Lou Barletta

During Barletta's tenure, the Hispanic population of Hazleton climbed from 5% in 2000 to 30% in 2006. That year, Barletta made headlines for his efforts opposing illegal immigration in Hazleton, vowing to make the city "one of the toughest places in the United States" for illegal immigrants.[9] Barletta introduced and the city council approved the Illegal Immigration Relief Act.[10] The ordinance allowed the city to deny a business permit to employers who hired illegal immigrants and gave the city authority to fine landlords up to $1,000 for leasing to illegal immigrants.[9][11] The act also made English the official language of Hazleton, prohibiting city employees from translating documents into any language without official authorization.[12] In response, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund sued in Federal District Court to block the ordinance.[12]

In July 2007, District Court Judge James M. Munley ruled that the act was unconstitutional, ruling it interfered with federal immigration laws and violated the due process of individuals, employers, and landlords.[9] The ruling was upheld on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals on September 9, 2010.[13] In a public statement shortly after the decision, Barletta vowed to appeal once more.[14] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case.[15] In 2014, four years after Barletta had left office, the town of Hazleton received a court order to reimburse the ACLU $1.4 million in legal fees (which was more than one tenth of the annual revenue of the town for 2017), and the town, which was already in debt to the tune of $6 million, had to take additional loans to pay the fees.[15] In 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development declared that the town of Hazleton was financially distressed and had entered a recovery plan with the state.[15]

In 2002, Barletta ran as the Republican candidate in the 11th District against nine-term Democratic incumbent Paul Kanjorski. The 11th had long been considered the most Democratic district in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. However, Barletta was viewed as a very strong candidate—the first credible Republican challenger Kanjorski had faced since his 1986 reelection bid—since he was a very popular Republican mayor from a heavily Democratic city. Barletta lost, taking 42.4% of the vote. The race might have been much closer had the state legislature not decided to move heavily Democratic Scranton, previously the heart of the 10th District, to the 11th. Barletta lost the district's share of Lackawanna County, home to Scranton, by 32 points; he only trailed in the old 11th by 9,000 votes.[16]

Barletta faced Kanjorski again in 2008.[17] He denounced the endorsement of David Duke in this race.[18] Multiple polls had shown Barletta leading Kanjorski by as many as 5 percentage points,[19] and the race has been pegged as one of the nation's most competitive leading into the November elections. That race was one of very few nationwide where a Republican challenger had a credible chance at unseating a Democratic incumbent. Barletta lost to Kanjorski 48%-52%,[20] largely due to losing Lackawanna County by 12,800 votes. Barletta won the territory that had been in the district prior to the 2000s round of redistricting by almost 4,000 votes.[21]

Barletta announced on December 9, 2009, that he would once again run for Congress in 2010. He won his party's nomination on May 18, 2010. Barletta won the general election on November 2, 2010 against Kanjorski by a 55%-45% margin. City Council President Joe Yannuzzi succeeded Barletta as Mayor of Hazleton on December 15, 2010.[22]

In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama carried Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district with 57% of the vote.[23] However, after a gerrymander by a Republican-led delegation, the 11th was redrawn into a district Obama would've only received 47% of the vote in.[24]

Barletta won reelection with 58% of the vote.[25]

Barletta was easily reelected, winning with 66% of the vote.[26]

Barletta with fellow members of Congress meeting with President Donald Trump in February 2017

Michael Marsicano, a fellow former Hazleton mayor, ran against Barletta in the general election.[27] Barletta was again reelected with a 63%-36% margin.[28]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security
  • Subcommittee on Transportation Security
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions

Caucus memberships

• Afterschool Caucuses[29]

On July 31, 2017, the Associated Press reported that Barletta was preparing to run for the U.S. Senate, seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Bob Casey for his seat in the 2018 midterm elections. He officially announced on August 29.[30][31] He later secured the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost to Casey in the general election on November 6, 2018.[32] Barletta's campaign had been consistently outraised throughout the election, which he attributed to his loss, alongside Casey's recognizable name advantage.[33][34]

Barletta voted for Micah's law,[43] which prohibits abortion of fetuses starting with the twentieth week of pregnancy, when anti-abortion advocates contend that fetuses can be born prematurely with medical assistance and feel pain,[44] with exceptions for victims of rape and incest who have undergone counseling and for cases of danger to the life of the mother.[45]

On April 15, 2011, Barletta voted with the Republican majority for Paul Ryan's budget. Barletta has characterized a balanced budget amendment as a gimmick and said he will not vote to raise the debt ceiling.[46]

In 2017, Barletta voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Republican Party's tax reform legislation.[43] In supporting the legislation, Barletta tweeted, "Our #TaxReform package doubles standard deduction, brings $$ back home, and reduces rates for ALL taxpayers. We will #MAGA."[47] According to PolitiFact, Barletta's claim is "mostly false", as the tax plan in 2018 cuts taxes for approximately 75% of Americans, while increasing them on 7%; by 2027, after the tax plan expires it will raise taxes for more than 25% of Americans.[47]

Barletta opposed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and voted to repeal it.[48][43] Barletta had threatened not to support Obamacare repeal because he wanted the repeal legislation to prohibit undocumented immigrants from applying for health insurance tax credits.[49] After meeting with President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, Barletta said that they had promised to bring up separate legislation to prohibit undocumented immigrants from accessing health insurance tax credits.[50] In 2018, Barletta said that the repeal of the Affordable Care Act would not have weakened protections for individuals with preexisting conditions; experts said that the repeal would have given states the option to seek waivers whereby insurers would be allowed to raise prices for individuals with preexisting conditions who did not have continuous coverage.[48]

In 2014, Barletta introduced a bill to repeal a provision in the Affordable Care Act which required that volunteer emergency responders be offered health care by the organization they volunteer with.[51] Barletta argued that the bill was necessary because it would be prohibitively expensive for some of organizations to provide insurance.[51]

Barletta supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order imposing a ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying: "I commend President Trump for suspending the refugee program, and in particular for Syria and the six other countries, because they are unquestionably terrorist havens and hotspots."[52] In 2007, Barletta opposed comprehensive immigration reform.[53]

In January 2018, CNN reported that Barletta had frequently given interviews with a number of fringe anti-immigration groups and organizations.[53] Barletta spokesperson Jon Anzur responded that Barletta had "always condemned 'hate, bigotry, and racial supremacy,'" adding, "'[o]f course Lou was not aware of these individuals’ background[s]… [a]s the mayor of a small city, Lou didn't have the resources or staff to screen everyone who asked him questions… Lou did 27 interviews [one day]."[53]