Biography

Mary L. Landrieu has been fighting and winning for Louisiana since she was first elected to the Louisiana state legislature at the age of 23. After serving eight years as a state representative and two terms as State Treasurer, in 1996 she became the first woman from Louisiana elected to a full term in the U.S. Senate. Senator Landrieu is currently the Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, and a member of the Appropriations and Energy and Natural Resources Committees. The nonpartisan Congress.org has ranked Senator Landrieu as the tenth most effective legislator in the Senate.

Senator Landrieu has been the leading voice in Washington for the Gulf Coast recovery effort. In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the failures of the federal levee system, she secured billions in recovery dollars and has worked extensively to jumpstart recovery projects. She chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Disaster Recovery Subcommittee, and is committed to reforming the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure the nation’s disaster response arm is speedy and effective the next time a disaster strikes the United States, be it natural or manmade.

As chair of the Small Business Committee, she is leading efforts to ensure all small businesses have access to capital and contracts, superior health insurance at a low cost and the resources needed to help boost our economy and guarantee America’s competiveness in the global marketplace.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Landrieu is a strong and effective voice for Louisiana. This Committee approves more than $300 billion in federal discretionary spending each year, and is considered the most powerful panel on Capitol Hill. From this seat, she fights for Louisiana’s jobs and economic interests and the funding the state needs to rebuild from the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes.

Senator Landrieu, a member of the Energy Committee, coauthored the landmark Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which was signed into law in 2006. The bill expanded oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico by more than 8 million acres and shares the revenues with Louisiana to restore and protect the eroding wetlands along the Gulf Coast

Senator Landrieu is married to Frank Snellings of Monroe, Louisiana, and has two children.