Joe Barton

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For other people named Joe Barton, see Joe Barton (disambiguation).
Joe Barton
Joe Barton Official.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 1985
Preceded by Phil Gramm
Chairman Emeritus of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 5, 2011
Preceded by John D. Dingell, Jr.
Personal details
Born Joe Linus Barton
(1949-09-15) September 15, 1949 (age 64)
Waco, Texas
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Terri Barton
Residence Ennis, Texas
Alma mater Texas A&M University, Purdue University
Occupation Politician
Religion Methodist

Joe Linus Barton (born September 15, 1949) is a Republican politician, representing Texas's 6th congressional district (map) in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus. The district includes Arlington, part of Fort Worth and several rural areas south of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Barton is notable for his strong Tea Party views.

Early life, education, and early career[edit]

Barton was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Bess Wynell (née Buice) and Larry Linus Barton.[1] He graduated from Waco High School. He attended Texas A&M University in College Station on a Gifford-Hill Opportunity Award scholarship[2] and received a B.S. in industrial engineering in 1972. An M.Sc. in industrial administration from Purdue University followed in 1973. Following college Barton entered private industry until 1981 when he became a White House Fellow and served under United States Secretary of Energy James B. Edwards. Later, he began consulting for Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Co. before being elected to the United States Congress in 1984.[3]

U.S. House of Representatives[edit]

Elections[edit]

1984

Barton made his first run for elected office in 1984, when he entered the Republican primary for Texas's 6th congressional district after three-term incumbent Phil Gramm left his seat to run for the United States Senate that year. He finished first in the five-candidate field (42%)[4] and very narrowly defeated Max Hoyt in the runoff (50%).[5] He then defeated Democratic nominee and former State Representative Dan Kubiak 57%-43%.[6] Barton was one of six freshmen Republican U.S. congressmen elected from Texas in 1984 known as the Texas Six Pack.

1986

In 1986, Barton won re-election against Democratic candidate Pete Geren, who would later be elected to Congress from a neighboring district. Barton defeated Geren 56%-44%.[7]

1988-2010

Barton has never won re-election with less than 60% of the vote.[8] His worst general election performance was in 2006, when he defeated Democratic candidate David Harris 60%-37%, a 23 point margin.[9] The 2008 election was his second worst performance, defeating Democratic candidate Ludwig Otto by a 26 point margin, 62%-36%.[10]

He was only challenged in the primary twice in this time period: 1992 and 1994. In 1992, he defeated Mike McGinn 79%-21%.[11] In 1994, he defeated Jerry Goode 89%-11%.[12]

2012

Because of the increasing controversy surrounding his record in office, election battles have been increasingly contentious. In 2011, a Super PAC (Political Action Committee) was formed by Texas conservative groups to remove him and several other long-time incumbents from office.[13] The Democratic National Committee has used Barton's comments in political ads, shown nationally against all Republican candidates.[14] Several websites have been created and dedicated to simply removing Joe Barton from office. DefeatJoeBarton.com/ was created by Democratic challengers. All content was later removed, although the site is still owned.[15] Another site, DefeatBarton.com is still running.[16] There are also numerous Twitter accounts both deriding Barton for his scandals and urging his election defeat.

He has drawn three primary challengers. These include Joe Chow (Mayor of Addison), Itamar Gelbman (security consultant), and Frank Kuchar (businessman and former preacher). Chow is Texas' first Asian-American mayor. He called Barton “the most corrupt congressman in the state of Texas.”[17] At the end of March, he had $1.3 million in cash on hand, compared with $28,800 for Chow, $178,000 for Gelbman, and $463 for Kuchar.[18]

Tenure[edit]

Barton voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 in both of its manifestations.[19][dead link][20][dead link]

In March 2011, Barton sponsored the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act, which would repeal the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed by Republican President George W. Bush. The 2007 law would set energy efficiency standards for light bulbs, effectively eliminating most or all incandescent light bulbs. Barton said "People don't want Congress dictating what light fixtures they can use."[21]

Congressional Action

Global warming controversy[edit]

In 2005, prompted by a February 2005 Wall Street Journal article,[26] Barton launched an investigation into two climate change studies from 1998 and 1999.[23] In his letters to the authors of the studies he requested details on the studies and the sources of the authors grant funding.[27] The Washington Post condemned Barton's investigation as a "witch-hunt".[28] During Former Vice President Al Gore's testimony to the Energy and Commerce Committee in March 2007, Barton asserted to Gore that "You're not just off a little, you're totally wrong." Stating that "Global Warming science is uneven and evolving."[29] In 2013, he compared man-made climate change with the mythical Genesis flood narrative in the Bible to argue that climate change isn't man made when discussing the Keystone XL pipeline.[30]

