Rep says he has a model to fix what’s broken in Washington

federal student loan rates.

“The enemy in Washington is not the Democratic Party or the Democratic members. It’s inaction and the status quo,” he said.

He wants to create apprenticeship programs and other educational initiatives that emphasize skills needed for a changing workforce.

“There’s a negative economic consequence of continuing that past practice of sending everybody to college. It now economically doesn’t make sense,” he said. Students without clear career goals are heading to college without direction and leaving with student loan debt and low job prospects because their education isn’t a fit for existing jobs. High schools need career counselors as much as guidance counselors, he said.

Pennsylvania’s position as an energy powerhouse has created a tremendous need for people in skilled trades, he said.

He said his view from Pennsylvania — with its failing bridges and diverse transportation needs — also gives him an appreciation for the country’s infrastructure needs. He hopes to make a difference there, too.

“There’s all this general talk about transportation. Well, transportation in Pennsylvania is finishing [Interstate] 95 in Philadelphia, but then it’s locks and dams in Williamsport and Pittsburgh. In Johnstown, it’s rail access from Johnstown to Harrisburg. In Chambersburg it’s a third lane for truck traffic on the interstates because of all the distribution centers popping up. In Somerset it’s finishing 219,” he said. “My point is it’s highly specific and just using buzz words and talking points isn’t enough, especially when you represent a state that’s as diverse as Pennsylvania.”

He wants to empower states, not just to control their own transportation programs, but also to run their own social services by eliminating mandates.

Democrats complain that Republican plans to transfer power to states also comes with cuts to programs states need, but Mr. Christiana says he can cut spending without affecting programs.

The cuts would come from federal overhead, not state allocations, he said.

He believes Congress — mainly his own party’s leaders who forced an upor-down vote — was irresponsible to pass a $1.3 trillion spending plan projected to add $804 billion to the deficit.

“You can rest assured that I’m not going to support legislative leaders who dump a 2,200-page document on my desk that spends my kid’s money and forces me to shut down the government or swallow the pill,” Mr. Christiana said.

That spending plan is also one of the few Trump policies Mr. Christiana is critical of. But he blames it on the Senate, not the White House. “I’m convinced that if [President Donald Trump] had more independent allies and conservative allies in the Senate that he wouldn’t have been forced in that direction.”

Now 34, Mr. Christiana started his political career in 2005 when, as a college senior, he became the youngest member in the history of the Beaver Borough Council.

He was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2008.

He has a political science degree from Washington & Jefferson College and is expected to graduate later this month from law school at Widener University. He lives in Beaver with his wife Jayann and their 2-year-old son, Nolan. his father, the former governor whose son inherited both his name and his passion for public service.

Mr. Barletta says he inherited some things that make him formidable, too, namely his mother’s morality and his father’s business sense — qualities he says make him a lawmaker who will stand for issues such as jobs and security.

Mr. Barletta, 62, grew up in Hazleton, Luzerne County, where his family had construction and heating oil businesses. He dropped out of college to try out for the Cincinnati Reds, who rejected him because he had trouble hitting curveballs. He returned from tryouts in Florida and, with his wife Mary Grace, started a business painting lines on roadways. The Barlettas grew their initial investment — $29.95 for a painting device and a case of aerosol cans — into Interstate Road Marking Corp.

He sold the business in 2000 when he became mayor of Hazleton, which faced a $1.2 million deficit, blight and economic problems. He implemented strict ordinances to crack down on illegal immigration by imposing financial penalties on landlords who housed undocumented people and businesses that employed them. They were the first laws of their kind in the country.

“That took a lot of courage and backbone for me to stand up by myself, and I literally stood by myself for a long time before anyone else felt comfortable to stand in the water with me. I believe that’s what Pennsylvania families and workers want: somebody who’s going to stand up and fight for them,” he said.

He says he’s been able to do that because — four decades after trying out for the Reds and seven years after coming to Washington — he now knows how to deal with curveballs.

“They still throw them in Washington and I still don’t like them, but there are other pitches you can hit. You just have to decide what to swing at,” Mr. Barletta said. “I’ve been successful because I’ve picked my pitch,” for example, by leveraging his votes to get more for his district.

That’s something he did in 2011 after flooding from Hurricane Lee and Tropical Storm Irene devastated Luzerne County. He refused to support a continuing resolution to fund the government, prompting an invitation to then-Speaker of the House John Boehner’s office, where he laid out his conditions. He wanted enough funding in the bill for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help his district, he wanted support for a bill to reduce interest rates for FEMA loans, and he wanted Mr. Boehner to visit Luzerne to see the damage there firsthand. Mr. Boehner agreed to his conditions, and Mr. Barletta — along with other Republican holdouts — changed his vote, and the government was funded.

“You can get a lot more for the people you represent when they really need your vote badly. If you can hold out, you will be able to put yourself in a position when leadership will come to you and ask what you need,” Mr. Barletta said. “You can’t swing at every pitch. You need to wait, and when the time comes I’ve been able to get some very good things done for my district.”

One of those good things was winning a fight in 2016 to restore 21st Century Learning grants, money for after-school programs that had been cut from the administration’s budget. Mr. Barletta credited the program with improving school attendance and graduation rates. He said he was able to persuade his colleagues in Congress to restore the grants that had been axed from the White House budget.

That program is one of the few things Mr. Barletta and President Donald Trump disagree on. The two support each other enthusiastically and find little room for criticism. “We needed somebody who is going to fight for America and fight for the American people, whether for trade and jobs, steel, coal, you name it,” Mr. Barletta said.

Mr. Barletta said he’s been able to support the president’s policies as a member of the House and believes that he can have a greater effect in the Senate, where Republican policies have stalled. He said he has a history of getting things done in Washington.

He helped negotiate a measure in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that provides funding to help babies born addicted to opioids, and the House passed a bill in April that includes Mr. Barletta’s effort to require an investment in disaster planning, prevention and mitigation every time FEMA spends money on disaster relief.

He doesn’t appear fazed by the challenge from the Mr. Christiana. He’d rather talk about Mr. Casey — saying he doesn’t represent Pennsylvania values and that he was wrong to oppose the tax cuts Republicans enacted without any Democratic support, wrong to oppose legislation that would have cut federal funding to sanctuary cities, and wrong to support the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Barletta said he will better represent Pennsylvania’s interests in Washington. Largely, that means supporting the conservative policies of Mr. Trump, who won the state.

“This is about who is better for the working man and woman here in Pennsylvania,” he said.

Mr. Barletta lives in Hazleton with his wife Mary Grace and his “best pal,” golden retriever Reilly. The Barlettas have four grown daughters and eight grandchildren, who live in or near Hazleton.