Most Ethical, Transparent Congress Ever? NOT!: Murtha and Co.

I thought John Murtha hated the military he formerly served in. I thought he hated the contractors that profiteered off the war. Well, I guess he only hated the profiteers he wasn't receiving kickbacks and money and other fun from....

Defense contractors raked in $137 million in the past two years thanks to their political donations to Democratic Congressmen John Murtha, Jim Moran and Pete Visclosky — who all sit on the defense appropriations subcommittee.


Which Murtha chairs.

And which had as its chief of staff Paul Magliocchetti, until he formed a lobbying company called PMA Group.

PMA’s clients naturally were defense contractors.

And in the last 20 years, PMA clients have given Murtha $2.4 million, Visclosky $1.4 million and Moran just under $1 million.

Hmmm...maybe he didn't like Blackwater and Halliburton because they weren't part of PMA? If this were a Republican, the calls for his head would be coming from all over? What is especially egregious is how Murtha may have been manipulating things against the contractors who had contracts into losing them so his buddies he provided help and earmarks for got contracts. Scary stuff.

But, I thought these last two congresses under the Pelosi family were supposed to be the most ethical and transparent ever...well, I guess transparent means blatantly corrupt....
Don Surber was on this case 2 years ago. The AP just gets in the game this week.

From the Surber 2007 article:

In 2006, PMA Group lobbyists gave $1,333,074 to three Democratic congressmen and walked away with $100 million worth of contracts for PMA clients. That’s a return of $75 for every $1 invested in just 6 months. In 2008, look for mo’ money and mo’ Democratic congressmen to cash in.


The 3 Democratic rent-to-own congressmen are John Murtha, Jim Moran and Peter Visclosky.

On Monday Paul Singer of Roll Call said Jesus Reyes set up a political action committee on behalf of his brother, Democratic Congressman Silvestre Reyes, who heads the House Intelligence Committee.

Singer reported the Reyes PAC “raised $50,000 this spring almost entirely from staff and clients of powerhouse lobbying shop PMA Group, and within weeks, those same donors reaped millions of dollars in earmarks from Reyes and other Members of Congress closely affiliated with PMA. ”

He noted many of the donors “are long-time supporters of Reps. John Murtha (D-Pa.), Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) and Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.). The offices of Murtha, Mollohan and Visclosky did not respond to requests for comment last week. ”

What a crew. PMA, Mollohan, Moran, Murtha, Reyes and Visclosky, aka, Earmarks Inc.

I’m not kidding. PMA was founded by Paul Magliochetti, who worked for Murtha on the defense appropriations subcommittee. Richard Kaelin went from being Visclosky’s chief of staff to lobbying for PMA. At least one of its clients — Concurrent Technologies Corp. of a Johnstown, Pa., — was set up as a tax-exempt group by Murtha in the 1980s.

You donate — invest — rent — a congressman and he then forces the Pentagon and CIA to give you a fat contract — at a time of war.

Singer reported: “In July, those three Members and Reyes provided 12 earmarks in the House-passed Defense appropriations bill for donors to BEST PAC, totaling about $30 million.”

And conservatives thought the only kleptocracy was the UN.

And the idiots in the birthplace of our democracy, Pennsylvania, voted this scumbag Murtha back to office. Shameful and disgraceful!

PA Update: Western Pennsylvanians are Racist and Redneck, Says Murtha

John Murtha showed himself to be an elitist snob. First, he said that people in his district and in Western Pennsylvania are racist:

U.S. Rep. John Murtha says his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama's victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points.
The 17-term Democratic congressman tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a story posted Wednesday on its Web site that, as he put it: "There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area."

See the video here.
Of course, that did not sit well with his constituents, so Rep. Murtha, who has falsely accused 8 Marines of murder "in cold blood", decided he needed some cover. So, he decided to refine his comments. They aren't racist, just historically "redneck":

U.S. Rep. John Murtha is calling many of the people who put him in office "rednecks."

The news comes one week after Murtha claimed the area is racist, then apologized for that comment.

In explaining his comments about racism, Murtha told WTAE it's difficult for many in the area to change. Murtha said that just five to 10 years ago the entire area was "redneck."
Now Murtha said only certain segments of the population are holding on to those racist feelings.

Just days after classifying western Pennsylvania as racist, Murtha took a step back from those comments, albeit a small one.

Nice work John. Of course, you are just mouthing the view held by the top of your ticket, one effite arugula eating snob named Barack "Who's Sayin? Obama.

Thank goodness the good people of western PA are paying attention. In the latest polls, Republican challenger William Russell is doing well. You can donate to Russell's campaign and help end the maniacal incompetence of Murtha here.

Another of Youngstown John's Friends is in the News Again

One of John Boccieri's biggest supporters, Rep. John Murtha, is being sued by a Marine that Murtha falsely accused of war crimes. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the story on the lawsuit:

One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad.

Former Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 24, of Canonsburg, will file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was widely quoted two years ago saying that eight Marines carried out a cold-blooded killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town on Nov. 19, 2005.