Autism controversy[edit]

Barton tried to block the bipartisan Combating Autism Act of 2006. He said that the money steered toward environmental causes of autism were not the reason he blocked passage of the bill.[31]

The controversy stemmed from the conflict between two bills in the House and Senate. Barton introduced the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006, [32] while Senator Rick Santorum introduced the Autism bill. Santorum said in a CNN interview that the Senate bill was intended to be "fit into" Barton's bill in the House bill. He stated that "I was in constant conversation with him [Barton] and many House members all last week in an attempt to help the NIH bill come through the Senate, as well as well as try to move the Combating Autism bill through the Senate." Santorum stated that the Senate bill would investigate possible environmental causes, while the House bill would prevent that.[33]

Barton let the bill die in committee, which upset many people who were vocal about saying Barton had sacrificed the interests of autistic children in the interests of the oil and gas companies that donate heavily to his campaign.[34][35]

BP oil spill controversy[edit]

On June 17, 2010, Barton accused the White House of a "$20 billion shakedown" of oil giant BP after the company reached an agreement with the Obama administration to establish an escrow account to pay the claims of people harmed by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.[36] He made the accusation at the outset of a House hearing where BP's chief executive officer, Tony Hayward, appeared for the first time before Congress. Facing Hayward at the witness table, Barton said, "I apologize. I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, is subject to some sort of political pressure that is, again, in my words — amounts to a shakedown, so I apologize." [37] Prior to the establishment of the agreement, the Obama administration had been public in their criticism of BP for the oil spill; Barton and other critics accused the White House of attempting to deflect criticism on how they handled the situation, which made it more difficult for BP to raise short-term funds in the capital market for their operations.[37]

Barton's remarks were widely criticized by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, Vice President Joe Biden,[38] GOP congressional leadership[39] and fellow Republicans, some of whom called on Barton to relinquish his leadership role in the House Energy Subcomittee.[40][41]

Barton later said that his earlier remarks had been "misconstrued" and that he believed BP was responsible for the accident. Later that day, he issued a statement apologizing for using the term "shakedown" and fully retracted his apology to BP.[24][42]

Wind energy controversy[edit]

In June 2010, Barton has questioned the wisdom of deficit spending to fund an extensive national wind turbine energy generation grid. He said, "Wind is God’s way of balancing heat. Wind is the way you shift heat from areas where it’s hotter to areas where it’s cooler. That’s what wind is. Wouldn’t it be ironic if in the interest of global warming we mandated massive switches to energy, which is a finite resource, which slows the winds down, which causes the temperature to go up? Now, I’m not saying that’s going to happen, Mr. Chairman, but that is definitely something on the massive scale. I mean, it does make some sense. You stop something, you can’t transfer that heat, and the heat goes up. It’s just something to think about." [43]

Keystone pipeline controversy[edit]

In November 2011, Barton criticized President Barack Obama for delaying his decision on the Keystone pipeline. He said "We asked him to make a decision, not to wait another two years. That's bullshit.” [44]

2011 CREW report[edit]

The organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) put Congressman Barton on its CREW's Most Corrupt Report 2011.[45][46] The article states that on Barton's 2008 financial disclosure statement, he inaccurately reported on the source of a natural gas interest that he bought into. The share was purchased through a longtime donor and supporter who later died. This was discovered by the Dallas Morning News in 2010.[47] According to the Dallas Morning News article, Barton made over $100,000 on the investment. The article and CREW Report both point out how Barton buying this undervalued asset from an "advisor" on energy issues could be a conflict of interest to the Congressman's position as the Chair of the House's Energy Subcommittee. It quotes James Thurber, a professor of government at American University, as saying "If you are elected as a public servant to try to do what is right for the public generally and then you use that position to help bring in material wealth, I think it's unethical."[47] Despite this discovery, Barton chose to neither respond to, nor correct his misreporting.

CREW also reported that Barton paid his wife Terri $57,759 in salary and bonuses, from his campaign funds in the 2006 election cycle.[48] A spokesman said that Terri served as the campaign's outreach director and planned fund raising and special events.[22] Barton's daughter Kristin was paid $12,622 in salary and bonuses and his mother, Nell Barton, was paid $7,000 for a car.[22]

Committee assignments[edit]

Caucus memberships

1993 U.S. Senate election[edit]

See also: United States Senate special election in Texas, 1993

In 1993, Barton ran in the special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the resignation of Lloyd Bentsen, who became United States Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration. Barton finished third in the contest, behind state treasurer Kay Bailey Hutchison and Senator Bob Krueger, thus missing a runoff slot. He divided the more conservative vote in that election with House colleague Jack Fields of Houston.

