Beryl Anthony Jr.
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Beryl Franklin Anthony Jr. (born February 21, 1938) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
.


Early life and education

Anthony was born in
El Dorado, Arkansas El Dorado, founded by Matthew Rainey, is a city in, and the county seat of, Union County, on the southern border of Arkansas, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 18,884. El Dorado is headquarters of the Ark ...
. He attended the Union County public schools, graduating from El Dorado High School in 1956. In 1961, he received a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
where he became a member of the
Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
fraternity. He obtained a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the same university in 1963.


Legal career prior to Congress

Anthony was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1963ANTHONY, Beryl Franklin, Jr. (1938—)
via Infoplease.com
and began practice in El Dorado. He became assistant attorney general from 1964 to 1965; deputy prosecuting attorney in Union County from 1966 to 1970; prosecuting attorney for the 13th Judicial District from 1971 to 1976, and legal counsel to Anthony Forest Products Co. in 1977. He started his own private practice of law in 1977.


Political career

Anthony was a delegate to Arkansas State Democratic conventions from 1964 to 1978. In November 1978, he was elected as a Democrat to the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
and served seven terms, from January 3, 1979 to January 3, 1993. He lost his bid for renomination in the Democratic Primary runoff in June 1992 to
Arkansas Secretary of State The secretary of state of Arkansas is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The current Secretary of State is Republican John Thurston, former Arkansas land commissioner from Pulaski County in central Arka ...
William J. "Bill" McCuen who lost the general election to
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Jay W. Dickey due to a series of embarrassing incidents. McCuen received campaign funding from the National Rifle Association (NRA) due to Anthony’s support of legislation limiting so-called “Cop Killer” bullets. Vice president of his freshman class in Congress, Anthony was a founding member of the Sunbelt Coalition, a group that monitored the legislative impact upon southern states. After one term, he was appointed to the
House Ways and Means Committee The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...
. He also served on the Oversight and Trade Subcommittees as well as the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. Anthony chaired the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises ...
from 1987 to 1991. He maintained a conservative voting record in Congress, similar to other Southern Democrats. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Anthony pursued a variety of important issues. In the 1980s, he played a major role in restructuring the
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
trust fund. He championed legislation for improved rural health care, for which he was given awards by both the Arkansas Hospital Association and the American Hospital Association. In his last terms, he focused on international trade, working on the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
and on legislation for the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pre ...
. In 1988, Congress created the bipartisan Anthony Public Finance Commission, composed of mayors, governors, local government officials, and members of the finance community, to recommend legislation to enable local governments to better finance the building of roads, schools, hospitals, and wastewater treatment facilities. The commission's Arbitrage Relief Provision, enacted in 1989, substantially lessened the borrowing costs for infrastructure investments.


Activities after leaving Congress

In January 1993, Anthony became a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Winston & Strawn. His clients have included major trade associations, governmental entities, and national and multinational corporations. On Capitol Hill and before the White House and executive agencies, Anthony has worked on matters involving health care reform, Superfund, trade relations with China, tax law changes affecting pharmaceuticals, and authorization and funding of major weapons systems. He was a member of the board of directors of Beverly Enterprises which in 2006 before its acquisition by a private equity firm, operated 345 skilled nursing facilities, 18 assisted living centers, and 56 hospice/home care centers.


Personal

Anthony's wife, Sheila Foster Anthony is the sister of
Vince Foster Vincent Walker Foster Jr. (January 15, 1945 – July 20, 1993) was an American attorney who served as deputy White House counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration. Foster had been a partner at Rose Law Firm in Littl ...
, the deputy White House counsel who committed suicide in 1993. The couple's first child was born in 1964. She was a teacher before getting a law degree. In 1993, after working in the U.S. Commerce Department as the nominated Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Intergovernmental Affairs for several months, she moved to the U.S. Department of Justice in a similar position, where she worked for two years. From 1997 to 2002, she was a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission.Andrew Dowdle
"Interview with Sheila Foster Anthony"
, Hendersonville, North Carolina, 22 July 2004, for the William Jefferson Clinton History Project


Notes


External links



Stennis Center for Public Service,

accessed October 15, 2007 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Beryl Jr. 1938 births Living people Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas People from El Dorado, Arkansas Arkansas lawyers University of Arkansas alumni People associated with Winston & Strawn