Joseph R. Pitts

Infobox_Congressman
name = Joe Pitts


width = 150
date of birth = birth date and age|1939|10|10
place of birth = Lexington, Kentucky
death_date =
death_place =
state = Pennsylvania
district = 16th
term_start = January 3, 1997
preceded = Robert Walker
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Republican
spouse = Virginia Pitts
religion = Evangelical Christian
residence= Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
alma_mater= Asbury College, West Chester University
occupation= high school administrator

Joseph R. "Joe" Pitts (b. October 10, 1939) is a Republican Congressman for the state of Pennsylvania, currently representing Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/pa16_109.gifmap] ) 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-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; 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.

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 [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04411: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4411] ] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04777: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4777] ]

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.

2006 Election

Pitts has drawn fire for abandoning his pledge to serve no more than ten years in the House. [http://www.politicspa.com/pressreleasedetailed.asp?id=7277] 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%.

2008 Election

In November 2008, Pitts will run for reelection. His Democratic opponent will be construction contractor Bruce Slater.

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/pitts/ U.S. Congressman Joe Pitts] official House site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joe_Pitts Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?tab=main&bill=h109-4411 Pitts cosponsor of H.R. 4411: Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act]