Earl Pomeroy

Earl Pomeroy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Dakota's at-large district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Byron Dorgan
Personal details
Political party	Democratic-NPL
Spouse	Divorced
Residence	Mandan, North Dakota
Alma mater	Valley City State University, University of North Dakota, Durham University
Occupation	attorney

Earl Pomeroy (born September 2 1952) is an American lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of North Dakota. A member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, Pomeroy has been the sole member of the United States House of Representatives from North Dakota since 1993.

Pomeroy, who is divorced, lives in Mandan, North Dakota, with his two children, Kathryn and Scott.

Education and career

Pomeroy was born in Valley City in Barnes County in eastern North Dakota. He attended Valley City State University where he was initiated as a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and later transferred to the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and went on to do graduate research in legal history at Durham University in England. Pomeroy returned to North Dakota to attend the University of North Dakota School of Law, having received his Juris Doctor law degree in 1979.

Pomeroy was elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1980, and became North Dakota Insurance Commissioner in 1985, a post that he held until 1992. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1992 elections.

Until recently, Pomeroy did not procure the victory margins scored by North Dakota's two Democratic Senators, Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan. Until 2004, he never won more than 57 percent of the vote. However, in 2004 he was reelected with almost 60 percent.

Pomeroy most recently faced Republican Matthew Mechtel in the 2006 general election, easily winning re-election to his eighth term. He received a larger percentage of votes in the 2006 election than in his previous elections.

Currently, Pomeroy is in a difficult race to retain his seat against opponent Duane Sand, a conservative who served in the Iraq War.

House career

Committees and political associations

• Agriculture Committee
  • Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
  • Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture
• Ways and Means Committee
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Social Security
• Co-Chair of the bipartisan Rural Health Care Coalition

From 2003 through 2005, $14.7 billion in crop subsidies went to the congressional districts of members on the House Committee on Agriculture, an analysis by the non-partisan Environmental Working Group found. That was 42.4% of the total subsidies. Pomeroy is reported to have brought $1.03 billion to his district.

Political positions

Iraq War

Although he supported authorizing force in Iraq in 2002, he has increasingly spoken out against the war. Earl Pomeroy supported the House resolution opposing George W. Bush's troop surge plan in February 2007. He said in a floor speech, "We take care of our soldiers over [in Iraq] by making sure their deployments are only for acceptable periods and at acceptable intervals, with enough time at home in between to heal, to rest, and to train. But beyond these things, we take care of our soldiers over there when we as a Congress make certain the mission they have sent to perform has a reasonable chance of success.

"In a war where so many tragic mistakes have been made, this Congress must not sit quietly by while additional plans are cooked up in Washington whose only certainty is to accelerate the loss of American lives, compound the already severe strain on our military capabilities, and accelerate the burn rate of American dollars spent in Iraq. ... Without the commitment between the warring parties in Iraq to stop the killing, and create a political agreement upon which a national government can exist, 20,000 more U.S. soldiers are not likely to bring about a lasting peace."

Controversy

In 2007, Pomeroy was "ambushed" by a group of political activists and asked about the impeachment of President Bush. He said that he "couldn't stand" the president and later referred to him as a "clown," but also noted that he was leery of supporting impeachment because his constituents didn't agree with such a drastic move. Video leaked onto Youtube and drew criticism. Critics have said that he should not have used the language he did, though few have argued that the point he was trying to make, that the people he represent did not support the president's impeachment, and he couldn't disagree with them on something of that magnitude, was invalid. Pomeroy also said he wasn't aware that he was being videotaped and says he regrets calling the president a clown.

The watchdog group Opensecrets.org has listed politicians who have received political contributions from AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, including Pomeroy. Pomeroy recently voted in favor of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, commonly referred to as a bailout bill for these and several Wall Street firms.

See also

• United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota, 2008
• United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota, 2006
• United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota, 2004
• United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota, 2002
• United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota, 2000

External links

• U.S. Congressman Earl Pomeroy, U.S. House website
• Earl Pomeroy for Congress, Campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• Subsidies by Congressional District, 1995-2006 Environmental Working Group, Pomeroy's district ranked #2