Mark Udall

Mark Emery Udall, a Democrat, has represented the state of Colorado in the Senate since 2009. Prior to his election as Senator, Udall served as Representative for the 2nd District of Colorado in the House of Representatives since 1999. The district is based in Boulder and includes most of Denver's northwestern suburbs, along with several ski resorts.

Udall was a Democratic candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the Senate in Colorado. He sought the Democratic nomination for the seat vacated by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), who did not seek a third term. The primary took place in August 2008, and Udall was elected Senator in the November 2008 elections.

Iraq War
Udall voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.

In late June 2007, Rep. Udall, along with Reps. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), and Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.), issued a letter to President Bush, urging him to reconstitute the Iraq Study Group. The bipartisan group referred to a provision included in the Foreign Operations appropriations bill passed by the House to provide $1 million to the U.S. Institute for Peace to reestablish the Iraq Study Group. The members worried whether the President would sign the bill with that amendment included. Rep. Udall stated that allowing the group to update their report would give the President, Congress, and the public an independent perspective on the situation in Iraq to compare with the report due by General Petraeus in September.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Weather modification
The Weather Modification Research and Technology Transfer Authorization Act of 2005 (H.R.2995), was introduced June 20, 2005 by Rep. Mark Udall. It was a companion bill to the Senate's Weather Modification Research and Technology Transfer Authorization Act of 2005 (S.517), 1st Session, 109th Congress, on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The bill would establish the Weather Modification Operations and Research Board to overlook weather modification research.

Abortion
Udall is pro-choice; he strongly supports the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade. |1

Animal rights and wildlife issues
Udall has voted for the interests of the Humane Society 100 percent of the time. |2

Civil rights
Udall supported the interests of the National Council of La Raza, the Human Rights Campaign, and the United Latin American Citizens. Udall has backed these interests 100 percent of the time. He strongly believes in providing civil rights to humans, and not taking them away. |3

Education
Udall has supported the interests of the National Education Association 100 percent of the time. He has promoted the idea of quality public education and pursued advancements in the profession of education. |4

Health Care
Udall has supported the interests of the American Public Health Association, as well as the National Breast Cancer Coalition 100 percent of the time. Udall wishes to create a smoke-free environment and give government aid to all those who cannot afford Health care. |5

Bio
Udall was born July 18, 1950 in Tucson, Arizona, the son of Morris "Mo" Udall, a former congressman from Arizona and candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1976. He is a cousin of Congressman Tom Udall of New Mexico and Senator Gordon Harold Smith of Oregon, and nephew of former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.

Mark Udall graduated from Williams College in 1972 and moved to Colorado. He was a faculty member at Colorado's Outward Bound School for 20 years, the last ten as executive director.

After only one term in the Colorado House of Representatives, Udall won the Democratic nomination for the 2nd District in 1998 after 12-year incumbent David Skaggs retired. The race was unexpectedly close, with Udall only defeating Boulder's Republican mayor, Bob Greenlee, by two points. However, he has since been reelected three times with little trouble.

Udall announced in 2004 that he would run for the Senate against Republican incumbent Wayne Allard in 2008.

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

2008 elections
Following the announcement by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) that he would not seek re-election in 2008, Udall announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for Allard's Senate seat in the 2008 congressional elections.

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

 * House Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Readiness
 * Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities
 * House Committee on Natural Resources
 * Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
 * Subcommittee on Water &amp; Power
 * House Committee on Science and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
 * Subcommittee on Environment and Energy

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

 * House Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Personnel
 * Subcommittee on Readiness
 * House Committee on Resources
 * Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health
 * Subcommittee on Water and Power
 * House Committee on Science
 * Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics - Ranking Minority Member
 * Subcommittee on Environment Technology and Standards

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Congressional Fitness Caucus
 * Vice President, Democratic Freshman Class
 * Democratic Homeland Security Task Force
 * North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly
 * Co Chair, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus

Boards and other Affiliations

 * American Alpine Club
 * Board of Directors, Berger Foundation
 * Parkinson's Action Network

Twitter
 Mark Udall posts on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MarkUdall/

Latest posts: &lt;rss&gt;http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/8128442.rss|title=none| max=3| short&lt;/rss&gt; See all the Members of Congress who Twitter

External resources

 * Official website
 * Campaign website
 * Voting record according to issues2000.org
 * Mark Udall's Colbert Report interview. (Other Colbert Report interviews with members of Congress)
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database
 * 2008 Race Tracker page on Colorado's Senate Race
 * Official Mark Udall Senate campaign website

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Non-Prophet
 * Colorado Pols: Politics, News, and Inside Information
 * NewWest.net -- A Refreshing, new kind of journalism.

External articles

 * "Udall Files for Senate, Reports $1.5 Million," ColoradoPols, April 16, 2007.
 * Ed Sealover, " Shift puts key state issues in question," Colorado Springs Gazette, November 8, 2006.
 * Phoenix Woman, "The Rubber-Stampers’ Latest Contortion," Firedoglake Blog, July 30, 2007.