John Murtha

John Murtha
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 12th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  February 5, 1974
Preceded by	John P. Saylor
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 72nd district
In office January 7, 1969 – November 31, 1973
Succeeded by	James O. Whelan, Jr.
Born	June 17, 1932 (1932-06-17) (age 77) New Martinsville, West Virginia
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Joyce Murtha
Residence	Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Alma mater	Washington and Jefferson College University of Pittsburgh
Occupation	small business owner
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	U.S. Congressman John Murtha
Military service
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Rank	Colonel, USMCR
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	American Spirit Honor Medal Bronze Star Purple Heart (2) Combat Action Ribbon Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry American Spirit Honor Medal

John Patrick “Jack” Murtha, Jr. (born June 17, 1932) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, has represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 1974. The district presently stretches southwest from Johnstown (the largest city in the district and Murtha's hometown).^[1]

A former Marine Corps officer, Murtha was the first Vietnam War veteran elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. A member of the Pennsylvania House from 1969 to 1974, in 1974 he narrowly won the special election held to choose the successor to the incumbent, who died in office. In the first decade of the 21st century, Murtha has been best known for his calls for a withdrawal of American forces in Iraq.

In 1980, Murtha was one of several Congressmen ensnared in the Abscam scandal growing out of an FBI investigation into corruption in Congress. In 2006, after the Democrats won control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections he made a failed bid to be elected House Majority Leader for the 110th Congress (2007-2009) with the open support of the new House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. ^[2][3] He lost to Steny Hoyer of Maryland.^[4] After this defeat, Murtha became chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. He had previously chaired this subcommittee from 1989 to 1995 and served as its ranking Democrat from 1995 to 2007.

Early life and military service

Murtha was born into an Irish-American family in New Martinsville, West Virginia; near the border with Ohio and Pennsylvania, and grew up in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania; a largely suburban county east of Pittsburgh.

As a youth, he became an Eagle Scout. He also worked delivering newspapers and at a gas station before graduating from The Kiski School, an all-male boarding school in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania.

Murtha left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marine Corps and was awarded the American Spirit Honor Medal for displaying outstanding leadership qualities during training. Murtha became a drill instructor at Parris Island and was selected for Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. Murtha was then assigned to the Second Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Murtha remained in the Marine Corps Reserves, and ran a small business, Johnstown Minute Car Wash. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh on the G.I. Bill, and received a degree in economics. Murtha later took graduate courses from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Murtha married his wife Joyce on June 10, 1955. They have three children and live in Johnstown.

Murtha left the Marines in 1955. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for service in the Vietnam War, serving from 1966 to 1967, serving as a battalion staff officer (S-2 Intelligence Section), receiving the Bronze Star with Valor device, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He retired from the Reserves as a Colonel in 1990, receiving the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

Abscam investigation

John Murtha with Governor Robert P. Casey.

In 1980, during his fourth term as a Congressman, Murtha became embroiled in the Abscam investigation, which targeted dozens of congressmen. The investigation entailed FBI operatives posing as intermediaries for Saudi nationals hoping to bribe their way through the immigration process into the United States. Murtha met with these operatives and was videotaped. He did agree to testify against Frank Thompson (D-NJ) and John Murphy (D-NY), the two Congressmen mentioned as participants in the deal at the same meeting and who were later video taped placing the cash bribes in their trousers. The FBI videotaped Murtha responding to an offer of $50,000, with Murtha saying, "I'm not interested... at this point. [If] we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't", right after Murtha had offered to provide names of businesses and banks in his district where money could be invested legally.^[5] The U.S. Attorneys Office reasoned that Murtha's intent was to obtain investment in his district. Full length viewing of the tape shows Murtha citing prospective investment opportunities that could return "500 or 1000" miners to work.

Elections

Murtha faced tough primary challenges in 1982, 1990 and again in 2002. The 1982 challenge occurred when the Republican-controlled state legislature took advantage of Murtha's connection to Abscam, and incorporated most of the district of fellow Democrat and Vietnam War veteran Don Bailey of Westmoreland County into the 12th District.

Murtha dedicates the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown in 1993.

The 2002 challenge occurred when the state legislature redrew the district of fellow Democrat Frank Mascara to make it more Republican-friendly, but shifted a large chunk of Mascara's former territory into Murtha's district. Mascara opted to run against Murtha in the Democratic primary, since the new 12th contained more of Mascara's old territory than Murtha's. However, Mascara was badly defeated.

