Daryl Metcalfe

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Daryl Metcalfe
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 12th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 5, 1999
Preceded by Patricia Carone
Personal details
Born (1962-11-09) November 9, 1962
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Elke Metcalfe
Residence Cranberry Township
Alma mater Kansas State University, Manhattan

Daryl D. Metcalfe (born November 9, 1962) is an American politician currently serving in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Metcalfe is a member of the Republican Party and has represented the 12th legislative district since 1999. He currently serves as the majority chairman of the House State Government Committee.

Background

Metcalfe is a graduate of Charles W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville, New York, and he attended but did not graduate from Kansas State University while serving in the United States Army at Fort Riley in Kansas. He later was stationed in Germany. His experience in the army included duty as an air defense radar and I.F.F. (identification friend or foe) systems repair specialist.

Prior to his election, Metcalfe was employed with Dade Behring (formerly DuPont Diagnostics) for 13 years as a field engineer. He was responsible for managing a biomedical service territory in western Pennsylvania.

Political career

Metcalfe was elected in 1998 to replace retiring representative Pat Carone. He has won re-election six times.

He is currently the majority chairman of the House State Government Committee.[1]

Candidacy for lieutenant governor

Metcalfe ran as a candidate for lieutenant governor in 2010.[2] He came in third place in the Republican primary, losing to Jim Cawley.[3]

Political positions

Daryl Metcalfe is an outspoken far right social conservative. "I was a Tea Partier before it was cool." Metcalfe said in an interview.[4]

Anti-LGBT

Metcalfe is the House's most well known anti-gay member. He opposed Philadelphia's program to market the city to gay tourists. He tried to cut state funding to universities that offer domestic partner benefits. He sued a gay New Hope couple for attempting to get a marriage license In September 2009, Metcalfe held up a Pennsylvania State Assembly resolution declaring October "Domestic Violence Awareness Month". Metcalfe claimed that the bill "had language in it that brought men into the situation", citing this as evidence of a homosexual agenda.[5] This met with criticism from Rep. Babette Josephs who said, "The gentleman from Butler has made this problem even worse and more men may be abused, even killed in their homes," on the House floor in 2009.[4]

In 2011, House Bill 1434 was introduced by Daryl Metcalfe along with 36 cosponsors on May 3, 2011.[6] It was referred to the Committee of State Government. The bill would amend the state constitutional stating to ban same-sex marriage and any substantial equivalent.[7] On March 13, 2012, a committee vote on the bill was stopped.[8] In 2013, Daryl Metcalfe reintroduced the bill with 27 cosponsors on May 7, 2013, which is the lowest number of cosponsors the bill had been introduced with.[9]

In June 2013, after the Defense of Marriage Act had been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, openly gay state representative Brian Sims tried to make a speech in the Pennsylvania House supporting the decision. Metcalfe, who was one of several representatives who blocked Sims from speaking, said, ”I did not believe that as a member of that body that I should allow someone to make comments such as he was preparing to make that ultimately were just open rebellion against what the word of God has said, what God has said, and just open rebellion against God’s law.”.[10]

Anti-immigration

Metcalfe is the founder of State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI),[11] an organization opposed to birthright citizenship.[12] The State Lawmakers for Legal Immigration works closely with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an anti-illegal alien organization.

Metcalfe has also spoken alongside Dan Smeriglio, an ally in Pennsylvania's anti-illegal alien movement, including at a 2007 rally organized by Smeriglio's Voice of The People USA organization. Metcalfe even spoke at a June 2010 rally in Phoenix organized by Smeriglio to support the state's law.>

