Joe L. Barton (R-Texas)

Barton opposes same-sex marriage and allowing gays to serve openly in the military, and he has drawn criticism in the past for comments about homosexuality, which he has called "abnormal" and "immoral." "If homosexuality was normal we wouldn't any of us be here," he was quoted as saying during his 1993 Senate run. "You have to have heterosexual behavior in order to recreate the species."

The Economy

Barton opposed both major legislative attempts to address the financial crisis and the steep economic downturn: the $700 billion Wall Street bailout in October 2008 under President George W. Bush and the $787 billion stimulus package ultimately signed by President Barack Obama. Barton stood against the financial rescue in its initial form - when the House rejected it in September 2008 - and again when it passed weeks later.

He criticized the legislation for adding to the national debt and said that "it doesn't fundamentally address the real problem," which he cited as America's decreasing competitiveness in international markets. The bill, he said, was "a fear-driven rush to bail out financiers." Before voting against the bill a second time, Barton pushed for changes that would have reduced taxpayer risk from the government's intervention in the subprime market and inserted strict compensation limits for top executives.

Barton had even harsher words for Obama's stimulus package that passed in February 2009. He supported a Republican alternative that focused more on tax cuts and aid to small businesses and homeowners. Criticizing President Obama and the Democratic congressional leadership for blocking Republican input, he called the legislation a "social spending bill." "The stimulus bill is the most anti-competitive, anti-consumer, anti-free market piece of legislation I've ever seen on the House floor," Barton said in a floor statement before the House vote.

Energy and the Environment

At the center of Barton's legacy as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from 2004 to 2006 is the $14.5 billion energy bill that he helped steer through Congress. While supporters trumpeted the investments in alternative energy and domestic oil production, critics denounced its extensive tax breaks for oil companies and provisions loosening environmental restrictions. A group of energy lobbyists gave Barton a standing ovation after the bill passed. President Bush signed the bill into law in August 2005.

Barton lost the key chairmanship after Democrats won control of Congress in 2006. A proponent of domestic oil production, he fought aggressively against Democratic attempts by Democrats to extend the moratorium on offshore drilling in 2008.

He has also emerged as one of the House's most vocal skeptics of human contributions to global warming. He sparred with former Vice President Al Gore (D) at a hearing in March 2007, telling the soon-to-be Nobel Laureate that he was "totally wrong" in his prescriptions for dealing with climate change. Barton's statements on climate change have increasingly drawn the derision of environmentalists, who refer to him as "Smokey Joe," a nickname bestowed on him by the Dallas Morning News for his ties to polluting industry interests.

In 2009, Barton cited as his top legislative priority the fight against "the takeover of the American economy with a radical cap and trade plan and other unreasonable global warming schemes." He vowed to make life difficult for current Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who is trying to pass cap-and-trade legislation out of committee. "We're trying to kill this bill or slow it way down," he said in May 2009, a day after advising participants to "bring a sleeping bag" to a mark-up hearing that he had earlier said he hoped would take "weeks or months" to complete.

Health Care

Barton played a big role in the2010 debate over reforming health care, and, despite disagreements, signaled a greater willingness to work with the Obama administration on that than the climate-change issue.

While he is a staunch opponent of vastly increasing government's role in health care, he did voice support in April 2009 for an individual mandate to purchase insurance - a position more common among Democrats. "If we mandate that everybody have health insurance it lessens the burden on everybody," he said at a constituent forum.

Barton outlined a broad sketch of his priorities for health reform in March 2008, writing in the Washington Times that he preferred a focus on increased affordability, consumer choices, hospital safety improvements, and enhanced use of technology.(22) In May 2009, he said he would push for legislation "that maintains the best health care in the world with minimum government interference."(23)

Supercolliding Superconducter

Barton also drew notice for his steadfast support of the superconducting supercollider, an $8 billion science project under construction in his district that consisted of a 54-mile tunnel in which subatomic particles would be hurled at each other at the speed of light.

The supercollider drew frequent criticism as a pork-barrel project, and supporters, including Barton, struggled to justify its cost. The project was also a tough political sell because as an instrument of "pure research" its scientific goal was not a clearly defined benefit, such as curing cancer, but rather the more general aim of deepening understanding about the nature of matter and the origins of the universe. Barton finally lost the battle in 1992, when the House voted to kill the project.(24)

Congressional Drug Testing

On national issues, Barton occasionally made headlines during his years as a Republican backbencher for his advocacy of two disparate issues: drug testing and taxes. He repeatedly pressed for a bill requiring random drug testing for House members and their staff. The proposal would have mandated that 10% of lawmakers be tested every month. Barton, who required tests for himself and his staff, said lawmakers should "set an example" for the nation's youth.(25) His proposal gained some traction during 1990s amid allegations of drug use by White House staffers, but it never won approval.

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