Joseph R. Pitts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Joe Pitts | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Walker |
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| Born | October 10, 1939 Lexington, Kentucky |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Virginia Pitts |
| Religion | Evangelical Christianity |
Joseph R. "Joe" Pitts (b. October 10, 1939) is a Republican Congressman for the state of Pennsylvania, currently representing Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district (map) in the U.S. House since 1997.
Pitts was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and he graduated from Asbury College. Pitts served five and a half years in the United States Air Force, with three tours in Vietnam. Initially commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, he was promoted to Captain by the time he left the service. He graduated second in his class from Navigator School, after which he was trained as an Electronic Warfare officer. As an EW officer, he served on B-52s out of Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, with payloads of nuclear bombs. In all, he completed 116 combat missions in the Vietnam War and earned an Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters.
After leaving the Air Force in 1969, he moved to Kennett Square, Pennsylvania; the hometown of his wife, Ginny. They built a house there, where they still live today. Pitts was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1972, representing part of Chester County. Pitts was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996. Pitts has a conservative voting record. He visited Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban and Pakistan in 2002.
He also supports the Internet Gambling Enforcement provision (as an after-midnight amendment to the unrelated Safe Port Act) that would make private, consumer transactions from banking institutions to online gambling sites illegal.
In recent years, he has taken a leading role in advocacy for religious prisoners overseas and human rights crises, like Burma, Western Sahara, and Kashmir. Pitts has used his office to build relationships with ambassadors from other countries in hopes of building ties between people from those nations and his constituents. This has yielded shipments of aid to developing nations.
[edit] 2006 Election
Pitts has drawn fire for abandoning his pledge to serve no more than ten years in the House.[1] Joseph Pitts' challengers in the November 7, 2006 election were Democrat Lois Herr and independent candidate John Murphy. Pitts won reelection with 57% of the vote to Herr's 39% and Murphy's 4%.
[edit] External links
- U.S. Congressman Joe Pitts official House site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
- Pitts cosponsor of H.R. 4411: Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act
| Preceded by Robert Walker |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district 1997–Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
