Roscoe Bartlett

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Roscoe Bartlett
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Beverly Byron
Born	June 3, 1926 (1926-06-03) (age 82) Moreland, Kentucky
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Ellen Louise Bartlett
Religion	Seventh-day Adventist

Roscoe Gardner Bartlett,(born June 3, 1926) is a professor and a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 6th district of Maryland since 1993.

[edit] Early life, career, and family

Bartlett was born in Moreland, Kentucky to Martha Minnick and Roscoe Gardner Bartlett.^[1] He completed his early education in a one-room schoolhouse. He attended Columbia Union College, a college affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and graduated in 1947 with a B.S. in theology and biology and a minor in chemistry. He had intended to be a Seventh-Day Adventist minister, but he was considered too young for the ministry after receiving his bachelor's degree at the age of 21.

Afterwards, Bartlett was encouraged to attend graduate school at the University of Maryland, College Park. He studied anatomy, physiology, and zoology, earning a Master's degree in physiology in 1948. Bartlett was then hired as a faculty member at Maryland and taught anatomy, physiology and zoology while working towards his Ph.D. in physiology, which he earned in 1952. His academic career included lecturing at Loma Linda School of Medicine, also affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Loma Linda, California (1952–1954), and serving as an assistant professor at Howard University Medical School in Washington, D.C. (1954–1956). He also pursued careers as a research scientist, inventor, business owner, and farmer.^{[citation needed]}

Bartlett and his wife Ellen have 10 children, of which one, Joseph R. Bartlett is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, and 12 grandchildren. He has since retired from teaching and building homes, but continues to raise sheep and goats on his farm.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Congressional career

Rep. Bartlett (center) (R-MD) joined Reps. Ben Cardin (podium) (D-MD) and Jo Ann Davis (left) (R-VA) in calling for a study of homeland security needs of the National Capital region, including Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

In 1982, Bartlett was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress against incumbent Democrat Beverly Byron.^[2] A decade later, however, he was successfully elected to Congress by the sixth district of Maryland — the western and more conservative part of the state. Byron, had been defeated in the primary, and many conservative Democrats switched their support to Bartlett in November.^[2] The district includes Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett and Washington counties, as well as parts of Baltimore, Harford, and Howard counties.

A vocal proponent of the Hubbert peak theory, Bartlett argues strongly in favor of preparation for a decline in the production of fossil fuels. He is the only member of the Maryland delegation who is pro-life on abortion issues. He also voted against the re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act.

On March 3, 1993, Bartlett spoke to a group of Maryland state officials at the U.S. Capitol regarding links between high-school performance and ethnic background: "Not much over a third of [the scholarships] went to students that would represent the normal American. ... About a third [of the recipients] had American names." He later explained that he was contrasting "American names" and "Oriental names".^{[citation needed]}

In March 2004, Bartlett attended a Washington ceremony in which the Rev. Sun Myung Moon crowned himself the Messiah. Many lawmakers attended the Moon's coronation, with many later saying they were duped into attendance and didn't know of the crowning ceremony beforehand. Bartlett said he attended because Moon owned the conservative newspaper The Washington Times and that he didn't know about Moon's speech beforehand.^[3] However, it was later reported that Bartlett took a more extensive role in the ceremony, carrying Moon's robe to Moon for the coronation, in which Moon and his wife were declared "messiahs of the world."^[4] Bartlett had also been listed on the original invitation as one of six Congressional co-chairs of the event.^[5] Bartlett's spokeswoman told Christian Challenge that Bartlett "received the Ambassadors for Peace Award from the Washington Times Foundation for his work in Congress, and attended part of the banquet ... this was the sum total of his participation ... His attendance in no way reflects an endorsement of what the Rev. Moon said or did at that event, or at any other time."^[5]

In 2006, Bartlett was one of only seven House Republicans to vote against the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which suspends habeas corpus and may allow Americans to be detained as "enemy combatants" without trial. In November, he defeated Iraq War veteran Andrew Duck and won reelection.^[2] Citizens for Ethics reported that Bartlett's leadership PAC paid his daughter-in-law Melissa Bartlett $70,502 in salary and an additional $20,901 in reimbursements during the 2006 election cycle.^[6] In the 2004 election cycle, Melissa Bartlett was paid $17,177 for fundraising and an additional $6,058 for reimbursements.^[6]

In June 2007, at the request of a regional newspaper, Bartlett released his 2007 earmarks, with requested spending totaling $322.51 million.^[7] Bartlett's largest request was for $87 million for "operationally responsive space." His spokeswoman did not know what that means.^[7]

[edit] Committee assignments

Earlier photo of Congressman Bartlett.

• Armed Services Committee
  • Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• House Small Business Committee
  • Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Urban & Rural Entrepreneurship
• House Science Committee
  • Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment
  • Subcommittee on Research and Science Education

He is also the founding member of the U.S. House Peak Oil Caucus.

[edit] Quotes

• "I'm not interested in politics, I'm interested in my country. I am a conservative who wants to help restore the limited federal government envisioned and established in the Constitution by our nation's founders. I want to ensure that future generations of Americans will have the same opportunities for success that I did."

• "Upholding the Constitution, including the entire Bill of Rights, and maintaining a strong defense should be our priorities. If we don't get these priorities right, nothing else will matter."

• "One barrel of oil, 42 gallons of oil, equals the productivity of 25,000 manhours. That is the equivalent of having 60 dedicated servants that do nothing but work for someone." [1] (Page: H1412)

[edit] Election history

[edit] References

• Roscoe Bartlett at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography at Bartlett's Congressional website. [2]
• Congressional Quarterly Voting and Elections Collection.

[edit] External links

• Representative Roscoe Bartlett official U.S. House website

• 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
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• An interview with Rep. Bartlett regarding peak oil April 18, 2005
• Transcript of Bartlett speech in Congress on Peak Oil May 2005
• Video of Rep. Bartlett in Congress on Peak Oil February 2005
• IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, October 24, 2005: Resolution