Co-Chairs Murray and Hensarling Name Staff Director for Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

(Washington D.C.) –U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today announced that Mark Prater will serve as Staff Director for the bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.

“The know-how and experience Mark brings to this difficult task is exactly what we agreed must be the top priority for the staff serving all the members of this Committee,” said Senator Murray and Congressman Hensarling. “Mark has a well-earned reputation for being a workhorse who members of both parties have relied on. We look forward to working with him and are confident that his approach and expertise will be valuable as we weigh the difficult but necessary choices ahead.”

Mark Prater is currently serving as deputy staff director and chief tax counsel on the minority staff of the Senate Finance Committee. In the more than two decades that he has served on that Committee, he has helped pass numerous pieces of bipartisan economic growth, tax, health care, and employment legislation. Mark graduated from Portland State University in 1981 with a B.S. in accounting.  He also obtained a J.D. from Willamette University in 1984 and an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida in 1987.  Mr. Prater became a member of the Oregon and Washington State bars in 1984 and a certified public accountant in Washington in 1986.