33 Facts About Charlie Dent

Charlie Dent earned a master's degree in public administration from Lehigh University and served as an aide to Congressman Donald L Ritter.

In 2004, Charlie Dent won election to the United States House of Representatives, succeeding Pat Toomey.

Charlie Dent became co-chair of the Tuesday Group in 2007.

Charlie Dent served on the House Committee on Appropriations, and previously chaired the House Ethics Committee.

In September 2017, Charlie Dent announced that he would retire from Congress and not seek re-election to another term in 2018.

Charlie Dent resigned on May 12,2018, leaving the seat vacant.

Charlie Dent is a 1978 graduate of Allentown's William Allen High School.

Charlie Dent received a bachelor's in international politics from Pennsylvania State University in 1982, and a masters in public administration from Lehigh University in 1993.

Charlie Dent represented Pennsylvania's 132nd house district from 1991 to 1999 after unseating Democratic incumbent Jack Pressman in a heavily Democratic district in 1990.

In 1998, Charlie Dent won an open 16th District Senate seat when Democrat Roy Afflerbach, who later served as Mayor of Allentown from 2002 to 2006, retired to take up an ultimately unsuccessful bid for Congress.

Charlie Dent was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004, succeeding Pat Toomey, who gave up his seat to challenge Arlen Specter for the US Senate.

The National Journal considered Charlie Dent to be one of the three most moderate Republicans in that year.

In 2014, Charlie Dent introduced a bill to give states more flexibility in how they provide health insurance to children from families between 100 and 133 percent of the federal poverty level, according to The Ripon Advance.

The Next Generation Choices Foundation selected Charlie Dent to be the Elsie Hillman Speaker at their annual National Cancer Prevention Day event in 2016 in recognition of his efforts to support legislation related to cancer prevention.

Charlie Dent delivered a farewell speech on May 10, and resigned on May 12,2018, leaving the seat vacant.

Charlie Dent voted against the 2007 Re-authorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Charlie Dent consistently opposed the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

Charlie Dent co-sponsored legislation to fund embryonic stem-cell research and was one of the Republicans who broke with their party to support the use of embryos in research.

In December 2010, Charlie Dent was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing the United States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly gay service members.

In January 2012, Charlie Dent co-sponsored the Enemy Expatriation Act with Senator Joe Lieberman.

Charlie Dent criticized President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods were devised.

Charlie Dent stated in 2018 that he would "tuck" his Export-Import Bank bill into the spending bill as an omnibus.

At the start of the 112th Congress, Charlie Dent received a new position on the coveted House Appropriations Committee, and continued to serve on the House Ethics Committee.

In June 2013, Charlie Dent decided to co-sponsor the Safe Schools Improvement Act, a bill that would require schools and districts to adopt policies specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment against all students, including LGBT young people.

Charlie Dent is known for his efforts to promote LGBT equality throughout the nation.

Charlie Dent is a proponent of hydrogen fuel and was one of the four founding members of the House Hydrogen Fuel Cell Caucus.

Charlie Dent has spoken of his vision for the development of a "Hydrogen Highway East", similar to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans for a Hydrogen Highway on the West Coast.

Charlie Dent is a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership.

Charlie Dent is a proponent of drug prohibition, and is outspoken on the dangers of novel synthetic drugs, having personally sponsored several bills aimed to schedule new psychoactive compounds.

Charlie Dent registered as a lobbyist following the mandatory one-year cooling off period.

On July 6,2022, Charlie Dent endorsed Democrat Josh Shapiro in the Pennsylvania Governor Election over Republican Doug Mastriano, claiming that Shapiro would 'unite the state' and that Mastriano 'is a threat to the rule of law'.

On May 24,2024, Charlie Dent appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss the formation of the group Our Republican Legacy to facilitate what organizers call a "comeback" of the traditional principles of the party.

Charlie Dent is married to Pamela Jane Serfass and has three children.