Former member of Congress · last served 114th Congress
Joseph R. Pitts
Joseph Pitts was a Republican U.S. representative from Pennsylvania, first elected to Congress in 1997, who voted with most Republicans on 96% of the 112th Congress’s yes/no votes and sponsored 3 bills that became law (113th–114th Congress).
How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.
5 most recent votes
- YeaOn Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendments — American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Agreeing to the Resolution — Providing for consideration of the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 8) to extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and…Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment — Drywall Safety Act of 2012Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment — To provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located in Kotzebue, Alaska.Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass — Congressional Pay Freeze and Fiscal Responsibility ActJan 1, 2013 · Passed
5 most recent bills
- H.R. 6518 MACPAC Improvement Act of 2016Dec 8, 2016 · Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- H.Res. 290 Calling for the global repeal of blasphemy laws.Jul 14, 2016 · Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote .
- H.R. 4725 Common Sense Savings Act of 2016Mar 15, 2016 · Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 28 - 19.
- H.R. 4368 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the treatment of lottery winnings and other lump sum income for purposes of income eligibility under…Jan 15, 2016 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- H.R. 4367 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to end the increased Federal funding for Medicaid expansion with respect to inmates.Jan 15, 2016 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Top bills sponsored
- H.R. 6075 (109th) To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 101 East Gay Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania, as the "Robert J. Thompson Post…Became law
- H.R. 4771 (113th) Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2014Became law
- H.R. 639 (114th) Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies ActBecame law
- H.R. 3423 (109th) Medical Device User Fee Stabilization Act of 2005Became law
- H.R. 4302 (113th) Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014Became law
- H.R. 358 (112th) Protect Life ActPassed a chamber
- H.R. 1852 (112th) Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011Passed a chamber
- H.R. 3248 (105th) Dollars to the Classroom ActPassed a chamber
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Rep. Pitts has won
Rep. Pitts has won 10 U.S. House elections (1996–2014). Of the contested races, margins ran from 15.4 to 82.0 points.
Full election history for this seat →
Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.
How has Pennsylvania’s 16th district done while Rep. Pitts served?
2005 to 2011 in PA-16: typical household income was down 8% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was about the same, and the share of workers looking for a job was up 3.7 points.
Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.
While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Pennsylvania’s 16th district during Pitts’s time representing it (1997 to 2017). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.
Only one set of district lines is shown. PA-16 was redrawn in 2012, 2018 and again in 2022, and a redrawn district is a different place. So this card shows only the longest stretch on the same lines during the term, 2005 to 2011 (no 2020 yearly estimate), not the full 1997 to 2017.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
114th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 24 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 24 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement | 19 | See the 19 → |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 2 | See the 2 → |
| With a committee report listed | 1 | See the 1 → |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 114th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
- Fields
- cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
- PORKER copy refreshed
- October 26, 2026 (nightly)
Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.
Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · latest recorded House vote Sep 16, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.