Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers was elected to office in 1974. Born in 1924, he has been a Marine, a hardware store owner, a farmer, an attorney, special justice to the Arkansas Supreme Court, and governor of Arkansas. In addition to acting as the Committee Chairman, he is a member of the Appropriations and Energy and Natural Resources Committees.
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Established as a select committee in 1950, the Senate Small Business Committee gained standing committee status in 1980. Like its House equal, the Committee is an advocate of small businesses vis-a-vis Congressional legislation. Because small businesses comprise so much of any state's constituency, the Small Business Committee is one of the most popular committee assignments in the Senate. The Committee is bipartisan in its efforts to include small businesses in government contracts.
