Rep. John P. Murtha, a powerful Pennsylvania congressman renowned for his prowess in bringing home pork-barrel spending to his district, has died from complications of gallbladder surgery, according to news reports. Mr. Murtha, a Democrat, was chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees military spending. Among the money he has steered to projects in his home state were controversial grants given to higher-education institutions, such as $50-million in earmarked, noncompetitive funds for a homeland-security institute at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and $2-million for a project to support the creation of a cybersecurity curriculum by Carnegie Mellon University and the Community College of Allegheny County that two-year institutions were to have used to supply staff members to American businesses seeking protection from computer attack.
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2 Responses to Rep. John Murtha, Powerful Lawmaker Adept at Steering Earmarks to Home State, Dies
dmmanos - February 8, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Congressman Murtha was a force to be reckoned with. Our sympathies go out to his family and friends. I am sure he will be greatly missed.-JTGWDTT, Williamsburg, VA
11159995 - February 9, 2010 at 9:47 pm
I had the pleasure of working with Congressman Murtha on his book “From Vietnam to 9/11: On the Front Lines of National Security” published by Penn State University Press: http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-02239-6.html. Murtha was one of the early and outspoken critics of the Bush Administration’s engagement in the war in Iraq, and no doubt that was one reason he was awarded the JFK Profiles in Courage Award. He was a great friend of Penn State and will be sorely missed.—Sandy Thatcher