Anthony was a delegate to Arkansas State Democratic conventions from 1964 to 1978.
Congress
In November 1978, he was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives and served seven terms, from January 3, 1979, to January 3, 1993.
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. 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 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 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 and on legislation for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
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.
Due in part to his involvement with the House banking scandal, Anthony lost his bid for renomination in the Democratic Primary runoff in June 1992 to Arkansas Secretary of State William J. "Bill" McCuen[2] who lost the general election to Republican Jay W. Dickey due to a series of embarrassing incidents.[3] McCuen received campaign funding from the National Rifle Association (NRA) due to Anthony’s support of legislation limiting so-called “Cop Killer” bullets.[4]
