John Patrick “Jack” Murtha, Jr. Dead at 77

February 08, 2010

Representative John Murtha, a key pro-defense Democrat who during 36 years in the U.S. House of Representatives became one of the most powerful members of Congress, died on Monday at age 77 of complications from surgery. We offer this look at Murtha's long and often controversial career, particularly the last years of his life when he became a vocal opponent of the former President George W. Bush's military involvement in Iraq.

At 1.9-meters-tall, John Murtha towered over most other lawmakers, and could always be depended upon to give a reporter his time on questions regarding funding for the U.S. military and soldiers fighting in foreign battles.

When he passed away of complications from gallbladder surgery, Murtha - a Vietnam War veteran with two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star - headed the powerful Subcommittee on Defense of the House Committee on Appropriations, a position he was elected to in 1974 and used to push for Pentagon funding.

He was among the most skillful politicians on Capitol Hill at channeling funds to his local district through "earmarks" -- provisions in legislation directing that money be spent on specific projects.

Although he voted in support of a resolution in late 2002 to authorize use of military force in Iraq, Murtha gradually became disillusioned with the conduct of the war.

As he stepped up his criticism, he became a proponent of "redeploying" American troops out of Iraq, but maintaining forces at sufficient levels in the region to respond quickly to emergencies as needed.

In an exchange with Republican Representative Patrick McHenry in 2006, the Pennsylvania Democrat angrily lashed out at Republicans he said had failed to recognize the strain the Iraq War had placed on the military.

MCHENRY: "The left in this country have a policy they are advocating here, and they are advocating a policy called 'cut and run.' They are advocating a policy of waiving a white flag to our enemies."

MURTHA: "When I hear somebody standing here sanctimoniously saying we are going to fight this out, we're not fighting at all. It's the troops that are doing the fighting, the families that are doing the sacrificing. A very small proportion of families in this country are doing the sacrificing and that's why I get so upset when they [i.e., Republicans] stand here sanctimoniously saying, 'We are fighting this thing.' It's the troops that are doing the fighting, not the members of Congress who are doing the fighting."

The same year, Murtha became the center of controversy with his allegation that U.S. soldiers had killed unarmed civilians "in cold blood" in the Iraqi city of Haditha, which he attributed to the strain on U.S. forces. He suggested that the military tried to cover up the alleged incident.

He reacted angrily to revelations that U.S. soldiers and interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq had physically and psychologically tortured prisoners, saying in a speech on the House floor that "no circumstance whatsoever justifies torture - no emergencies, state of war, no level of political instability."

"The words torture, cruelty and abuse elicit images of draconian and brutal dictatorship," said John Murtha. "These words are reserved for the worst of human rights offenders and should never include the United States of America."

In his more than three decades in Congress, Murtha was also the focus of ethical controversies, most recently centering on contributions by lobbyists and corporate clients to his campaign coffers.

In 1980, he was caught up in the FBI anti-corruption sting operation called ABSCAM in which he was videotaped turning down a $50,000 bribe. But he indicated that he might accept future offers. Named an unindicted co-conspirator, he testified against two lawmakers in the case, in which six members of Congress were convicted.

In 2006, after Democrats captured control of the House of Representatives from Republicans in mid-term elections, Murtha was endorsed by the current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to lead the Democratic majority. Maryland Representative Steny Hoyer won the position after a Democratic caucus election.

Murtha's death sets up a special election for his congressional seat, which will likely be held in the next three months. Political analysts say the contest to replace him could be competitive, despite Murtha having held the seat for 36 years.

His death comes at a time of increased anxiety among Democrats ahead of November's mid-term congressional elections, with House Democratic leaders already engaged in efforts to hold on to their strong majority, and President Barack Obama and Democrats facing virtually unified Republican opposition on major policy issues.

In a statement Monday, President Obama and his wife Michelle said they were "deeply saddened" to learn of Congressman Murtha's death, calling him a respected voice on issues of national security.

House Speaker Pelosi said that as a former Marine, Murtha was "well-recognized as a champion of [U.S.] national security," adding that he always put the troops and their families first.

Biography of John P. Murtha

U.S. Representative John P. Murtha has dedicated his life to serving his country both in the military and in the halls of Congress. He had a long and distinguished 37-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring from the Marine Corps Reserve as a colonel in 1990.

He has been serving the people of Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District since 1974. Currently serving his 19th term, Congressman Murtha is the eighth most senior member of the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives. Of the nearly 10,600 men and women who have served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1789, only 79 have served longer than he has.

