By James Rowley and Laurence Arnold Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — Representative John Murtha , a staunch supporter of the U.S. military who became an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, died at age 77 yesterday, ending a 36-year career in Congress. Murtha, a Democrat who unapologetically wielded power as chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee to benefit his congressional district in western Pennsylvania, died at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia, of complications after gall bladder surgery. In recent years, Murtha fended off charges of impropriety for approving expenditures that benefited firms whose officers contributed to his campaigns. His death will give Republicans a chance to pick up a House seat in a district that Amy Walters, a Washington-based nonpartisan political analyst, called “very marginal” for Democrats. Representative Norm Dicks , a Washington state Democrat who has been a key ally of Chicago-based Boeing Co ., the second- largest U.S. defense contractor, is next in line to chair the defense appropriations panel. President Barack Obama in a statement lauded Murtha’s “tough-as-nails reputation” in Congress as a “respected voice” on national security. Murtha was a political ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. In a statement, Pelosi called him “great patriot” and “champion of our national security” who in his actions was “always putting the troops and their families first.” Good Friend Murtha “understood the misery of war,” Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey , a Wisconsin Democrat, said in a statement. “Every person who serves in the military has lost an advocate and a good friend today.” A former Marine drill instructor who was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star during the Vietnam War, Murtha withdrew his support for the Iraq war in November 2005, expressing his concern about increased attacks on U.S. soldiers and criticizing what he termed “a flawed policy wrapped in an illusion.” In 2002, Murtha supported President George W. Bush ’s request for congressional authority to invade Iraq. Late last year, Murtha also voiced skepticism about Obama’s plan to increase troops in Afghanistan to help defeat Islamic extremists, saying he was “not sure that there’s a threat to our national security” posed by the turmoil in that country. Murtha argued that al-Qaeda operatives once protected by Afghanistan’s Taliban regime before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks “can go any place, they don’t have to be in Afghanistan.” Special Election Under Pennsylvania law, Governor Edward Rendell , a Democrat, has 10 days to set a special election for a vacant House seat, a vote that must come at least 60 days after the announcement. Rendell could decide to schedule it for May 18, when the state holds a primary election. Rendell said he was consulting with Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer , a Maryland Democrat, on a special election’s timing. Rendell said he would determine “how important it is to have” Murtha’s replacement in Congress and weigh that against the expense of a separate election. Political analysts said Murtha’s death gives the Republicans a good chance of taking back a seat they lost in 1974, when Murtha won a special election. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the seat as a “tossup.” The nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report moved Murtha’s blue-collar district onto its list of competitive races in this year’s midterm elections. Republican Challenger Republican William Russell, an Iraq War veteran whose 2008 campaign to unseat Murtha forced Democrats to shift resources into the race at the last minute, is running for the seat again this year. Rendell, in a conference call with reporters, said Murtha was “our go-to guy, someone that whatever the issue, could weigh in” and “make things happen” for Pennsylvania. “Jack and his office were the first calls we would make” on legislation, Rendell said. Murtha’s seat on the Appropriations Committee enabled him to become one of Congress’s most adept users of the so-called earmark process to send federal money to specific projects back home. The John Murtha Johnston-Cambria County Airport was among the more visible results of his clout. Murtha steered an estimated $150 million in federal funds to the airport, the Washington Post reported in 2009. The earmarks for Murtha’s district, and the congressman’s ties to a lobbying business run by a former staffer, subjected him to allegations of ethical lapses. Campaign Donations Defense contractors received millions of dollars for projects that Murtha helped shepherd through Congress. Some of those firms donated to Murtha’s campaign and gave jobs to his allies, the Post reported, creating a web of connections that drew the attention of federal prosecutors. FBI searches were carried out in January and February of 2009 at the offices of a Virginia lobbying firm and a Pennsylvania-based defense contractor that had benefited from Murtha’s earmarks. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington labeled him one of the “most corrupt” members of Congress. Murtha gave no ground. “If I’m corrupt, it’s because I take care of my district,” he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in March 2009. “My job as a member of Congress is to make sure that we take care of what we see is necessary.” Majority Leader After Democrats won a House majority in November 2006 elections, Murtha ran for the chamber’s No. 2 leadership post, majority leader, with Pelosi’s support. Hoyer, though, won the vote among Democratic caucus members. Dicks, Murtha’s likely successor as chairman of the defense subcommittee, represents a district that is home to the U.S. Navy’s Puget Sound Naval Shipyard that maintains the military’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarine fleets. Dicks, 69, was first elected to his House seat in 1976. He has criticized White House and Pentagon officials about bids for a $35 billion U.S. Air Force refueling contract that he said are skewed in favor of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp ., a Boeing competitor. Boeing’s commercial airplane manufacturing facilities in Everett, Washington, are adjacent to Dicks’ district. Korean War John Patrick Murtha was born on June 17, 1932, in New Martinsville, West Virginia. He was a college student in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1952 when he left school to join the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. He served until 1955, becoming a drill instructor at Parris Island. In his second tour of active duty, in 1966 and 1967, he served in Vietnam as a Marine intelligence officer. He was a reservist from 1952 to 1990, and retired from the Marine reserves as a colonel. He earned a degree in economics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1962. Murtha began his political career as a member of Pennsylvania’s legislature from 1969 to 1974. He won election to the House by a few hundred votes in a special election held to replace a deceased Republican lawmaker. House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill , a Massachusetts Democrat, named Murtha to the Appropriations Committee, and he became chairman of the defense subcommittee in 1989. In 1982, O’Neill sent Murtha to Beirut to review President Ronald Reagan’s decision to deploy U.S. Marines there as part of a multinational peacekeeping force. Murtha concluded the American troops were too vulnerable. “I’d like to get them out of here as soon as possible,” he told reporters. In 1992, he was a leading congressional critic of President George H.W. Bush’s decision to send U.S. troops to Somalia on a humanitarian mission. “The danger is we won’t be able to get them out,” Murtha said. Murtha’s congressional Web site said of his role in the Somalia debate: “Although his advice was not heeded, history would prove him right.” Murtha and his wife, Joyce, had three children. To contact the reporters on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net ; Laurence Arnold in Washington at larnold4@bloomberg.net .
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U.S. Representative Murtha Dies at 77; Backer of Troops, Foe of Iraq War