Barton Family Foundation[edit]

The Barton Family Foundation was established in 2005 to support charities within the congressman's district. His daughter-in-law, Amy Barton, is the Foundation's Executive Director. Major energy corporations, such as the Chicago-based nuclear energy producer, Exelon Corporation, make major gifts to the Foundation. In June 2008, at a time when Barton had introduced legislation to assist corporations with the recycling of spent nuclear fuel, the corporation donated $25,000 to the Foundation. Exelon has also donated $80,000 to Barton's campaign funds. The Foundation gave $90,000 to the local Boys and Girls Club, this is the only recorded donation made by the Foundation in its seven year history.[49]

Personal life[edit]

Joe Barton and his wife Terri own several[quantify] homes in the Texas cities of Ennis and Arlington. Barton has four children, two stepchildren and five grandchildren.[50]

Barton's office announced that, on December 15, 2005, he suffered a heart attack and was taken to George Washington University Hospital.[51]

Barton revealed during a congressional hearing on video games that he was a video game player. He announced that he had "worked [his] way up to Civilization IV".[52]

Barton has also been an advocate of a playoff system to determine a national champion for college football, even introducing legislation to require that any game being marketed as a national championship game be a part of a playoff.[53] On May 1, 2010, Barton grilled Bowl Championship Series coordinator John Swofford, saying of the BCS that, "It's like communism. You can't fix it." He also suggested that the 'C' be dropped from the BCS and it be called "the 'BS' system."[54]

Electoral history[edit]

Texas's 6th congressional district: Results 1984–2012[55][56][57]
Year Republican Votes  % Democratic Votes  % Third Party Party Votes  % Third Party Party Votes  % Third Party Party Votes  %
1984 Joe Barton 131,482 57% Dan Kubiak 100,799 43%
1986 Joe Barton 86,190 56% Pete Geren 68,270 44%
1988 Joe Barton 164,692 68% Pat Kendrick 78,786 32%
1990 Joe Barton 125,049 66% John Welch 62,344 33%
1992 Joe Barton 189,140 72% John Dietrich 73,933 28%
1994 Joe Barton 152,038 76% Terry Jesmore 44,286 22% Bill Baird Libertarian 4,688 2%
1996 Joe Barton 152,024 76% No candidate Skeet Richardson Independent 28,187 14% Catherine Anderson Libertarian 14,456 7% Doug Williams U.S.T. 6,547 3%
1998 Joe Barton 112,957 73% Ben Boothe 40,112 26% Richard Bandlow Libertarian 1,817 1%
2000 Joe Barton 222,685 88% No candidate Frank Brady Libertarian 30,056 12%
2002 Joe Barton 115,396 70% Felix Alvarado 45,404 28% Frank Brady Libertarian 1,992 1% B. J. Armstrong Green 1,245 1%
2004 Joe Barton 168,767 66% Morris Meyer 83,609 33% Stephen Schrader Libertarian 3,251 1%
2006 Joe Barton 91,927 60% David Harris 56,369 37% Carl Nulsen Libertarian 3,740 2%
2008 Joe Barton 174,008 62% Ludwig Otto 99,919 36% Max Koch Libertarian 6,655 2%
2010 Joe Barton 107,140 66% David Cozad 50,717 31% Byron Severns Libertarian 4,700 3%
2012 Joe Barton 145,019 58% Kenneth Sanders 98,053 39% Hugh Chauvin Libertarian 4,847 2% Brandon Parmer Green 2,017 1%

