Joe Barton

Joseph Linus "Joe" Barton (born September 15, 1949) is a Republican politician, representing Texas's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985.

Sourced

• As long as I am chairman, [regulating global warming pollution] is off the table indefinitely. I don't want there to be any uncertainty about that.
  • Congressional hearing entitled, "National Energy Policy: Coal" Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality (March 14, 2001) [1]

• I appreciate that in China, people are hungry to prosper in the global economy. What they need is a body of elected representatives who will widely debate and freely pass a strong national energy policy. Selling China an oil company will only take pressure off its rulers and further delay the arrival of democracy.
  • USA Today, July 11, 2005

• Medicaid is a study in contradiction. Thanks to it, America's neediest get health care paid for by taxpayers. Often they get better health care than taxpayers can afford for themselves. The program is both 'free' and break-the-bank expensive. It lets poor people look rich and rich people look poor, and it rewards lawyers and druggists with real wealth. Medicaid works so well it's going broke.
  • The Washington Times, October 31, 2005

• I cannot imagine any objective finding that CO₂ is a pollutant. If that's true, God is a polluter.
  • Congress and global warming. Reprint of article by Greenwire (August 2, 2006). Retrieved on 7 August, 2006.

• Global warming science is uneven and evolving.
  • Republicans frosty on Gore's global warming warnings. CNN (March 21, 2007). Retrieved on 21 March, 2007.

• I'm speaking totally for myself and I'm not speaking for the Republican Party and I'm not speaking for anybody in the House of Representatives but myself, but I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it's a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown.
  • "Republicans protecting ‘poor,’ persecuted BP", Ironton Tribune, 18 June 2010 
  • in House hearing on Deepwater Horizon oil spill, regarding escrow fund to pay oil spill claims, June 17, 2010

Unsourced

• The American flag is an enduring symbol of liberty, democracy, and justice... Our flag honors those who have fought to protect it, and is a reminder of the sacrifice of our nation's founders and heroes. As the ultimate icon of America's storied history, the Stars and Stripes represent the very best of this nation.

• We have this final, slim chance to break the deadlock on a comprehensive bill that will generate energy at prices people can afford to pay. I hope enough senators will come back to Washington with a new viewpoint, and that the Senate can drum up the two more votes needed to pass this legislation.
  • Statement, November 16, 2004

• This year seems to have set a record for security breaches. As we have learned during three hearings, details of our personal lives are easily available from many sources, including companies like ChoicePoint and LexisNexis, that buy, store and sell our personal data without notifying us. Not only are there no market forces at work to motivate these types of companies to protect the data they accumulate, we now know that no federal law requires companies even to protect it. And if they lose it, what the heck, they don't even have to tell anyone.
  • Opening statement at data security hearing, November 3, 2005