Congressional Leadership

Congressman Murtha has worked hard to bring tens of thousands of family-sustaining jobs to western Pennsylvania. With the wide-spread loss of coal and steel jobs that were the lifeblood of the area, he pushed the region in a new direction, intent on diversifying the economy by attracting health care, defense, medical research, tourism and high-tech jobs that would insulate the region from future shocks. This success has transformed communities and has brought thousands of jobs to the district he represents.

He co-founded the Congressional Steel Caucus in 1979 to preserve what remained of America’s steel industry by fighting subsidized steel imports. Years ago he began to support funding for alternative energy technology, providing research dollars for military wind energy, fuel cell technology, and a coal-based jet fuel currently being tested in Air Force planes.

He has played a major role in heritage preservation and tourism efforts throughout Pennsylvania. He created a heritage region that became a model for the National Heritage Area program, which today includes both the Rivers of Steel and Path of Progress in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He has secured funding to preserve national heritage sites from Fort Necessity to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater to Gettysburg National Military Park. He also authored legislation establishing the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.

In the 1990s, the U.S. Justice Department attempted to exempt federal prosecutors from ethics rules. This effort was undertaken despite the fact that numerous cases emerged of unchecked prosecutorial activities far outside of ethical guidelines, including hiding evidence, distorting facts, paying for perjury, setting up innocent people and, in some of the severest cases, engaging in cover-ups. Congressman Murtha took on the Justice Department and Congress overwhelmingly passed the Murtha Amendment which codified that federal prosecutors are bound by the ethics rules of the jurisdictions in which they are practicing.

Concerned about the future viability of Social Security and the retirement savings of Americans, he has authored legislation allowing children to have a Roth IRA so that family members and friends can contribute to a child's nest egg from day one.

He has fought for a patient's bill of rights, prescription drug benefits, a higher minimum wage, and protecting Medicare, Social Security and veterans' and miners’ benefits. When Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was about to be killed by federal regulations, he convinced the Clinton White House to be more flexible and saved the program. When the Environmental Protection Agency said the six-county Pittsburgh Air Basin would get no permits for industrial growth, he inserted language allowing time to finish a balanced, community-based plan. When Medicare refused to pay for preventive health care such as mammograms and flu shots, he included language in an appropriation that convinced the agency to provide coverage.



Military/Defense Leadership

Congressman Murtha is highly respected for his first-hand knowledge of military and national security issues. He has been a trusted adviser to Presidents of both parties and is one of the most effective advocates for our national defense. Currently the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, he oversees appropriations for the Department of Defense, which includes the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and the intelligence community.

As the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to Congress and a career Reservist, he has a rare combination of experience that enables him to lead his colleagues and the nation on defense issues.

He learned about military service from the bottom up, beginning as a raw recruit when he left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines out of a growing sense of obligation to his country during the Korean War. He earned the American Spirit Honor Medal, awarded to fewer than one in 10,000 recruits. He rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island and was selected for Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. He then was assigned to the Second Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1959, Captain Murtha took command of the 34th Special Infantry Company, Marine Corps Reserves, in Johnstown. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for Vietnam in 1966-67, where he served as the S-2 intelligence officer for the 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and received the Bronze Star with Combat "V", two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

Upon his retirement from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1990, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal by the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Health Care Leadership

Congressman Murtha’s mission to improve access to preventative medicine, expand medical research, and ensure that health care is affordable has benefited people across our country.

In 2003, he found out through the Air Force Surgeon General that 144,000 Air Force personnel and/or members of their family have diabetes. Determined to reverse the diabetes epidemic in the military as well as throughout western Pennsylvania, he has directed funding to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Diabetes Institute for diabetes prevention, education and outreach, which is having significant success on military installations and across rural communities. He has also directed funding to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh to continue research and clinical trials for a cure to Type 1 diabetes.

Congressman Murtha has worked with breast cancer survivor advocate groups to provide over $2.5 billion for breast cancer research through the Department of Defense. This funding has led to state-of-the-art research for detecting and treating breast cancer, and has resulted in early detection technologies like imaging tools and molecular studies that yield more reliable results.

He has forged partnerships between western Pennsylvania hospitals and world-renowned institutions such as Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital, one of which has led to research that could revolutionize the early detection and treatment of breast cancer and significantly advance efforts to eradicate the disease.

Through his leadership in securing continued funding for the healthcare program for retired miners, he has twice been able to help save their benefits from being eliminated.

Foreign Policy Leadership

Congressman Murtha has traveled around the world leading Congressional and Presidential fact-finding missions, meeting with foreign leaders, monitoring international elections and representing the United States Congress abroad.