In 2006, Murtha's Republican challenger was Diana Irey, a county commissioner from Washington County, the heart of Mascara's former district. Irey attacked Murtha for his criticism of the Iraq war. Even though Irey was Mascara's strongest Republican opponent in decades, she polled well behind Murtha throughout the campaign. An 12 October, 2006 poll by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review showed Murtha with a commanding lead over Irey, 57%–30%.^[6] In the November election, Murtha won 61%–39%.^[7]

On 9 June, 2006, Murtha informed Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that he would run for Majority Leader if the Democrats gained control of the House in the 2006 midterm elections. Despite Murtha receiving Pelosi's support, current Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer was elected to the post.^[2]

On March 18, 2008, Murtha endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton, former First Lady and former Junior Senator from New York, in her bid for the presidency^[8].

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations^[9]
  • Subcommittee on Defense (Chairman)

Political views

Murtha is a Democrat with a relatively populist economic outlook, and is generally much more socially conservative than most other House Democrats. He is opposed to abortion, consistently receiving a 0% rating from NARAL and 70% rating from National Right to Life Committee[1]; however, he supports embryonic stem cell research. He generally opposes gun control, earning an A from the National Rifle Association.^[10] Murtha was also one of the few Democrats in Congress to vote against the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 and also one of the few Democrats to vote in favor of medical malpractice tort reform.

However, he is strongly pro-labor, and opposes both the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He opposed President George W. Bush's tax plan and Social Security privatization, and also opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment. In 2004, he was one of only two congressmen to vote for a measure proposing reinstating the draft.^[11] He is also considered more "hawkish" than most other Democrats currently holding office.

In 2001, Murtha and Duke Cunningham (R-CA) co-sponsored the Flag Desecration Amendment, which passed the House of Representatives, but not the Senate.

In late 2005, he led the effort of House Democrats to offer a motion to endorse language in a military spending bill, written by Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona and a fellow Vietnam veteran, that would forbid abusive treatment of terror suspects.

Earmarks and campaign contributions

Murtha has been targeted by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington as one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress.^{[12] [13]}

In September 2006 the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) listed Murtha under Five Members to Watch in its Second Annual Most Corrupt Members of Congress Report. The report cited Murtha's steering of defense appropriations to clients of KSA Consulting, which employed his brother Robert, and the PMA Group, founded by Paul Magliocchetti, a former senior staffer on the Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense.^[14]

In 2008, Esquire Magazine named him one of the 10 worst members of Congress because of his opposition to ethics reform and the $100 million a year he brings in earmarks to his district.^[15]

In February 2009, CQ Politics reported that Murtha was one of 104 U.S. representatives to earmark funds in the 2008 Defense appropriations spending bill for a lobbying group that had contributed to his past election campaigns. The spending bill, which was managed by Murtha in his capacity as Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, secured $38.1 million for clients of the PMA Group in the single fiscal law.^[16] The PMA Group is currently under investigation by the FBI.^[17]

In March 2009, the Washington Post reported that a Pennsylvania defense research center regularly consulted with two "handlers" close to Murtha while it received nearly $250 million in federal funding via Murtha's earmarks. The center then channeled a significant portion of the funding to companies that were among Murtha's campaign supporters. ^[18]

Views on the 2003 Iraq War

Murtha voted for the 10 October 2002 resolution^[19] that authorized the use of force against Iraq. However, he later began expressing doubts about the war. On 17 March, 2004, when Republicans offered a “War in Iraq Anniversary Resolution” that “affirms that the United States and the world have been made safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq”,^[20] when JD Hayworth called for a recorded vote, Murtha then voted against it.^[21]

Still, in early 2005 Murtha argued against the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. “A premature withdrawal of our troops based on a political timetable could rapidly devolve into a civil war which would leave America’s foreign policy in disarray as countries question not only America’s judgment but also its perseverance”, he stated.^[22]

2005 Resolution on removing American forces from Iraq

On November 17, 2005, Murtha submitted the H.J. Res. 73 in the House of Representatives, calling for the redeployment of U.S. troops in Iraq, saying, "The U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home.”^[23]

The bill cited that lack of progress of towards stabilizing Iraq, the possibility that a draft would be required to sustain sufficient troop numbers, Iraqi disapproval of US forces and approval of attacks on the soldiers, and the increasing costs of the war. The bill proposed that deployment to Iraq be suspended and that US Marines establish a "over-the-horizon" presence in nearby countries.^[24]

Murtha's comments forced a heated debate on the floor of the House on November 18.^[25] Republicans led by Duncan Hunter of California, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, responded by proposing their own resolution (H. Res. 571), which many Republicans said was intended to demonstrate that those calling for immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq were “out of the mainstream”.

