Mary Landrieu

Mary Loretta Landrieu is the Senior Senator for the state of Louisiana. She is a Democrat and was first elected in 1996.

Iraq War
Landrieu voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq in Oct. 2002.

In 2003, Landrieu offered an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act to Support Department of Defense Operations in Iraq for Fiscal Year 2003, which would have appropriated $1 billion to procurement for the National Guard and Reserves. The amendment was intended to fill a Guard and Reserve shortage of "helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests" and "chemical and biological protective gear". Landrieu based the $1 billion on National Guard and Reserve Unfunded Requirement lists. The amendment would offset the $1 billion appropriation with a $1 billion reduction in President Bush's tax cuts. The amendment failed when it was tabled in a 52-47 vote.

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

Energy policy and companies
In 2006, Landrieu and Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) sponsored the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act. The legislation planned to open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico and share 37.5 percent of the new royalty revenues, dedicated to coastal protection, with Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. The legislation was passed and signed by President George W. Bush.

Oil
Mary Landrieu has voted in favor of big oil companies on 67% of important oil-related from 2005-2007, according to Oil Change International. These bills include Iraq war funding, climate change studies, clean energy, and emissions. See below for oil money in politics.

Earmarks
Landrieu posts the earmarks she has secured for Louisiana on her official website, including a breakdown by county.

Gang of 14
On May 23, 2005, Landrieu was among the Gang of 14, the group of moderate senators who forged a compromise on the use of the judicial filibuster, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called nuclear option over the organized filibustering by Senate Democrats of judicial nominees in the US Senate. Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William H. Pryor, Jr.) would receive a vote by the full Senate.

Common Ground Coalition brought on think tank's support
The Common Ground Coalition, founded to help form bipartisan legislation and led by Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), sought the help of the Bipartisan Policy Center, an off-the-Hill think tank, to suggest paths to compromise on contentious bills.

During a time where both parties were strongly divided over Iraq war policy and Republican filibustering, the Common Ground Coalition echoed the work of the Gang of 14, although the Gang was formed to create compromise over the filibustering of judicial nominees specifically, and the Coalition was created to make bipartisan compromises on a range of issues.

Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina destroyed Sen. Landrieu's lakeside New Orleans home. The senator has become a national spokeswoman for victims of the hurricane and has complained of "the staggering incompetence of the national government." In an interview with Chris Wallace, Landrieu called the evacuation of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina "the best evacuation."

Shortly after the aftermath of the hurricane, Landrieu was involved in a testy exchange with Anderson Cooper of CNN in which she praised President Bush and the Senate for responding to Katrina and appropriating money for the effort. To which Cooper responded: "Excuse me, Senator, I'm sorry for interrupting. I haven't heard that, because, for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated." After this exchange, Landrieu began to criticize President Bush very harshly for his response to Katrina in subsequent interviews.

CREW filed complaint
On January 8, 2008 Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the Justice Department and Senate Ethics Committee to investigate whether Landrieu violated federal bribery laws in getting a $2 million earmark for a reading program whose executives and lobbyists donated to her 2002 re-election campaign. Landrieu inserted the earmark in a $7.1 billion spending bill for the District of Columbia and it provided $2 million for use of Voyager Expanded Learning in kindergarten and first-grade classes in the D.C. school district. Voyager was a company founded by Randy Best, a Dallas merchant banker and top Republican donor.

On October 19, 2001, Best held a fundraiser for Landrieu. On or about November 2, Landrieu received $30,000 from Best, company employees, and their relatives. The Louisiana senator was the ranking Democrat and chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for D.C. at the time. She made the request for Senate financing on November 6, four days after receiving the campaign contributions.

Landrieu spokesman Adam Sharp said the senator had been working on getting the funding for months before the vote and that they were made at the request of Paul Vance, Washington's then-superintendent of schools. Money for the program was included in a version of the D.C. spending bill reported out of committee on October 15, 2001. In response to the charges, Landrieu's office released three letter on January 8 intended to show that Voyager was a highly touted and sought-after reading program. One letter dated April 2001 was sent from D.C. school officials, urging the subcommittee to expand the use of Voyager because it had been succesful in summer and extended-day classes.

Background
Mary Landrieu was born November 23, 1955 in Arlington, Virginia and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is daughter of former New Orleans mayor Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu and the sister of current Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu. She graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1977.

She was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1980 to 1988. She then served as Louisiana state treasurer from 1988 to 1996. Landrieu was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1995 gubernatorial race in Louisiana; she finished third in the open primary and failed to make the run-off.

Senate Career
Landrieu was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, defeating Woody Jenkins, and narrowly won reelection in 2002, defeating Suzanne Haik Terrell.

Landrieu is one of the more conservative members of the Democratic Party. She is described in her Third Way biography as "a moderate Democrat who believes our nation can and should do a better job of balancing our budget, protecting and conserving our environment, and educating our children for the global challenges ahead."

She supports eliminating the estate tax permanently, and voted for the tax cut passed in 2001. On November 17, 2005, she was one of only four Democrats to vote against repealing the the portions of the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 that more liberal Democrats charge unfairly benefit the wealthy. She voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. In 2004, Landrieu was one of only six Democrats to vote against renewing the ban on assault weapons. She has been one of the few Democrats to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Her voting on President Bush's Supreme Court nominees have shifted toward the right also. She backed Justice John G. Roberts. While she voted against Samuel Alito, she voted in favor of cloture and sending the nomination to an up or down vote.

Money in politics
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Oil and Coal Money in Politics
Mary Landrieu has received $252,950 in oil contributions during the 110th congress. $163,600 of those dollars were from industry PACS. In total, Landrieu has accepted $574,005 from oil companies since from 2000 to 2008, which makes her one of the highest recipients of oil money. In addition to oil, Landrieu has received $69,458 in coal contributions during the 110th congress. $54,108 of those dollars were from industry PACS.See above for her oil and energy voting record.

Committees and Affiliations

 * Congressional Advisory Board, Humpty Dumpty Institute

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
 * Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
 * Subcommittee on Energy
 * Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
 * Subcommittee on National Parks
 * Senate Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
 * Subcommittee on Energy and Water
 * Subcommittee on Homeland Security
 * Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
 * Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
 * Subcommittee on Military Contruction and Veterans Affairs
 * Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
 * Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery
 * Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration

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

 * Senate Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Agriculture Rural Development and Related Agencies
 * Subcommittee on the District of Columbia - Ranking Minority Member
 * Subcommittee on Energy and Water
 * Subcommittee on State Foreign Operations and Related Programs
 * Subcommittee on Labor Health and Human Services Education and Related Agencies
 * Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs
 * Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
 * Subcommittee on Energy
 * Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
 * Subcommittee on National Parks
 * Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

More Candidate Data

 * See how you compare to Mary Landrieu

Resources

 * Official website
 * Congressional biography
 * About.com Profile of US Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
 * CNN Transcripts

Articles

 * Bob Geiger, "On Snowe-Landrieu Bipartisan Initiative: Kiss My Democratic Ass," BobGeiger.com Blogspot, December 22, 2006.
 * John Aravosis, "Ask Susan Collins, Norm Coleman and John Sununu just how well the Democratic message on Iraq is selling," AMERICAblog, April 23, 2007.