Joseph David Courtney[1] (born April 6, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Connecticut's 2nd congressional district since 2007.

A member of the Democratic Party, Courtney served as the Connecticut state representative for the 56th district from 1987 to 1995 and Vernon town attorney from 2003 until 2006.

He became a partner in the law firm Flaherty, Meisler and Courtney, and also served as Town Attorney in Vernon, Connecticut, where he lives.

[9] Courtney defeated Republican Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh, a business owner and radio show host from New London, Connecticut.

In 2016, Courtney defeated Republican Daria Novak, Green Party candidate Jonathan Pelto and Libertarian Dan Reale.

"[11] In April 2018, Dan Postemski, an Iraq War veteran and chair of the Hampton Republican Town Committee, announced his plans to challenge Courtney in the 2018 election.

Postemski said that he wanted "to bring common sense to budgeting" and that he was "a strong supporter of the 2nd amendment" and would "fight to the death to save it."

Richard Hanley, graduate journalism director at Quinnipiac University, complained that part of Courtney's job "is to wade into the muck of the process as it is, not as we would like it to be.

"[16] His criticism, in the words of the Washington Post, "played well back home in Connecticut", where it occasioned "a number of grateful newspaper editorials", but "set off alarms in showbiz circles: Ballots had just gone out to Oscar voters.

[17] In March 2015, after receiving two phone calls at home from scammers impersonating IRS agents demanding payment of owed taxes, Courtney warned his constituents to be wary of such scams.

[20] Accordingly, Courtney invited Mohammed Qureshi, president of the Baitul Aman Mosque, an Ahmadiyya house of worship in Connecticut.

[31] In 2010, Courtney was the leading voice in the House against the so-called "Cadillac tax" on high-dollar health plans, part of the funding proposed for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

While the Bush administration asked troops "to serve and sacrifice on behalf of Iraq's fledgling government," Iraqi leaders were friendly with Iran.

"[35] On August 6, 2015, Courtney issued a statement in support of Obama's Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

"I believe that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best option for our nation and the international community to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapons capability," he wrote.

[36] When President Trump decided to withhold certification of the Iran nuclear agreement, Courtney issued a statement in which he claimed that Trump's move "directly contradicts the opinion of our nation's highest military leadership" and "puts us at odds with our closest allies such as the U.K., France and Germany, and undermines our country's ability to credibly execute a multilateral diplomatic resolution of the crisis in the Korean peninsula.

In March 2017, Courtney protested Trump's revised executive order temporarily restricting travel from six Muslim-majority countries.