Jean Schmidt and the “coward” controversy

During debate on adopting the rule for the resolution, Congresswoman Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) made a statement attributed to Danny Bubp, an Ohio state Representative and Marine Corps reservist, “He also asked me to give Congressman Murtha a message: that cowards cut and run, Marines never do.”^[26]

Seeing Schmidt's remarks as an unwarranted "cheap shot" against Murtha, outraged Democrats brought House business to a halt for ten minutes until Schmidt herself asked and received permission to withdraw her comments. Bubp has since stated that he never mentioned Murtha when making the quoted comment. He added that he would never question the courage of a fellow Marine. Bubp later said, “I don't want to be interjected into this. I wish (Congresswoman Schmidt) never used my name.”^[27]

Haditha, Iraq killings

The Haditha incident occurred on 19 November, 2005, and since then there have been differing accounts of exactly what took place.

In November 2005 Murtha announced that a military investigation into the Haditha killings concluded U.S. Marines had intentionally killed innocent civilians.^[28] Referring to the first report about Haditha^[29] that appeared in Time magazine, Murtha said:^[30]

"It's much worse than reported in Time magazine. There was no fire fight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood. And that's what the report is going to tell."

The Marine Corps responded to Murtha's announcement by stating that "there is an ongoing investigation; therefore, any comment at this time would be inappropriate and could undermine the investigatory and possible legal process."^[31] Murtha was criticized by conservatives for presenting a version of events as simple fact before an official investigation had been concluded.^[32]

On 2 August, 2006, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich filed a lawsuit against Murtha for character defamation during an ongoing investigation into the Haditha incident. Donald Ritchie, associate historian in the Senate Historical Office, said "that such defamation suits happen from time to time but that they tend not to go anywhere because of the constitutional protections members have."^[33] Murtha noted his statements were based on a report prepared by the military in July.^[34]

On December 21, 2006, the US military charged Wuterich with 12 counts of unpremeditated murder against individuals and one count of the murder of six people "while engaged in an act inherently dangerous to others".^[35] Charges against Wuterich and other Marines alleged to be involved were subsequently dropped. 

Sun-Sentinel story and correction

In a 24 June, 2006, speech at Florida International University,^[36] Murtha said that the military presence in Iraq was hurting U.S. credibility, citing a poll by the Pew Research Center indicating that people in several countries consider the U.S. in Iraq to be a greater threat to world peace than either Iran or North Korea.^[37] When the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported the speech on 25 June, it asserted without further evidence that it was Murtha's own view that the U.S. was a greater threat to world peace: “American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to a crowd of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon.”^[38]

The Sun-Sentinel story was picked up by the wire services and the Drudge Report website,^[39] leading several conservative pundits, including Bill O’Reilly, Tucker Carlson, and Newt Gingrich to comment.^[40] After the Sun-Sentinel issued a correction, O'Reilly publicly apologized.^[41]

2008 Presidential Election

Commenting on the prospects for the election of Barack Obama during the 2008 Presidential campaign, Murtha became the subject of controversy after deriding many of his own constituents as 'racists' who would not vote for Obama because he is black. In response to the outrage at his comments he apologized, but then reiterated the point by stating "[T]here's still folks that have a problem voting for someone because they are black. This whole area, years ago, was really redneck."^[42]

In the wake of mounting criticism of Obama's Stimulus Plan, Murtha has begun showing signs of wishing to distance himself from the candidate he originally supported, stating "We haven't seen any results" (from the stimulus) and that he would have authored the stimulus differently from Obama.^[43]

See also

United States Marine Corps portal

• John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport

References

External links

Find more about John Murtha on Wikipedia's sister projects: Definitions from Wiktionary

Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews

Learning resources from Wikiversity

• Congressman John Murtha official U.S. House website
• John P. Murtha for Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia

Books by Murtha

• Murtha, John (2004). From Vietnam to 9/11: On the Front Lines of National Security with a New Epilogue on the Iraq War. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-02396-1. 

Articles

• Murray, Shailagh (November 25, 2005). "The About-Face of a Hawkish Democrat". Washington Post, pg. A02.
• Miklaszewski, Jim and Viqueira, Mike (May 17, 2006). "Lawmaker: Marines killed Iraqis ‘in cold blood’" NBC News.
• Murtha, John John Murtha's Iraq Exit Strategy November 17, 2005.
• H. Res. 557, the "War in Iraq Anniversary resolution"
• 'Unwinnable' comment draws GOP fire (CNN)
• Murtha calls for change in U.S. Iraq policy (Associated Press)
• USA Today profile
• Rep. Murtha says Rumsfeld, Cheney should resign
• Washington Post: Confessions of a "Defeatocrat"