Representative John P. Murtha

John P. Murtha served as a Representative from Pennsylvania in the United States Congress from 1973 to 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, John P. Murtha contributed to the legislative process during 19 terms in office.

John P. Murtha’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, John P. Murtha participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

John Patrick Murtha Jr. ( MUR-thə; June 17, 1932 – February 8, 2010) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010. He is the longest-serving member of the United States House of Representatives ever elected from Pennsylvania. 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, he narrowly won a special election to Congress in 1974 and was successively reelected every two years until his death. In the first decade of the 21st century, Murtha had been best known for his calls for a withdrawal of American forces in Iraq, as well as questions about his ethics. In 2006, Murtha would received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. In 2006, after the Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in the 2006 midterm elections he made an unsuccessful bid to be elected House Majority Leader during the 110th Congress (2007–2009) with the support of the new House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, losing to Steny Hoyer of Maryland. As the Democrats became the majority party in the House in 2007, Murtha re-assumed his chairmanship of the House Appropriations’ Defense Subcommittee. He had previously chaired this subcommittee from 1989 to 1995 and served as its ranking member from 1995 to 2007.