Brian Fitzpatrick (American politician)

2016

In 2016, Fitzpatrick ran for the open U.S. House of Representatives seat of his brother Mike Fitzpatrick, who retired from Congress to uphold a promise to limit himself to four terms.^[4][5]

In the April 26, 2016, primaries, Fitzpatrick got 78.4% of the vote and beat Andy Warren and Marc Duome for the Republican nomination. Meanwhile, Steve Santarsiero beat Shaughnessy Naughton for the Democratic nomination, 59.8% to 40.2%. In the general election, Fitzpatrick received 54.4% of the vote, while Santarsiero received 45.6%.^[6]

2018

As a result of redistricting, Fitzpatrick is running for Congress in Pennsylvania's First Congressional District in 2018. In the Republican primary on May 15, 2018, he defeated Dean Malik, 68.85% to 31.15%. In the Democratic primary, Scott Wallace won with 55.97% of the vote, defeating Rachel Reddick, with 35.85%, and Steve Bacher, with 8.18%.^[7] Fitzpatrick and Wallace are now running against each other in the 2018 midterm election.

Climate Change

At a September 2018 forum hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center and The Hill, Fitzpatrick highlighted man made climate change as a serious issue. He stated that Republicans must "acknowledge reality and don’t deny it.” He is a member of the bipartisan congressional Climate Solutions Caucus and has crafted legislation to implement a carbon tax in the US.^[10]

Immigration

In 2017, Fitzpatrick was critical of President Obama's executive order establishing the DACA program, but asserted the immigration system was broken. In a 2018 debate, Fitzpatrick said that he supported a path to citizenship for so-called DREAMers, but that "any immigration reform package has to deal with border security."^[11][12]

Fitzpatrick opposed President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. He stated that "the president's policy entirely misses the mark."^[13]

Russia

In a 2018 debate, Fitzpatrick asserted that Russia held "by and large, sinister motives", noting that while he was stationed in Ukraine, twice Russia attempted to knock out the nation's electrical grids through cyber attacks.^[11]

In July 2018, Fitzpatrick asserted that President Trump had been "manipulated" by Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the Helsinki Summit. Fitzpatrick said he was "frankly sickened by the exchange" between Trump and Putin. He criticized the "mixed signals" that the Trump administration was sending regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.^[14]

In April 2018, Fitzpatrick said that President Trump should stop attacking the FBI and allow Robert Mueller to complete his investigation, stating it was improper to "judge an institution based on the actions of a few bad actors."^[15]

Health care

Fitzpatrick opposed the American Health Care Act, a bill to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In a statement, Fitzpatrick said, "After considering the current healthcare bill in a thorough and deliberate manner, I have concluded that, although the American Health Care Act focuses on several much-needed reforms to our healthcare system, in its current form I cannot support this legislation".^[16] Fitzpatrick joined many of his Republican colleagues as well as the majority of Democrats in an effort to oppose the bill.

On May 4, 2017, Fitzpatrick also voted against the second attempt to pass the American Health Care Act. In a statement, he said, "We saw what happened when healthcare reform – an issue impacting 1/5 of our economy - was rushed through Congress along extremely partisan lines in 2009," referring to the ACA in 2010.^[17]

Narcotics trafficking

Fitzpatrick sponsored the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology (INTERDICT) Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in January 2018. The new law directs $15 million to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to expand screening for fentanyl and opioids at the U.S. border.^[18]

Gerrymandering

In September 2017, Fitzpatrick urged the U.S. Supreme Court to limit extreme partisan gerrymandering in the Gill v. Whitford case. He stressed that partisan redistricting had undermined the Founding Father's vision of the House of Representatives remaining the voice of the people.^[19]

He was the only Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania who did not take part in a February 2018 lawsuit challenging a new district map drawn by Democrats. He explained that he opposes the drawing of congressional districts by elected officials of either party, saying instead that they should be drawn by independent, nonpartisan citizen panels.^[20]

Term limits and congressional perks

In April 2018, Fitzpatrick led a bipartisan group of freshmen House members in an Oval Office meeting at which they discussed with President Trump a proposed constitutional amendment imposing congressional term limits.^[21]

In May 2018, Fitzpatrick and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) introduced H.R. 5946, the Fostering Accountability, Integrity, Trust, and Honor (FAITH) in Congress Act, that would "end certain special perks reserved for Members of Congress, enact a lifetime ban preventing former Members of Congress from becoming lobbyists, and withhold Members' paychecks if they fail to pass a budget on time."^[22]