On March 1, 2011 Rep. Metcalfe reintroduced HB 738, a bill which would direct police officers "to attempt to verify the immigration status of suspected illegal aliens." It would also create a new third-degree misdemeanor "for illegal aliens who violate federal law by either willfully failing to register as an alien or failing to possess proper proof of such registration when stopped for another primary offense, such as a traffic violation," crack down on employers who hire illegal aliens without first checking to see if they had registration papers and are in the state legally, create a new third-class felony "for intentionally smuggling illegal aliens (into the state) for profit," and would allow police officers "impound any vehicle driven by an illegal alien or used to transport illegal aliens." The proposed law is based on Arizona's controversial Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (SB 1070), which was passed in April 2010.[13]

Veterans

In October 2009, Metcalfe criticized Operation FREE, a coalition of veterans and national security organizations that advocates on environmental issues, by saying: “As a veteran, I believe that any veteran lending their name, to promote the leftist propaganda of global warming and climate change, in an effort to control more of the wealth created in our economy, through cap and tax type policies, all in the name of national security, is a traitor to the oath he or she took to defend the Constitution of our great nation!”[14]

Voter suppression

With a Republican majority rule in Pennsylvania government, Metcalfe sponsored the Republican-initiated Pennsylvania Voter Identification Protection Act (House Bill 934; Act 18 of 2012) that was signed into law on March 14, 2012, by Governor Tom Corbett (R). This law was intended to go into effect before the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. State voter rights and civil liberties groups considered the law to be a form of voter suppression, as the six-month timeframe allowing for enactment would not permit sufficient time for compliance, and was therefore expected to cause an unacceptable level of voter disenfranchisement, especially among minority and low-income demographics that tend to vote for Democratic candidates. On October 2, 2012, a major portion of the Pennsylvania Voter ID Act was struck down by Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Justice Robert Simpson after a lengthy judicial challenge prompting Metcalfe to issue a statement saying, "…this judicial activist decision is skewed in favor of the lazy who refuse to exercise the necessary work ethic to meet the commonsense requirements to obtain an acceptable photo ID.".[15]

Personal

Metcalfe lives in Cranberry Township with his wife, Elke, and daughter, Lisa.

References

  1. ↑ Representative Metcalfe's Web Profile
  2. ↑ "2010 General Primary, Not Final Unofficial List of Candidates - In Ballot Order". PA Department of State. Bureau of Commissions, Elections & Legislation. 2010-03-19. Archived from the original on 2010-03-20. Retrieved 2010-03-20. 
  3. ↑ http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Right Makes Might". citypaper. Apr 5, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2013. 
  5. ↑ Amy Worden (09-19-09). "Pa. lawmaker sees gay agenda in a resolution". Philadelphia Inquirer. 
  6. ↑ "The Pennsylvania General Assembly". Legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved December 1, 2011. 
  7. ↑ "Regular Session 2011-2012 House Bill 1434 P.N. 1724". Legis.state.pa.us. May 3, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2011. 
  8. ↑ Worden, Amy (March 15, 2012). "Gay-marriage bills stalled in Pennsylvania". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved April 4, 2012. 
  9. ↑ "Bills against gay bias on move in Harrisburg". philly.com. May 8, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2013. 
  10. ↑ Reilly, Mollie. "Brian Sims, Pennsylvania Lawmaker, Silenced On DOMA By Colleagues Citing 'God's Law'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  11. ↑ Legislators for Legal Immigration (13-06-28). "Legislators for Legal Immigration". 
  12. ↑ Erin Kelly (11-01-05). "State lawmakers seek to overturn birthright citizenship". AZ Central. 
  13. ↑ Tom Barnes (10-05-05). "Pennsylvania legislators hope to mirror Arizona's immigration bill". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 
  14. ↑ Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, 12th District, Pennsylvania House of Representatives (October 26, 2009). "PA State Legislator Attacked By Soros/MoveOn.Org-Connected VoteVets.Org". Retrieved November 20, 2009. 
  15. ↑ Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, 12th District, Pennsylvania House of Representatives (10/2/2012). "Metcalfe Declares Simpson’s Judicial Activist Voter ID Decision Out of Bounds With Rule of Law, Separation of Powers and Will of the People". Retrieved May 9, 2013. 

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