Joseph R. Pitts
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Joe Pitts
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Bob Walker |
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| In office 1973 – 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Benjamin J. Reynolds |
| Succeeded by | L. Chris Ross |
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| Born | October 10, 1939 Lexington, Kentucky |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Virginia Pratt "Ginny" Pitts (1968-present) |
| Residence | Kennett Square, Pennsylvania |
| Alma mater | Asbury College, West Chester University |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Religion | Evangelical Christian |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Air Force |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
| Awards | Air Medal |
Joseph R. "Joe" Pitts (born 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. The district is based in Lancaster and includes much of Amish country. It also includes most of Reading and the far southwestern suburbs of Philadelphia.
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-52 Stratofortresss 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; a suburb of Philadelphia and 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.
After 10-term Republican congressman Bob Walker opted not to run for reelection in 1996, Pitts won a crowded four-way primary. This was tantamount to election in this heavily Republican district. He has been reelected six times with no substantive opposition, and faced no major-party opposition in 2002.
Pitts has a very conservative voting record, which is not surprising given the nature of his district; the 16th is one of the most Republican districts in the Northeast. Since his first term has been chairman of the Values Action Team, a subgroup of the Republican Study Committee that coordinates legislation with the Christian right.
Pitts visited Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban and Pakistan in 2002.
Pitts is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act[1] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.[2]
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.
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[edit] 2006 Election
Pitts originally promised to serve only 10 years (five terms) in the House, but announced he would run again in 2006 amid considerable controversy. [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] 2008 Election
In November 2008, Pitts ran for reelection. His opponents were Navy veteran and construction contractor Bruce Slater (Democratic Party) and candidate Dan Frank (Constitution Party). Pitts won the election with 56% of the votes.
[edit] References
[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 |
