Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) has died at the age of 77, after serving in Congress for 36 years.
Murtha had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit last week due to complications following a gall bladder surgery.
Murtha’s office released the following statement this afternoon:
Congressman John P. Murtha (PA-12) passed away peacefully this afternoon at 1:18 p.m. at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, VA. At his bedside was his family.
Murtha, 77, was Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in February of 1974, Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the military and in the halls of Congress. A former Marine, he became the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to the U.S. Congress.
This past Saturday, February 6, 2010, Murtha became Pennsylvania’s longest serving Member of Congress.
A complete biography is available on his website.
Murtha, who was influential on defense matters, led the House movement against the Iraq War. In 2005, he publicly called for withdrawal.
[TPM PHOTO GALLERY: REP. JOHN MURTHA, 1932-2010]
He was close friends with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who in 2006 supported his bid to be House Majority Leader against Rep. Steny Hoyer. Hoyer won the position anyway.
Murtha had also been the subject of ethics probes. The Office of Congressional Ethics recently closed an investigation into Murtha’s ties to the former lobbying firm PMA Group and recommended the House Ethics panel do the same. The probe centered on allegations that members of Congress had exchanged earmarks for PMA’s clients for campaign donations.
He was one of the lawmakers targeted in the ABSCAM sting in the early 1980s, in which FBI agents went undercover to offer lawmakers cash for favors. Murtha was never charged with a crime, even though video of the meeting shows him asking the undercover officer to put the money into his district.
The American flag over the White House was lowered to half-mast this afternoon.
