He may be a member of the old fogey caucus. But we hope Roscoe Bartlett, 82, never retires. The scientist and farmer turned legislator is one of the few members of Congress whose leadership does not deserve the average 12 percent approval rating. He pulls the average up.
Bartlett, the vigorous, eight-term Republican representing the 6th District, is a true citizen legislator. He did not go to Congress to make a fortune or gain power, but to represent his district. He carries a copy of the Constitution in his jacket pocket and wears his principles on his baggy suit sleeve.
Recommended Stories
A self-declared conservative Republican, he cannot be easily defined. National Journal gave him a 64.7 “conservative” score for his voting record in 2007 – much higher than the rest of the Maryland delegation – but one that brands him a liberal by some standards. That’s probably because he thinks for himself and embraces new ideas.
Unlike many in Congress, he did not run like a lemming to bail out Wall Street. He voted against both bills, offering an alternative that would have given Congress time to debate its options and secured the savings of Americans.
An indefatigable proponent of alternative energy, Bartlett, who holds a doctorate in human physiology and has worked for both the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the National Institutes of Health, says the market cannot solve a geological problem of declining stores of oil, citing stagnant world oil production statistics over the past three years. He advocates increased offshore drilling while the country develops alternative energy sources for both economic and national security reasons. And he is willing, as he says, “to link arms” with all those with the goal of weaning the United States of foreign oil, regardless of perspective. We need more leaders who put party labels aside to achieve common goals.
Bartlett knows the United States’ exceptionalism lies in its respect for civil liberties, voting against the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. And his support for small business and family farmers, the backbone of this country, has earned him high marks from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business and Farm Bureau.
His Democratic opponent, Jennifer Dougherty, a restaurant owner, knows what it is like to make a payroll unlike most members of Congress. But in this time of national and international economic crisis, we need Bartlett’s scientific mind and principled leadership to represent our interests.
