Richard Burr
U.S. Senator
Republican, North Carolina
- Date of Birth: November 30, 1955
- Birthplace: Charlottesville, Va.
- First Elected: 2004
Committee Assignments:
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Senate Select Committee on IntelligenceRichard Burr is the minority chief deputy whip, assisting Minority Whip Jon Kyl in persuading senators to support the Republican leadership’s position on pending legislation. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 after serving five terms in the House starting in 1994. Before he entered politics, Burr spent 17 years as a sales manager for Carswell Distributing, a commercial products wholesaler. In the Senate, Burr has a conservative voting record. He is against abortion and gun control, and he supports amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage. Burr disapproves of the healthcare reform law of 2010, saying it expands the government without lowering healthcare costs. As the ranking Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee, Burr has sponsored several bills to improve the quality of life and healthcare for veterans and their families, including the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act which became law in 2009. The law allows military spouses to choose one state of residence rather than re-establishing residency for taxes, voting, and vehicle registration in each new state their spouse moves following military orders. There was buzz during the 2008 presidential campaign that Burr was on Sen. John McCain’s list of potential vice presidential candidates before he selected former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. He has another connection to Palin; her political action committee, SarahPAC, donated $2,500 to Burr’s re-election campaign in the first quarter of 2010. Burr is up for re-election this year and will face North Carolina’s Democratic Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. As of mid-2010, Burr had far outpaced Marshall’s fundraising, and he was ahead of her in the polls. Burr is married with two children, and he is a board member of Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Campaign Fundraising
2005 - Present| Top 5 Organizations | PACs | Individuals | Total |
| Reynolds American | $4,050 | $64,101 | $68,151 |
| New Breed Corp | $0 | $63,150 | $63,150 |
| Womble, Carlyle et al | $10,000 | $50,877 | $60,877 |
| Scana Corp | $9,999 | $47,825 | $57,824 |
| Duke Energy | $8,000 | $44,695 | $52,695 |
| Top 5 Industries | PACs | Individuals | Total |
| Retired | $0 | $556,491 | $556,491 |
| Health Professionals | $175,963 | $233,432 | $409,395 |
| Lawyers & Law Firms | $103,750 | $251,574 | $355,324 |
| Insurance | $205,000 | $119,297 | $324,297 |
| Pharmaceuticals & Health Products | $236,576 | $71,950 | $308,526 |
Richard Burr in the News
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Sen. Burr Wants to Consolidate EPA and Energy Department
March 22, 2011
Sen. Richard Burr says combining the agencies will save trillions. -
Democrats Choose Charlotte for 2012 Convention
February 01, 2011
Michelle Obama told supporters that it was a tough decision. - A Burr in Cornyn's saddle on whip race? Sen. Richard Burr could make a run at the no. 2 slot in Senate GOP leadership.
- Republican Senators Alexander, Burr, Isakson, Kirk Introduce Four Bills To 'Fix' No Child Left Behind Former U.S. education Secretary Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) announced Wednesday a plan to introduce new legislation to reauthorize the federal No Child Left Behind Act along with Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). Their…
- Lloyd Chapman: Small Business Administration: the Most Important Agency in Washington Today I am stunned that as America slides into a double-dip recession and closer and closer to a depression, Republican members of Congress have once again drafted legislation aimed at ending all federal programs that assist small businesses. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) has introduced the "Department of Commerce and the Workforce Consolidation Act," which merges the Small Business Administration (SBA) with the Department of…
