John Murtha, former Representative for Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District

Murtha was the representative for Pennsylvania’s 12^th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1973 to 2010.

Alleged misconduct & resolution

In 2009 Murtha was investigated for soliciting campaign contributions in exchange for legislative outcomes. The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct dismissed the charges. On February 8, 2010, Representative Murtha died.

Dec. 2, 2009	House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct dismiss the allegations
Feb. 8, 2010	Representative Murtha died.
Feb. 26, 2010	House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct dismissed the charges on the OCE's recommendation

In 1981, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct investigated Murtha for bribery and conspiracy as part of ABSCAM investigation. On Jul. 28, 1981, the charges were dismissed and the Special Counsel resigned.

Jul. 28, 1981

House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct preliminary inquiry voted (May 28, 1981); dismissed (July 28, 1981) and Special Counsel resigned

Photo of Rep. John Murtha [D-PA12, 1973-2010]

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Murtha is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2010 positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Murtha sponsored and cosponsored. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Murtha was the primary sponsor of 16 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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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 at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Murtha sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Armed Forces and National Security (21%) Government Operations and Politics (17%) International Affairs (14%) Law (14%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (10%) Education (10%) Families (7%) Labor and Employment (7%)

Recent Bills

Some of Murtha’s most recently sponsored bills include...

