Representative Joseph Paul Kolter

Joseph Paul “Joe” Kolter (September 3, 1926 – September 8, 2019) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1983 to 1993. Over the course of five terms in Congress, he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history, representing the interests of his constituents as a member of the Democratic Party.

Kolter was born on September 3, 1926, in McDonald, Ohio. He moved with his family to western Pennsylvania, where he attended public schools and graduated from New Brighton High School in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, in 1944. Coming of age during World War II, he entered military service immediately after high school and began a trajectory that combined public service, education, and politics.

From 1944 to 1947, Kolter served in the United States Army Air Forces, the aerial warfare service component of the U.S. Army during World War II and the immediate postwar period. Following his military service, he pursued higher education under the opportunities available to returning veterans. He enrolled at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and graduated in 1950. His education at Geneva College, a private liberal arts institution, provided the academic foundation for his later work in public office and community leadership.

Kolter’s political career began at the local level in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. He served as a New Brighton city councilman from 1961 to 1965, gaining experience in municipal governance and local issues. Building on his local service, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served from 1969 to 1982. During more than a decade in the state legislature, he developed a reputation as a Democratic lawmaker and established the political base that would support his later campaigns for federal office.

In 1982, as a Democrat, Kolter was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, defeating incumbent Eugene Atkinson. Atkinson had originally been elected as a Democrat but had switched to the Republican Party in 1981, and Kolter’s victory returned the seat to Democratic control. Kolter took office in January 1983 and served five consecutive terms, being reelected four times. His tenure in the House of Representatives, which lasted until January 1993, coincided with major national developments in domestic and foreign policy during the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations. As a member of the House, he participated in the democratic process, engaged in legislative deliberations, and worked to represent the interests and concerns of his Pennsylvania constituents. In 1992, he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Ron Klink, bringing his congressional service to a close at the end of the 102nd Congress.

Following his congressional career, Kolter became embroiled in a major ethics and criminal investigation involving the operations of the House of Representatives. He was implicated in the Congressional Post Office scandal, a broader controversy that also involved senior figures such as House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois. Kolter pleaded guilty to conspiring with the House Postmaster to embezzle $9,300 in taxpayer funds. For his role in the scheme, he received a six-month prison sentence, was fined $20,000, and was ordered to pay restitution for the amount converted. His conviction placed him among the American federal politicians who were formally adjudicated for criminal conduct arising from their official positions.

Joseph Paul Kolter died on September 8, 2019, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, at the age of 93. He was interred at Sylvania Hills Memorial Park in Rochester, Pennsylvania. His long life encompassed military service in the World War II era, decades of elected office at the local, state, and federal levels, and participation in both the routine and the more controversial aspects of congressional history.