Representative Robert Marion Berry

Robert Marion Berry (August 27, 1942 – May 19, 2023) was an American politician and farmer who represented Arkansas’s 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1997, to January 3, 2011. A member of the Democratic Party and a self-described Blue Dog Democrat, he served seven terms in Congress and played a prominent role in agricultural, health care, and budget policy during a significant period in modern American political history.

Berry was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and raised in nearby Bayou Meto in Arkansas County, in the Arkansas Delta. The son of a rice farmer, he grew up in a rural, agricultural environment that would shape his professional and political priorities. His parents encouraged him to seek a career beyond the family farm, a direction that initially led him into the field of pharmacy and later informed his dual identity as both a health professional and a working farmer.

After moving to Little Rock, Berry attended the University of Arkansas, where he earned a degree in pharmacy. Following his graduation, he ran a pharmacy for two years, gaining experience in health care delivery and small business management. In 1967, however, he returned to Arkansas County and to the family business, becoming a farmer and harvesting soybeans and rice. Over time he built a substantial agricultural operation that he maintained throughout his life; the family farm holdings were reported to have a net worth in excess of $1 million, underscoring his long-term engagement with production agriculture and rural economic issues.

Berry’s formal political career began at the local level. In 1976 he was elected a city alderman in Gillett, Arkansas, where he and his family made their home. His work in local government led to broader responsibilities in state public policy. In 1986, Governor Bill Clinton appointed him to the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission, a position he held until 1994. In that role, Berry was involved in resource management and conservation issues critical to the state’s agricultural economy. After Clinton was elected President, Berry moved to the national stage in 1993, when he was appointed to the White House Domestic Policy Council and served as special assistant to the President for Agricultural Trade and Food Assistance from 1993 to 1996. In these capacities, he worked on federal agricultural trade policy and food aid programs, further deepening his expertise in farm and rural affairs.

In 1996, upon returning to Arkansas, Berry announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 1st congressional district, seeking the seat being vacated by Blanche Lincoln. Facing strong opposition from more progressive candidates in the Democratic primary, he campaigned aggressively in the rural areas north of the Mississippi Delta region and narrowly secured the nomination with 52 percent of the vote. In the general election, in a district that had never before elected a Republican, Berry outspent his Republican opponent, attorney Warren Dupwe, by roughly two-to-one and won with 53 percent to 44 percent of the vote in November 1996. He was sworn into the 105th Congress on January 3, 1997, beginning a congressional career that would span seven consecutive terms. Berry consistently won reelection with comfortable margins, carrying the district by 67 percent to 33 percent in 2004 and running unopposed in 2008. During the 2008 presidential campaign, he, like many Arkansas Democrats, endorsed U.S. Senator and former First Lady of Arkansas Hillary Clinton for president. Although he was sometimes mentioned as a potential candidate for statewide office, he declined to run, citing health, family responsibilities, and unspecified social issues. In 2010 he chose not to stand for reelection and left Congress at the conclusion of his term in January 2011.

During his congressional service, Berry served on several key committees and caucuses that reflected both his fiscal conservatism and his focus on agriculture and health care. He was appointed to the House Committee on Appropriations, where he served on the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, and the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. At various points he also served on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Transportation subcommittees. In addition, he was a member of the House Committee on the Budget. Berry was chosen by the Democratic leadership to serve as vice chair of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committees and as a member of the Leader’s Senior Whip Team, giving him a role in shaping caucus policy and strategy. He co-chaired the House Democratic Health Care Task Force, the House Affordable Medicine Task Force, the Congressional Soybean Caucus, and the New Madrid Working Group, and he co-founded the Democrats’ Prescription Drug Task Force, reflecting his dual interests in health policy and agricultural issues.

Berry’s voting record and public positions marked him as a centrist Democrat with a strong populist and rural orientation. A self-described Blue Dog Democrat, he voted against the 2001 tax cuts championed by the George W. Bush administration, citing fiscal concerns. On October 10, 2002, he was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq. He supported major economic and financial measures during the late 2000s, voting for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in response to the financial crisis. In health care, Berry played an active role as one of three House Democrats on the House–Senate conference committee on the Medicare prescription drug bill in 2003, where he frequently criticized the administration’s health policies. He voted for the Democratic health care reform bill, H.R. 3962, during its first House floor vote. However, on March 21, 2010, he joined 33 other Democrats and 178 Republicans in voting against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He was the only Democrat to vote against the GIVE Act, which sought to expand the AmeriCorps program, and he was one of four Democrats to vote against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, joining 155 of 159 Republicans in blocking the bill under a motion to suspend the rules.

Berry’s tenure also included notable foreign and environmental policy positions and occasional controversy. He traveled to Cuba with Senator Blanche Lincoln to advocate for easing the U.S. trade embargo in order to open additional markets for Arkansas agricultural products, reflecting his consistent focus on expanding opportunities for farmers. He drew criticism when he supported the dumping of nuclear waste from Entergy Corporation reactors into the Arkansas River, a stance that attracted environmental opposition. Known for his blunt speaking style, Berry made headlines on the House floor when he referred to Representative Adam Putnam of Florida as a “Howdy Doody looking nimrod,” an episode that underscored his sometimes combative approach to political debate.

Outside of his public offices, Berry remained closely tied to his community and his farm. He continued to operate his soybean and rice farming business in Arkansas County throughout his years in Washington and after leaving Congress, maintaining his identity as a working farmer as well as a legislator. He resided in Gillett, Arkansas, with his wife, Carolyn, and identified as a Methodist. His long involvement in agriculture, local government, state commissions, and national policymaking made him a prominent figure in Arkansas public life for several decades.

Robert Marion Berry died in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 19, 2023, at the age of 80. At the time of his death, he had spent more than half a century engaged in farming and public service, from his early years as a city alderman and state conservation commissioner to his seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and his continued stewardship of his family’s farming enterprise.