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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.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1973 Jan-Mar	36	36	100.0%	89^th
1973 Apr-Jun	191	191	100.0%	89^th
1973 Jul-Sep	131	131	100.0%	89^th
1973 Oct-Dec	182	182	100.0%	89^th
1974 Jan-Mar	54	0	0.0%	0^th
1974 Apr-Jun	170	2	1.2%	0^th
1974 Jul-Sep	148	1	0.7%	11^th
1974 Oct-Dec	141	10	7.1%	33^rd
1975 Jan-Mar	68	15	22.1%	81^st
1975 Apr-Jun	199	25	12.6%	69^th
1975 Jul-Sep	154	5	3.2%	25^th
1975 Oct-Dec	191	8	4.2%	44^th
1976 Jan-Mar	106	0	0.0%	0^th
1976 Apr-Jun	267	5	1.9%	12^th
1976 Jul-Sep	281	22	7.8%	59^th
1976 Oct-Oct	7	0	0.0%	0^th
1977 Jan-Mar	100	2	2.0%	22^nd
1977 Apr-Jun	273	2	0.7%	13^th
1977 Jul-Sep	198	52	26.3%	91^st
1977 Oct-Dec	135	4	3.0%	30^th
1978 Jan-Mar	150	0	0.0%	0^th
1978 Apr-Jun	300	2	0.7%	13^th
1978 Jul-Sep	308	3	1.0%	13^th
1978 Oct-Oct	76	0	0.0%	0^th
1979 Jan-Mar	63	0	0.0%	0^th
1979 Apr-Jun	221	0	0.0%	0^th
1979 Jul-Sep	198	3	1.5%	24^th
1979 Oct-Dec	190	13	6.8%	31^st
1980 Jan-Mar	148	10	6.8%	41^st
1980 Apr-Jun	197	4	2.0%	21^st
1980 Jul-Sep	192	6	3.1%	21^st
1980 Oct-Dec	67	6	9.0%	41^st
1981 Jan-Mar	15	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Apr-Jun	90	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Jul-Sep	106	6	5.7%	54^th
1981 Oct-Dec	142	5	3.5%	28^th
1982 Feb-Mar	48	23	47.9%	97^th
1982 Apr-Jun	119	29	24.4%	95^th
1982 Jul-Sep	193	11	5.7%	62^nd
1982 Oct-Dec	99	2	2.0%	18^th
1983 Jan-Mar	43	3	7.0%	45^th
1983 Apr-Jun	182	5	2.7%	29^th
1983 Jul-Sep	130	5	3.8%	49^th
1983 Oct-Nov	143	13	9.1%	65^th
1984 Jan-Mar	53	1	1.9%	24^th
1984 Apr-Jun	223	12	5.4%	42^nd
1984 Jul-Sep	96	5	5.2%	56^th
1984 Oct-Oct	36	2	5.6%	44^th
1985 Jan-Mar	36	2	5.6%	29^th
1985 Apr-Jun	154	11	7.1%	69^th
1985 Jul-Sep	101	3	3.0%	33^rd
1985 Oct-Dec	148	5	3.4%	47^th
1986 Jan-Mar	61	16	26.2%	95^th
1986 Apr-Jun	128	5	3.9%	55^th
1986 Jul-Sep	202	9	4.5%	54^th
1986 Oct-Oct	60	9	15.0%	86^th
1987 Jan-Mar	39	0	0.0%	0^th
1987 Apr-Jun	187	9	4.8%	59^th
1987 Jul-Sep	95	0	0.0%	0^th
1987 Oct-Dec	167	16	9.6%	71^st
1988 Feb-Mar	49	1	2.0%	32^nd
1988 Apr-Jun	161	6	3.7%	50^th
1988 Jul-Sep	152	7	4.6%	58^th
1988 Oct-Oct	89	1	1.1%	39^th
1989 Jan-Mar	14	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Apr-Jun	105	3	2.9%	44^th
1989 Jul-Sep	128	6	4.7%	78^th
1989 Oct-Nov	121	10	8.3%	78^th
1990 Jan-Mar	60	0	0.0%	0^th
1990 Apr-Jun	150	1	0.7%	20^th
1990 Jul-Sep	183	7	3.8%	66^th
1990 Oct-Oct	143	6	4.2%	66^th
1991 Jan-Mar	62	1	1.6%	31^st
1991 Apr-Jun	139	3	2.2%	40^th
1991 Jul-Sep	81	7	8.6%	80^th
1991 Oct-Nov	162	4	2.5%	55^th
1992 Jan-Mar	66	6	9.1%	77^th
1992 Apr-Jun	185	8	4.3%	62^nd
1992 Jul-Sep	196	17	8.7%	89^th
1992 Oct-Oct	41	7	17.1%	95^th
1993 Jan-Mar	127	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Apr-Jun	190	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	1	0.6%	28^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	20	14.9%	97^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	10	10.5%	91^st
1994 Apr-Jun	219	17	7.8%	90^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	14	9.9%	85^th
1994 Oct-Nov	51	2	3.9%	73^rd
1995 Jan-Mar	279	12	4.3%	85^th
1995 Apr-Jun	189	7	3.7%	71^st
1995 Jul-Sep	232	8	3.4%	75^th
1995 Oct-Dec	185	11	5.9%	80^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	2	1.8%	49^th
1996 Apr-Jun	182	8	4.4%	75^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	6	3.7%	68^th
1997 Jan-Mar	71	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	3	1.7%	43^rd
1997 Jul-Sep	232	4	1.7%	47^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	10	6.1%	85^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	1	1.1%	24^th
1998 Apr-Jun	185	7	3.8%	68^th
1998 Jul-Sep	199	7	3.5%	68^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	10	13.5%	95^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	1	0.5%	18^th
1999 Jul-Sep	204	6	2.9%	71^st
1999 Oct-Nov	146	8	5.5%	77^th
2000 Jan-Mar	95	4	4.2%	51^st
2000 Apr-Jun	277	15	5.4%	76^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	9	6.9%	83^rd
2000 Oct-Dec	101	8	7.9%	54^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	4	5.3%	79^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	4	3.0%	60^th
2001 Jul-Sep	149	5	3.4%	70^th
2001 Oct-Dec	153	15	9.8%	91^st
2002 Jan-Mar	79	11	13.9%	94^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	50	24.6%	99^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	13	9.2%	88^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	11	18.0%	94^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	6	2.5%	55^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	15	7.8%	85^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	12	7.9%	79^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	16	15.4%	90^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	22	10.0%	90^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	15	9.3%	84^th
2004 Oct-Dec	58	13	22.4%	95^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	4	4.4%	64^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	19	7.0%	84^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	19	13.0%	94^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	22	13.5%	93^rd
2006 Jan-Mar	81	2	2.5%	60^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	9	3.3%	66^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	13	8.2%	91^st
2006 Nov-Dec	27	14	51.9%	98^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	11	5.2%	83^rd
2007 Apr-Jun	393	24	6.1%	86^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	15	4.7%	80^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	17	6.5%	78^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	13	8.7%	79^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	25	7.8%	82^nd
2008 Jul-Sep	205	10	4.9%	71^st
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	3	1.7%	41^st
2009 Apr-Jun	303	17	5.6%	80^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	17	6.3%	88^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	65	26.4%	98^th
2010 Jan-Mar	48	23	47.9%	99^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

@unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
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

John Murtha is pronounced:

The letters stand for sounds according to the following table:

Letter	Sounds As In

Capital letters indicate a stressed syllable.

Rep. John Murtha

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