Roscoe Bartlett

Dr. Roscoe Gardner Bartlett has been a Republican member of the House of Representatives, representing the 6th district of Maryland since 1993. The sixth district is the western and more conservative part of the state, and includes Allegany, Frederick, Garrett, and Washington counties.

Iraq War
Bartlett voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

View
Roscoe Bartlett believes that there should be aggressive and effective immigration policy, because he believes that ineffective immigration raises the cost of government and reduces jobs and wages for Americans. He wants to secure the borders by sending troops and building a wall. He strongly opposes amnesty and the guest worker program, wants strict enforcement of existing immigration laws, and rigorous prosecution of criminals that facilitate illegal immigrants. 

Voting Record
The following chart is a summary of Roscoe Bartlett's voting record in the U.S. House of Representatives with regards to immigration.

Association with Rev. Sun Myung Moon
In 2004, at a bizarre ceremony held in a Senate office building, the controversial Rev. Sun Myung Moon bestowed upon Bartlett an Ambassador of Peace Medal on behalf of his Washington Times Foundation. Later in the evening, Moon went on to describe himself as the new messiah. 

Background
Born in Moreland, Kentucky on June 3, 1926, Bartlett completed his early education in a one-room schoolhouse. He attended Columbia Union College and graduated in 1947 with a B.S. in theology and biology and a minor in chemistry, with the intention of becoming a minister. Bartlett is "a devout Seventh-day Adventist [and] strong moral values and spiritual faith have had a major influence on his life and education." 

Too young for seminary acceptance, Bartlett instead attended graduate school at the University of Maryland, College Park, earning a Master's degree in physiology in 1948. Bartlett was then hired as a University of Maryland faculty member 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 the Loma Linda School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California (1952-1954), and serving as an assistant professor at Howard University Medical School in Washington, D.C. (1954-1956).

"In 1961, Bartlett returned to Maryland and farming after he purchased his 145-acre then-dairy farm on the Monocacy River in Frederick County. While running his farm, he worked at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory as director of a new 30-member research group in Space Life Sciences. The group designed and conducted a series of pioneering research experiments that contributed to NASA's successful Gemini, Mercury and Apollo missions to land men on the moon and bring them back safely to earth." 

Bartlett also worked for IBM on "numerous biomedical engineering and defense-related projects. With IBM's assistance, he formed his own research and development company, Roscoe Bartlett and Associates." His company later diversified into land development, and his firm built more than 100 homes in Frederick County, many of them solar powered.

Congressional Career
In 1982, Bartlett was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. Ten years later he won election.

A vocal proponent of the Hubbard Peak Oil theory, Bartlett argues strongly in favor of preparation for a decline in fossil fuel production. "He also has a small homestead in West Virginia that is largely solar-powered. He drives a Toyota Prius and plans to buy his second one next year to take advantage of the Energy Policy Act's generous, if limited tax incentive. He can be fairly said to practice what he preaches. And of late, that preaching includes trying to warm his colleagues in Congress about the reality of peak oil, including giving a number of speeches on the floor of the House. He also recently formed the Peak Oil Caucus in Congress." --EV World, November 23, 2005.

On September 26, 2005, Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett held an energy conference with participants Dr. Kenneth S. Deffeyes, Matthew R. Simmons, Richard Heinberg, Donald Wulfinghoff, John Spears and John Howe. Conference transcript follows announcement. 

On October 19, 2005, "Congressman Roscoe Bartlett led a group of six Republican colleagues, including the Chairmen of the Intelligence and Science Committees in a one-hour Special Order speech before the U.S. House of Representatives discussing the urgency of the U.S. government responding to the threats to the U.S. economy and national security posed by global peak oil. Congressman Bartlett was joined by Congressmen Gil Gutknecht, Wayne Gilchrest, Peter Hoekstra, Sherwood Boehlert, and Vernon Ehlers." Video and audio links follow announcement. 

He is also the only member of the Maryland delegation who is pro-life on abortion issues.

2006 elections
In 2006, the Democrats nominated Andrew James Duck to face Bartlett in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006)  Bartlett retained his seat.

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."

Money in politics
cid=N00002017&cycle=2008

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
 * Subommitee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces, Ranking Member
 * House Committee on Science and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Environment and Energy
 * Subcommittee on Research and Science Education
 * House Committee on Small Business
 * Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Rural and Urban Entrepreneurship

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Projection Forces - Chair
 * Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
 * House Committee on Science
 * Subcommittee on Energy
 * Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
 * House Committee on Small Business
 * Subcommittee on Rural Enterprises Agriculture and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Workforce Empowerment and Government Programs

Resources

 * Official website
 * Campaign website
 * Roscoe G. Bartlett Profile, Free Press.
 * Roscoe G. Bartlett Profile, Washington Post, October 17, 2004.
 * Content Related To 'Roscoe Bartlett', Global Public Media.
 * Technorati Search: Roscoe Bartlett
 * Google News Search: Roscoe Bartlett
 * Yahoo! News Search: Roscoe Bartlett
 * Power Trips: How much did Roscoe Bartlett travel?
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database

Articles

 * James Kirchick, "Lawmakers attend Moon 'coronation' in Dirksen," The Hill, June 22, 2004.

Peak Oil

 * An interview with Rep. Bartlett regarding peak oil
 * 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
 * "Oil Production," U.S. House of Representatives, March 14, 2005.
 * Congressman Bartlett puts Peak Oil on Congressional Record, April 4, 2005.
 * "Peak Oil," U.S. House of Representatives, July 19, 2005.
 * "Peak Oil," U.S. House of Representatives, October 17, 2005.
 * "Peak Oil," U.S. House of Representatives, November 16, 2005.