Expressing the condolences of the House of Representatives on the death of the Honorable John P. Murtha, a Representative from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Madam Speaker, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker and colleagues, it is with great sadness as well as a great deal of honor that I rise this evening to commemorate and to celebrate the life of our friend and colleague, Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania's 12th District.

As we mourn the loss of Jack Murtha and remember his life, I pass along my thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. Just days before his passing, Jack became the longest serving Member of Congress ever from Pennsylvania.

I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work closely with Jack during our time together in Congress, and I am honored to have called him my friend. I thought the other day, upon returning from Pittsburgh and the funeral in Johnstown, that Jack and I had spent more than 5,000 days together, and more than 2 or 3 hours each day, during our service in Congress together. That is probably longer than most husbands and wives spend together. And maybe that accounts for the fact that I feel such a loss.

I looked up to Jack for his dedication to our country and our military troops, his strength to work in a bipartisan way, and his passion for his work and the Pennsylvanians he represented. Throughout his career in public service, Jack has been a symbol of the hardworking Pennsylvanians throughout the Commonwealth.

Jack dedicated his life to serving our country both in the military, in the halls of Congress, and the State legislature of Pennsylvania. A former Marine, he became the first Vietnam combat veteran elected to the United States Congress.

When he arrived here in 1974, he quickly attracted the attention of then majority leader and future Speaker Tip O'Neill, who became Jack's mentor. Tip taught him that all politics is local, which enabled him to become an effective advocate for his own congressional district and for initiatives throughout our State.

Jack's contributions to Pennsylvania are endless. When Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance Program, CHIP, was slated to be eliminated by Federal regulations, Jack convinced the Clinton administration to be more flexible, and ultimately saved the program. When our steel industry was in crisis, he convinced the Reagan administration to impose higher tariffs on foreign steel, giving domestic producers an edge.

When the Philadelphia Shipyard was threatened with closure, he secured funding to keep ship production going. When the United States Army was forming the Stryker Brigades, Jack helped convince Army leaders to field one within the Pennsylvania National Guard, creating the first and only brigade of its kind in the reserve component. When the National Park Service wanted to construct a new museum and visitors center at Gettysburg, he secured funding to make the project possible.

When a decades-long mine fire threatened the residents of Centralia, Pennsylvania, Jack worked to secure funding to buy the town and relocate the residents. When the health care benefits of retired miners were in trouble, he twice secured funding to help save their benefits from termination.

When Flight 93 crashed in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, Jack was there the next day to survey the scene, and later introduced legislation which was enacted establishing a

national memorial in honor of the passengers and crew.

When he found out that diabetes was becoming an epidemic in the military and throughout Pennsylvania, Jack secured over $150 million for research, prevention, education, and outreach programs.

Jack led our Pennsylvania delegation for almost 36 years with passion and dedication. The legacy that he has left will surely live on as a symbol of the great work that one man can do, and is something that we can all strive to achieve. The Pennsylvania delegation is honored to pay tribute to his life this evening and say good-bye to a dear friend and colleague.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson).

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 1084.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend, Mr. Kanjorski, for yielding and this opportunity to take time to remember and to recognize the life and the public service of Congressman John Murtha.

As a freshman, and being here 14 months, I had the opportunity to just get to know the Congressman when I joined this chamber a little over a year ago. And I will say that Congressman Murtha, as the dean of the delegation, and someone who had been here almost four decades, yet despite that, he reached out to an individual who was a freshman, a rookie, and whenever I saw Congressman Murtha, he was always quick to ask how things were going, how people were treating me, and was there anything he could do for me. He had that bipartisan approach. He was first and foremost from Pennsylvania, as opposed to identifying as a party.

Congressman Murtha, as I had gotten to know him, we had some common ties. I found out he had such a sense of public service. As Mr. Kanjorski mentioned, he certainly will be missed by the people of Cambria County and throughout his entire congressional district. And his sense of public service really I believe grew out of his experiences in scouting. Congressman Murtha was an Eagle Scout. And within scouting, learned those principles of leadership and citizenship and service, and went on to serve as a decorated war hero in the United States Marines, and continued that service right up until just 1990 in his service, retiring as a colonel.

And today, we remember Congressman Murtha in his public service as he went on to be the longest serving Member in the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

All of our prayers go out to Congressman Murtha's wife and his family at this time as we take this time to pause and give thanks and honor the life of Congressman John Murtha.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 10 o'clock and 12 minutes p.m.), under its previous order and pursuant to House Resolution 1084, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, February 23, 2010, at 10:30 a.m., for morning-hour debate, as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late Honorable John P. Murtha.