President Ford asked Congressman Murtha in 1975 to be part of the first Congressional fact-finding mission to Vietnam after U.S. forces had been withdrawn. He later returned in 1978 to discuss with the Vietnamese the issue of Americans still listed as missing in action and to bring back the remains of any Americans that had been found in recent years.

In 1982 and 1983, Speaker “Tip” O’Neill sent Congressman Murtha to Beirut, Lebanon, to assess President Reagan’s decision to deploy U.S. Marines in the midst of civil unrest. He returned and warned that our troops were in a vulnerable position and that the force was inadequate to attain the mission outlined by the State Department. He argued for the withdrawal of the Marines from Beirut.

Congressman Murtha was part of a Congressional delegation that visited the Soviet Union in 1984 shortly before Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power. The delegation reinforced the United States openness to pending economic and military changes in that country. He later worked to provide funding essential to long-term global stability by decommissioning nuclear equipment and destroying warheads.

President Reagan named Congressman Murtha and Senator Dick Lugar as co-chairmen of a 20 member presidential delegation to monitor the Philippine elections of 1986. The delegation personally observed activities of voting fraud and manipulation and determined that the election had been stolen by the Marcos regime. After the delegation convinced President Reagan to delay certifying the election, Marcos fled the country and Corazon “Cory” Aquino became president.

Congressman Murtha served as chairman or co-chairman of four separate presidential election-monitoring delegations to El Salvador. He had been one of the strongest and most influential supporters of El Salvador when communist insurgents threatened to overrun the democratically elected government.

In 1989, President George H.W. Bush named Congressman Murtha as Chairman of the U.S. delegation to monitor the elections in Panama. It quickly became clear that the election was fraudulent and that Panama’s military dictator, Manuel Noriega, had removed the constitutionally elected President and held onto power by declaring his party as the election winner. At President Bush’s urging, Murtha traveled to Panama on several more occasions and met secretly with the “defeated” candidates. He helped facilitate messages between them and the Bush Administration regarding support for an American intervention. He later inspected the build-up of U.S. forces that invaded in December 1989 and deposed Noriega.

Congressman Murtha played a key role in the defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the 1980s. He worked with Congressman Charlie Wilson on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to secretly provide funding for the CIA to supply arms to the Afghan fighters. Stinger Missiles became successful in shooting down Soviet helicopters and aircraft and turning the tide for the Afghan resistance.

During the Persian Gulf War, Congressman Murtha played a vital role as a moderate Democrat in attracting swing votes that assured passage of a House Resolution supporting the United Nations Resolution on the conflict. He made two trips to the Gulf Region to assess the situation and troop morale, and was invited numerous times by President George H.W. Bush to the White House for briefings and advice.

When President George H.W. Bush ordered 25,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in December 1992, Congressman Murtha appeared on Larry King Live that very evening to debate against the decision. He traveled to Somalia on three inspection trips. In July 1993, he wrote President Clinton a letter recommending a phased withdrawal of our troops. Although his advice was not heeded, history would prove him right.

From 1996 through 1998, Congressman Murtha made several trips to Bosnia to inspect the United Nations Forces. In September 1996, President Clinton asked him to co-chair a U.S. delegation overseeing the first post-war election, to certify that the election was fair and that the Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs were able to openly participate. He also traveled to Bosnia with President Clinton for Christmas in 1997 and 1998.

Congressman Murtha voted to give President George W. Bush authorization to use military force against Iraq in October 2002. He inspected the build-up of U.S. troops in the Gulf Region weeks before the invasion and five months later in August 2003. He found severe shortages of body armor, electronic jammers, and vehicle spare parts. He has worked tirelessly to ensure that our troops have the proper equipment and training that they need. He wrote President Bush in September 2003 warning that, “we have severely miscalculated the magnitude of the effort we are facing” and said that he agreed with an assessment by Dr. John Hamre that we have a “narrow window of opportunity available to deliver progress in terms of economic infrastructure, security and basic service improvements.” He received a reply seven months later from the Department of Defense saying that “we have made substantial progress in the very ways that you suggest.” After voicing his concerns and suggestions directly to the Administration and being continually ignored, he made the decision to publicly argue for the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq on November 17, 2005. Since then, he has become one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of the War in Iraq, convinced that the conflict can only be solved politically, diplomatically and economically by the Iraqis, not the American military. Since the war in Iraq has begun, he has made eight visits to the region.

Honors and Awards

Congressman Murtha’s countless honors include the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award; the National Breast Cancer Coalition Leadership Award; Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry's Government Leader of the Year; Pittsburgh's Riverperson of the Year; the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's National Patriots Award; and Pennsylvania's two highest honors, the Distinguished Service Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal.

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. He lost to Steny Hoyer of Maryland. 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.