Analysis
Our unique analysis of the bills Murtha sponsored and cosponsored provides insight into his position in the House of Representatives.
Each dot in the chart below was a member of the House of Representatives in 2010. The dots are positioned horizontally according to our progressive—conservative ideology score and vertically according to our leadership score (leaders toward the top). Murtha is shown as a purple triangle. (analysis methodology)
Enacted Legislation
Murtha was the primary sponsor of 17 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 3326 (111th): Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010
- H.R. 3222 (110th): Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2008
- H.R. 1027 (110th): To amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize the spouse and siblings of a recipient of the Purple Heart medal to become associate members in the ...
- H.R. 1521 (108th): Johnstown Flood National Memorial Boundary Adjustment Act of 2004
- H.R. 3277 (108th): Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act
- H.R. 4682 (107th): Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site Boundary Revision Act
- H.R. 3917 (107th): Flight 93 National Memorial Act
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if about one third or more of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Murtha sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (21%) Government Operations and Politics (17%) Law (14%) International Affairs (14%) Education (10%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (10%) Crime and Law Enforcement (7%) Taxation (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Murtha’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 3326 (111th): Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010
- H.R. 2022 (111th): K-IRA Act
- H.R. 5497 (110th): Kids IRA Act of 2008 (K-IRA)
- H.R. 3222 (110th): Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2008
- H.R. 1027 (110th): To amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize the spouse and ...
- H.J.Res. 18 (110th): To redeploy U.S. forces from Iraq.
- H.J.Res. 12 (110th): Flag Desecration resolution
Voting Record
Key Votes
| Murtha’s Vote | Vote Description |
|---|---|
| Yea |
H.R. 31 (111th): Lumbee Recognition Act
Jun 3, 2009. Passed 240/179.
|
| Nay |
H.R. 3058 (110th): Public Land Communities Transition Act of 2007
Jun 5, 2008. Failed 218/193.
|
| Nay |
H.Res. 1031 (110th): Providing for the adoption of the resolution (H. Res. 895) establishing within the House of Representatives an ...
Mar 11, 2008. Passed 229/182.
|
| Aye |
H.Res. 801 (110th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3688) to implement the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.
Nov 7, 2007. Passed 349/55.
|
| Nay |
H.R. 1830 (110th): To extend the authorities of the Andean Trade Preference Act until February 29, 2008.
Jun 27, 2007. Passed 365/59.
|
Missed Votes
From Jan 1973 to Feb 2010, Murtha missed 1,813 of 21,734 roll call votes, which is 8.3%. This is much worse than the median of 3.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Feb 2010. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- Congressional Biographical Directory for elected positions
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills