[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PRINCIPLED LEADERSHIP OF JACK MURTHA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about principled 
leadership that makes a difference. That best describes the Dean of the 
Pennsylvania delegation and its longest serving member, Jack Murtha. 
Yes, Jack Murtha was a Member's Member. He was a soldier's soldier. 
Always straight shooting, courageous, willing to defend this 
institution and all of us that work herein.
  During my 33 years of service in this body and with Jack Murtha, very 
few individuals would I turn to for advice and counsel like I would 
Jack Murtha. Like so many of my colleagues, I have traveled to troubled 
spots in this world with Jack Murtha. I have read and learned from him 
not only on these hardworking, hard hitting CODELS, but also from his 
book, From Vietnam to 9/11. Words of wisdom for all of us here today 
and for the future.
  Many of my strongest memories of Jack Murtha are from our 
congressional travels together. We traveled to Lebanon in the fall of 
1982, following the deployment of U.S. forces as peacekeepers to that 
country. We stayed in the very same Marine barracks that 6 months later 
were blown to smithereens.
  During our trip in June of 1987 to Angola, it was Chairman Murtha who 
was successful in securing the release of a downed U.S. pilot from his 
Congressional district. Later, in August of that same year, we traveled 
to the Persian Gulf during the U.S. reflagging operation of Kuwaiti 
ships. A few years later, in January of '93, we traveled on an 
inspection trip to Somalia, following President George Herbert Walker 
Bush's December of 1992 dispatch of our U.S. troops there in order to 
establish order and ensure the success of our humanitarian relief 
efforts.
  The bottom line in all of these travels, of course, as so many of my 
colleagues can attest, is that around this world our service men and 
women knew the true character of Jack Murtha.

                              {time}  1845

  They knew the backbone of Jack Murtha, a veteran, a dedicated public 
servant, an individual who was never too busy or never too selfish to 
take time to regularly visit our military installations, our military 
hospitals, to visit our brave, wounded service personnel.
  From Chairman Murtha's station atop our Defense Appropriations 
Subcommittee, our soldiers knew, they were secure in the knowledge that 
their sacrifices and their dedications were in the best hands in the 
United States Congress.
  I will miss you, Jack. I will miss our true leader. I will miss his 
courage and his dedication. Our courageous American troops will miss 
you, Jack Murtha. Our veterans will miss you, and all of America will 
miss you.
  Your family, Joyce, and your children and your grandchildren, to them 
I extend my thoughts and prayers and know that the memories of Jack 
Murtha will always instill in his family the inspiration, the pride, 
the strength, and the love that will carry you on to carry on the brave 
torch of Jack Murtha.
  God bless you, friend.

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