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Patty Murray

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Patty Murray
United States Senator
from Washington
Assumed office
January 5, 1993
Serving with Maria Cantwell
Preceded byBrock Adams
Succeeded byIncumbent (2011)
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseRob Murray
Alma materWashington State University

Patty Murray (born October 11, 1950) is the senior United States Senator from Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to the Senate in 1992 and has held the position ever since, becoming the first woman to represent Washington in the Senate. 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]

Life and career

Patricia Lynn Murray was born in Bothell, Washington to Beverly A. McLaughlin and David L. Johns.[3] 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.[4]

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.

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.[5]

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 defeated Representative Don Bonker to win the Democratic 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."

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."

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.[6] 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.[7]

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 U.S.'s lack of popularity in Muslim countries.[8] 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.[9]

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).[10] 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,[11] and creates a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country.[12] The bill, with support from GOP leadership, passed 62-36.

Senator Murray has repeatedly cosponsored legislation that would create the Wild Sky Wilderness area in the Washington Cascade Range.[13]

Electoral history

  • 1998 Race for U.S. Senate
  • 1992 Race for U.S. Senate

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Reid announces Democratic leadership for the 110th Congress". democrats.senate.gov. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
  2. ^ Pope, Charles (2007-01-04). "Murray has key role as Democrats take reins in Congress". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
  3. ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/senators/murray.htm
  4. ^ "MURRAY, Patty -- Biographical Information". U.S. Congress. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  5. ^ David Wilma (2004-09-10). "Adams, Brock (1927–2004)". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Nethercutt uses Osama bin Laden in ad assailing Murray". USA Today. 2004-09-29. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Gregg Herrington (2002-12-19). "U.S. Sen. Patty Murray — Senator asks students to ponder". The Columbian. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Victor Davis Hanson (2002-01-03). "It's Not the Money, Stupid!". National Review. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ George Howland Jr (2003-02-12). "Patty, Jennifer, and Osama". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "On Passage of the Bill (S. 2611 As Amended )". United States Senate. 2006-05-25. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Senate immigration bill raises H-1B limit". InfoWorld. 2006-05-25. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "S.2611". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  13. ^ Sam Goldfarb (2007-02-07). "Wild Sky wilderness bill back in Congress". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

See also

External links


Political offices
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Washington
1993–Present
Served alongside: Slade Gorton, Maria Cantwell 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
2001–2003 		Succeeded by
Jon Corzine
New Jersey
Preceded by Secretary of Senate Democratic Conference
2007–Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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