JOSEPH R. PITTS

'Joseph R. "Joe" Pitts' (b. October 10, 1939) is a Republican politician 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. A federal judge's order that a plaque containing Ten Commandments should be removed from the Chester County courthouse angered Pitts.
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.

Contents

2006 Election

External links

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%.

External links

★ U.S. Congressman Joe Pitts 'official House site'

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★ Federal Election Commission — Joseph R Pitts campaign finance reports and data

★ On the Issues — Joseph Pitts issue positions and quotes

★ OpenSecrets.org — Joseph R. Pitts campaign contributions

★ Project Vote Smart — Representative Joseph R. 'Joe' Pitts (PA) profile

★ SourceWatch Congresspedia — Joe Pitts profile

★ Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Joseph R. Pitts voting record

★ Pitts cosponsor of H.R. 4411: Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act