1. Travel

            In his most recent travel news, Senator Pryor traveled to El Dorado, Arkansas on January 15^th of this year to meet with local business and community leaders to discuss job creation.  Pryor’s travel record indicates that this is a frequent occurrence for him, and he makes a point to visit towns, businesses, schools, etc. throughout his state and stay in touch and connected with his constituents.  I think it’s a very positive thing the senator does, as it gets him both out of DC as well as out of his hometown of Little Rock and meets with constituents from all across his state, even in what I’m sure is the magical land of El Dorado.

2. Press Releases Issued

            On pryor.senate.gov, it says Senator Pryor’s most recent press release was on February 28^th, 2013, and there were actually a total of 3 press releases from his office that day: “Pryor Hosts Virtual Story Time at Rockefeller Elementary School In Honor of Read Across Day America Day” (I think having the word “day” in their twice was an accident, but I’m not sure), “Statement by Senator Mark Pryor on Sequestration,” and “Statement by Senator Mark Pryor on Club for Growth Ad.”

             I found the last title of these three to be the most interesting, simply because it seems vague and perhaps misleading, so I looked into it further, and I found that this press release contained a great deal of drama currently happening in Arkansas.  It would appear that the Club for Growth ran an ad in Arkansas that says Senator Pryor puts the interests of President Obama, the Democratic Party, and special interests above the needs of Arkansas citizens.  Senator Pryor uses this press release as a rebuttal, saying that his voting record clearly shows this is not the case, and that the National Journal frequently ranks him as “one of the most independent voices in the Senate.”  Here is the link to the ad directly – “Only One” Club for Growth Ad.

            This is a bit unrelated, but in my searching for press releases, I found a video clip in which Bill Maher, for his 2008 documentary Religulous interviewed Senator Mark Pryor about his beliefs about evolution.  It’s wonderful and sad all at once … Mark Pryor, “IQ Test.”

           

3. Franking, mailers

            As a member of the senate committee on ethics, Mark Pryor is very involved with franking and mailers and the appropriate use of them in Congress.  He, along with the 3 other senators who make up the ethics committee, wrote out the regulations governing the use of the mailing frank.

While on the topic of mailers and the post office, Senator Pryor also wrote a letter in 2011 to the United States Postal Service after giving them a failing grade for their lack of communication regarding post office’s consolidation and closures – see letter here.

4. Bills sponsored/cosponsored

            According to gov.track.us, the most recent bill Senator Pryor introduced into Congress was on February 25^th, 2013 and it is currently in the first state of the legislative process – being referred to a committee, which also occurred on February 25^th, 2013.  Bill S. 376 is a bill to reauthorize the National Integrated Drought Information System, and for other purposes.  It does not allude to what these “other purposes” might be.  The committees that this bill will go through are the senate commerce, science, and transportation committees.

The prognosis for the bill put forth by gov.track.us says it has a 13% chance of getting past the committee, and a 2% chance of being enacted.  It does make the note, however, that only 12% of bills make it past the committee, and that 2% of proposed bills were enacted between 2011 and 2013, so Pryor’s bill S. 376 has about as good of a chance as becoming enacted as any other proposed bill would. 

This bill has 4 cosponsors, 2 of Pryor’s fellow Democrats: Mark Udall from Colorado, and Tom Udall from New Mexico, and 2 Republicans: Jerry Morgan from Kansas, and our very own John Thune from South Dakota.

As of February 27^th, a summary of what the bill actually entails has yet to be released.

Another recent bill of Senator Pryor’s was S. 3674: Farmers Protection of 2012.  He introduced it on December 12^th, 2012 and 3 Republicans co-sponsored the bill, John Boozman from Arkansas, Thad Cochran from Mississippi, and Roger Wicker, also from Mississippi. 

The title of this bill is a bit misleading, as it is related to farmers but not chiefly about them.  In essence, this bill would amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (yep, apparently that was a thing) so that no migratory bird game can be taken over land that is not a baited area or an area that contains standing crop.  The bill did not pass after it was referred to the state environment and public works committees, and after reading the summary of the bill I can understand why.  It doesn’t do much in the way of protecting farmers, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act really did not need to be amended in this capacity.

The last bill I would like to discuss that Senator Pryor proposed passed, and has not been amended since it was enacted in 2012.  S. Res. 483 has perhaps one of the longest bill tiles ever: “A resolution commending efforts to promote and enhance public safety on the need for yellow corrugated stainless steel tubing.”  The bill was proposed to do exactly what the title says it would, commend the efforts to promote and enhance public safety through the use of the properly bonded stainless steel tubing as defined in the National Fire Protection Association code.  It went over well in congress, once again according to gov.track.us, and was agreed to in a simple resolution.