Increasingly powerful GOP congressman from Maryland still cutting his own path

By Ben Pershing
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 21, 2011; 10:22 PM



Rep. Bartlett in the thick of things
The Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives puts Maryland Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in a senior position on two committees, and in the middle of heated debates over the future of the U.S. military and the need to address climate change.



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The Seventh-day Adventist and father of 10 is a trained scientist, a former teacher and business owner and a current goat farmer.

Bartlett, 84, has a PhD in human physiology and holds several patents on respiratory equipment used by pilots and firefighters, among others. He worked for two decades as a scientist for the military and NASA and also owned a home-building company.

He got into politics relatively late in life. He was elected to the House in 1992 at age 66, having lost one previous race for the same seat a decade earlier.

Bartlett has since been reelected with ease, representing a district that comprises some of the most conservative territory in Democratic-leaning Maryland.


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