[Deathwatch] John Murtha, congressman, 77

[Notification of departing celebrities]

  John Murtha, defense appropriations chair, dies


Tue, Feb 9 2010

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Representative John Murtha, chairman 
of the House of Representatives defense appropriations subcommittee who 
exercised enormous influence on defense issues, died on Monday.

Murtha, 77, died peacefully at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington 
with his family by his side, a statement from his office said. He had 
been hospitalized recently with complications related to gallbladder 
surgery.

As the top Democrat on the House panel that oversaw defense 
appropriations, Murtha wielded big clout in the Democratic-majority 
Congress, making decisions affecting billions of dollars in Pentagon 
spending.

But he also stunned his fellow hawks in 2005 by urging a U.S. withdrawal 
from Iraq, transforming the debate over the 2003 invasion launched 
during the administration of former President George W. Bush and making 
opposition to the war a respectable conservative position.

Murtha, a former Marine, had served in the House since 1974, when voters 
in working-class Johnstown, Pennsylvania, made him the first Vietnam war 
veteran elected to the chamber.

He was a close associate of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and his impact 
on U.S. military matters was noted on Monday by President Barack Obama 
and Pentagon chief Robert Gates.

But analysts said his party could have problems retaining the seat in 
November's election now that Murtha is gone.

"This is going to be a difficult hold for Democrats," said David 
Wasserman with The Cook Political Report. The district is closely 
divided between Democratic and Republican voters, "but it has been 
moving in the Republican direction," he said.

A social conservative, foreign policy hawk and classic old-school 
politician, Murtha was chummy with lobbyists.

The gruff pro-labor Democrat worked to funnel defense projects to his 
district and those of his friends in the House, a practice that got him 
dubbed "King of Pork" in the media.

But this nickname did not seem to bother him much. He once reportedly 
referred to proposed ethics reforms as "total crap." Earlier, in 1980, 
he was an unindicted co-conspirator in an FBI corruption sting known as 
Abscam; a House ethics committee cleared him of any wrongdoing.

WEAPONS PROGRAMS

His death increases the chances that the Obama administration could 
succeed in killing two weapons programs that Murtha helped Congress to 
resurrect last year -- the Boeing C-17 transport plane and a second 
engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter.

"There's no question that Jack Murtha was an institution and it's going 
to take time to adjust to his passing," said Loren Thompson, defense 
analyst with the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.

Thomson said major defense companies might not be able to lean as 
heavily on Murtha's likely successor on the defense spending panel, Norm 
Dicks, a Democrat from Washington state, although Dicks is a strong 
backer of defense programs.

The Standard & Poor's Aerospace & Defense Index fell 1.1 percent on 
Monday as major defense company shares were mixed.

Obama, in a statement, said Murtha had been a "respected voice" on 
issues of national security. Gates said he had worked with Murtha for 
over 20 years, "starting back in the Reagan administration when I was at 
CIA.

"I will always remember and be grateful for Congressman Murtha's 
personal efforts on behalf of the Afghan resistance fighting the Soviets 
- efforts that helped bring about the end of the Cold War," Gates said 
in a statement.

Back then Murtha worked with congressman Charlie Wilson to secretly 
provide funding for the CIA to supply arms to Afghan fighters against 
the Soviet Union, Murtha's website said.

House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey said Murtha was a friend to the 
military who "understood the misery of war."

Last year Murtha, Obey and several other influential Democrats urged a 
surtax to pay for the continuing conflict in Afghanistan. Murtha said 
that war was exhausting the U.S. military, along with the years spent in 
Iraq.

Murtha was unable to parley his ties with Pelosi into a top leadership 
role. He was soundly beaten by Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer in the race 
for House majority leader in 2006.

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