderness area in the Washington Cascade Range.^[11]

[edit] Electoral history

• 2004 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patty Murray (D) (inc.), 55%
  • George Nethercutt (R), 43%

• 1998 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patty Murray (D) (inc.), 58%
  • Linda Smith (R), 42%

• 1992 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patty Murray (D), 54%
  • Rod Chandler (R), 46%

[edit] References

1. ^ Reid announces Democratic leadership for the 110th Congress. democrats.senate.gov (2006-11-14). Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
2. ^ Pope, Charles (2007-01-04). Murray has key role as Democrats take reins in Congress. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
3. ^ David Wilma (2004-09-10). Adams, Brock (1927-2004). HistoryLink.org. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
4. ^ "Nethercutt uses Osama bin Laden in ad assailing Murray", USA Today, 2004-09-29. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
5. ^ Gregg Herrington. "U.S. Sen. Patty Murray - Senator asks students to ponder", The Columbian, 2002-12-19. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
6. ^ Victor Davis Hanson. "It’s Not the Money, Stupid!", National Review, 2002-01-03. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
7. ^ George Howland Jr. "Patty, Jennifer, and Osama", Seattle Weekly, 2003-02-12. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
8. ^ On Passage of the Bill (S. 2611 As Amended ). United States Senate (2006-05-25). Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
9. ^ "Senate immigration bill raises H-1B limit", InfoWorld, 2006-05-25. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
10. ^ S.2611. Library of Congress. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
11. ^ Sam Goldfarb. "Wild Sky wilderness bill back in Congress", The Seattle Times, 2007-02-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.

[edit] See also

• Washington United States Senate election, 2004

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Patty Murray official Senate site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission - Patty Murray campaign finance reports and data
• New York Times - Patty Murray News collected news and commentary
• On the Issues - Patty Murray issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org - Patty Murray campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Patty Murray (WA) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia - Patty Murray profile
• Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Patty Murray voting record