Mike Ross

Michael Avery Ross, a Democrat has represented the 4th District of Arkansas in the United States House of Representatives since 2001. His district includes the towns of Hot Springs and Hope.

Stance on Abortion
On the issue of Abortion Representative Mike Ross tends take the position of a Moderate. He has received many high and low ratings from NACL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood, to name a few, over the past years. He believes that Abortions should only be legal only within the first trimester, when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape, or when the life of a woman is in danger. 

Stance on Bugetary, Tax, and Spending Issues
Representative Mike Ross has received very low ratings from companies like National Taxpayer Union and Americans for Tax Reforms for the past ten years. He has not been very popular with these certain agencies. Mike Ross generally believes that we should increase all spending in many programs including programs for national defense and health care. He agrees to raise taxes in order to achieve these things. 

Stance on Civil Rights and Liberties
Civil rights are a major thing that define this country everyday. Mike Ross has been known to receive very high and very low ratings from Civil Rights agencies. Over the past years he has received many high ratings from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, but at the sametime has received poor ratings from the Human Rights Campaign. Representative Ross is a Democrat who does not believe in same sex marriage. He also believes that there should be a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. 

Bio
Ross was born in Texarkana, Arkansas on September 1, 1961. He was educated at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and was a businessman and state senator from 1990 to 2000 before entering the House. He also served as Chief of staff to then Lieutenant Governor Winston Bryant from 1985 to 1989.

In the 2000 election, he was the only Democrat outside of California to defeat a Republican incumbent. In the 2004 election, the Republican Party did not run a challenger against him.

2006 elections
In 2006, the Republicans nominated Joe Ross to face Ross in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006)  Ross retained his seat.

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Energy and Commerce
 * Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection
 * Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
 * Subcommittee on Health
 * House Committee on Science and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
 * Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on Energy and Commerce
 * Subcommittee on Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection
 * Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Member, Whip, Blue Dog Coalition
 * Congressional Delta Caucus
 * Democratic Homeland Security Task Force
 * Democratic Policy and Steering Committee
 * Member, United States House of Representatives Delegation, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly
 * Member, New Democrat Coalition
 * Founding Member, Prescott-Nevada County Economic Developement Board

Boards and other Affiliations

 * Member, Prescott First United Methodist Church

More Background Data

 * 2006 Arkansas CD 4 Candidate List from VIS

Articles and resources

 * Official website
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Arkansas Tonight
 * The Voice of Arkansas