Roscoe Bartlett

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 83) Moreland, Kentucky
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ellen Louise Bartlett
Residence	Frederick, Maryland
Alma mater	Washington Adventist University, University of Maryland, College Park
Occupation	College professor, farmer
Religion	Seventh-day Adventist

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Roscoe Gardner Bartlett (born June 3, 1926) is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 6th district of Maryland since 1993. He is currently the sole Republican member of the U.S. Congress (in either house) from Maryland.

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 (now Washington Adventist University), 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 whom 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]}

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.

Bartlett ran in the Republican primary for the United States Senate in 1980, and finished a distant fourth behind incumbent Charles Mathias.

In 1982, Bartlett was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress against incumbent Democrat Beverly Byron.^[2] He ran again in 1992 and won the Republican nomination, expecting to face Byron again. However, Byron was upset by a somewhat more liberal Democrat, State Delegate Thomas Hattery, in the primary. Many conservative Democrats switched their support to Bartlett in November.^[2] Bartlett won by a decisive eight-point margin and has been reelected eight more times without serious difficulty.

Bartlett is far and away the most conservative member of the Maryland delegation, and one of the most conservative members ever to represent the state. He describes himself as a "citizen-legislator" and an advocate of limited government. He is the only member of the Maryland delegation who is pro-life on abortion issues. Bartlett was among 33 in Congress who voted against the re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act; his spokeswoman said he concluded that the bill's provisions "didn't reflect current realities to protect the right of all American citizens in every jurisdiction to have the opportunity to vote."^[3]

A vocal proponent of the Hubbert peak theory, Bartlett argues strongly in favor of preparation for a decline in the production of fossil fuels.

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.^[4] In the 2004 election cycle, Melissa Bartlett was paid $17,177 for fundraising and an additional $6,058 for reimbursements.^[4]

In June 2007, at the request of a regional newspaper, Bartlett released his 2007 earmarks, with requested spending totaling $322.51 million.^[5] Bartlett's largest request was for $87 million for "operationally responsive space"; his spokeswoman could not immediately explain what that meant.^[5]

2008 financial disclosure controversy

According to the Frederick News-Post, Bartlett underreported property sales by over $1 million since 2004. Bartlett said that the underreporting was an oversight and that he was “bit player” in the real estate transactions. Also according to the Frederick News-post Bartlett made $299,000 in unreported loans in order to sell his daughter's home over which he exercised power of attorney.^[6]

2010 campaign

As the lone Republican in Maryland's congressional delegation, Bartlett intends to seek reelection in 2010 at the age of 84.^[7] Two challengers, Democrats Casey Clark and Andrew Duck, have formally announced a campaign for Congressman Bartlett's seat.^[8]

Committee assignments

Earlier photo of Congressman Bartlett.

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces
  • Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology
• Committee on Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment

Caucus membership

• Peak Oil Caucus (Founding member)

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)

• "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." --March 3, 1993, remarks to a group of Maryland state officials at the U.S. Capitol regarding links between high-school performance and ethnic background (he later explained that he was contrasting "American names" and "Oriental names")

Election history

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.

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
• 100 Things Younger than Roscoe Bartlett October 2008
• IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, October 24, 2005: Resolution