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  2. ^ "Proceedings". Texas A&M University. 2004-04-06. Archived from the original on September 4, 2006. Retrieved 2009-05-13. 
  3. ^ "Joe Barton Congressman - 6th District of Texas". Joebarton.house.gov. 1949-09-15. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  4. ^ "TX District 6 - R Primary Race - May 05, 1984". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  5. ^ "TX District 6 - R Runoff Race - Jun 02, 1984". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  6. ^ "TX District 6 Race - Nov 05, 1984". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  7. ^ "TX District 6 Race - Nov 04, 1986". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  8. ^ "Candidate - Joe L. Barton". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  9. ^ "TX - District 06 Race - Nov 07, 2006". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  10. ^ "TX - District 06 Race - Nov 04, 2008". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  11. ^ "TX District 06- R Primary Race - Mar 10, 1992". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  12. ^ "TX District 06- R Primary Race - Mar 08, 1994". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  13. ^ *Slater, Wayne. "Activists Putting Heat on Barton" Dallas Morning News, 2012-04-02.
  14. ^ *Yellin, Jessica. "CNN Debuts DNC ad 'Stop Apologizing'" CNN, 2011-06-18.
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ [2]
  17. ^ "Rep. Joe Barton on GOP primary race: ‘My real opponent is me’ | Texas on the Potomac | a Chron.com blog". Blog.chron.com. 2012-05-17. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  18. ^ Vaughn, Chris (2012-05-13). "Longtime U.S. House Rep. Joe Barton draws GOP challengers in District 6 race | Elections &". Star-telegram.com. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  19. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll671.xml
  20. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml
  21. ^ Heather Caygle, Washington Bureau (2011-03-31). "Republicans demand bulb law repeal - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  22. ^ a b c ("Report says Barton's campaign paid wife". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 2007-06-20. [dead link])
  23. ^ a b (Roland Pease (2005-07-18). "Politics plays climate 'hockey'". BBC. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
  24. ^ a b 8:13 p.m. ET (2005-04-21). "House approves $12 billion energy bill - Politics- msnbc.com". google.com. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  25. ^ [3][dead link]
  26. ^ Post (2005-02-14). "In Climate Debate, The 'Hockey Stick' Leads to a Face-Off - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  27. ^ (Steven Milloy (2005-07-31). "Tree Ring Circus". Fox News. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
  28. ^ (Editorial (2005-07-23). "Hunting Witches". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
  29. ^ "Gore Implores Congress to Save Planet". Breitbart.com. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  30. ^ Klene, Chelsea (04/10/2013). "Joe Barton Cites Great Flood To Disprove Human Role In Climate Change". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 April 2013. 
  31. ^ *Plunkett, John. "Activists Putting Heat on Barton" Dallas Morning News, October 2006.
  32. ^ [4] Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis
  33. ^ [5], October 5th, 2006.
  34. ^ [6]
  35. ^ [7] OpenSecrets.org
  36. ^ “”. "Barton- 'I Apologize' To BP For Escrow Fund". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  37. ^ a b (Brian Montopoli (2010-06-17). "Rep. Joe Barton Apologizes to BP's Tony Hayward for White House "Shakedown"". CBS News. Retrieved 2010-06-18. )
  38. ^ Reuters, Apology to BPs Hayward triggers uproar, June 17, 2010, Steve Holland, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1721590120100617
  39. ^ Jonathan Allen; Jake Sherman (2010-06-17). "GOP rushes to clean up Joe Barton mess". The Politico. 
  40. ^ Florida Congressmen denounce Joe Barton's apology to BP. Associated Press via WTSP, 2010-06-18.
  41. ^ Jonathan Allen (2010-06-17). "Jo Bonner piles on Joe Barton". The Politico. 
  42. ^ Rep. Joe Barton Retracts Apology to BP's Tony Hayward. CBS News, 2010-06-17.
  43. ^ Daniel Stone (2010-06-17). "Who Is Joe Barton? - The Daily Beast". Newsweek.com. Retrieved 2012-05-23. [dead link]
  44. ^ "Joe Barton on Barack Obama's Keystone XL oil pipeline delay: 'That’s bullsh-' - Talia Buford". Politico.Com. Retrieved 2012-05-23. 
  45. ^ [8]
  46. ^ [9] Most Corrupt Report 2011
  47. ^ a b *Dave Michaels. "U.S. Rep. Joe Barton's gas well stake raises ethical questions" Dallas Morning News, 2010-02-03.
  48. ^ ("Citizens for Ethics full and final report". Citizens for Ethics. Retrieved 2007-06-20. )
  49. ^ Seper, Jerry (April 6, 2009). "Congressman's foundation not so charitable; Barton's group gives less than 25% to public causes". Washington Times. p. A.1. 
  50. ^ http://joebarton.house.gov/back.aspx?Page=Biography Retrieved 6/17/2010
  51. ^ "Barton Has Heart Attack - 2005-12-16 06:01:00 | Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  52. ^ David Weigel (2006-06-15). "Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > Rep. Joe Barton (R-Civ IV)". Reason.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  53. ^ "Congressman takes aim at Bowl Championship Series - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  54. ^ "Bowl Championships Series (BCS) hearings start in front of House committee - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  55. ^ "Office of the House Clerk – Electoral Statistics". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. 
  56. ^ "Election Results". Federal Election Commission. 
  57. ^ "1992 - Current ELECTION HISTORY". Secretary of State of Texas. 

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Joe Barton
Articles
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Phil Gramm		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 6th congressional district
1985–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Billy Tauzin
Louisiana		 Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
2004–2007		 Succeeded by
John Dingell
Michigan
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Sander Levin
D-Michigan		 United States Representatives by seniority
18th		 Succeeded by
Howard Coble
R-North Carolina
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