 Serving in the House from 1989-1994, Barber spent time on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Operations and Management Committees.In 1993 and 1994, he chaired the Joint Legislative Committee on Energy.In 1994, rather than run for re-election, Barber ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as the Democratic candidate for the First Congressional District, but lost to a political newcomer named Mark Sanford.