Charges were later dropped against all but one of the Marines, with a military prosecutor calling allegations against Mr. Sharratt "incredible."

As previously reported here on WMD, Boccieri held a fundraiser for Murtha in August. Along with slandering our troops, Murtha was named one of the Center for Responsible Ethics in Washington's twenty most corrupt members of Congress.

This is also the same Boccieri who said if you attack one veteran, you attack all veterans. Seems that doesn't apply to Boccieri when it benefits him or any of his partisan political friends.

Boccieri hasn't said whether or not he plans to return the money Murtha raised for him.

OH-16: Youngstown John Takes Murtha's Dirty Money

John Boccieri is accepting more money from corrupt political figures who love to make slanderous statements about American troops. Last week, he received campaign donations from Charlie Rangel's birthday gala. Rangel is currently under investigation for ethics violations and is perhaps most notorious for saying, "If a young fella has an option of having a decent career or joining the army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq."

This week, he's at it again.

Today, Bocceiri is holding a fundraiser with Rep. John Murtha in Cleveland Heights. Youngstown Congressman Tim Ryan will also be headlining the fundraiser. Boccieri is trying to join Ryan as the junior Congressman from Youngstown (I mean Alliance...how's the rental?).

Over the last two decades, Murtha's name has become synonymous with corruption and backroom dealing. Questions have been raised about him trading earmarks for campaign contributions, stonewalling ethics investigations, and abusing his power as the ranking Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee. Murtha was even named as an "unindicted co-conspirator" by the FBI in the notorious ABSCAM scandal.

Not long ago Murtha was taken to task for falsely calling U.S. Marines war criminals. When eight U.S. Marines were accused of massacring civilians, Murtha proceeded to call them war criminals the day the story broke - without seeing the evidence or waiting for the trial. Murtha said, "Marines over-reacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Six of the Marines in question have had the charges against them dismissed, the seventh was found not guilty, and the court martial of the eighth has been delayed indefinitely. Murtha still refuses to apologize for his remarks.

Why does John Boccieri continue to associate himself with and take money from corrupt political figures?

Boehner Hails Passage of GOP Motion to Strip Earmarks From Intelligence Bill, Renews Call for Vote on GOP Earmark Reforms

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) hailed House passage of a GOP proposal last night directing House conferees to strike all earmarks in the Intelligence Authorization Act (H.R. 2082) – including the controversial National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) earmark requested by Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). The GOP proposal – a motion-to-instruct conferees – passed with the support of all House Republicans and 62 Democrats who crossed the aisle to back a proposal to redirect earmark funding toward U.S. human intelligence activities instead. Boehner issued the following statement:

“The bipartisan approval of this proposal is great news, both for the House Republicans’ war on wasteful earmarks and America’s War on Terror, but it will only become a true victory if Democratic leaders choose to embrace the will of the House over the politics of pork. Should they opt to ignore the mandate given to them with this important vote yesterday, they will have once again broken their pledge on fiscal discipline and earmark reform and weakened our national security. The choice is clear.

“This vote clearly demonstrates that a bipartisan majority of the House supports the Republican legislation to close the earmark loopholes and require complete transparency and accountability in both tax and authorization bills. Unfortunately, while Republicans were successful in forcing the Majority to adopt our earmark reforms for appropriations bills, Democratic leaders have refused to allow an open debate and a recorded vote on the reforms we need to bring sunlight and scrutiny to pork-barrel spending in all bills brought before the House. Enough is enough. It’s time to put an end to secretive, wasteful spending and worthless pork.”

NOTE: House Republican Leader John Boehner’s discharge petition to force a vote on H.Res.479 currently has 197 signatures. 218 are required to force a debate and vote on the House floor.

Conference Call with Congressman Boehner

Mark and I just got off the phone with Congressman Boehner, Gribbit, Justin, and Bizzy.

The Congressman opened up the call with some comments on the Mother of All Tax Hikes, the Democrat's inaction on veteran and troop funding, Murtha Inc. and earmark reform.

Justin has a pretty good rundown on the opening comments and the first question, which was his, on the few Republicans on the pork list. Check out his post for details.

Gribbit did us the favor of asking about the status of the Internet Radio Equality Act, which the congressman said that he is going to have to research. That is not a good sign as I thought he was "up" on this issue already. I accept blame for that one, as I haven't been as diligent as I should in my advocacy for the bill.

Bizzy asked about the lack of a statement on the 55 consecutive months of economic expansion, a topic which he has written about here.

Justin then asked about Pakistan and the actions of one President Musharaff.

I am shocked by the actions he's taken. I am hopeful he will restore the Constitution and put Pakistan back into Democratic rule as soon as possible."

I then shifted the conversation to SCHIP... Justin's post is here.

The most important thing I can relate from the discussion is that if the Democrats continue to fail to enact real reform to their proposal, there is going to have to be an extension of the funding at current levels for the program. The congressman was very confident that this would happen should the issue not be resolved before the November 16th deadline.

Congressman Boehner was quite confident that if the Democrats bring an override vote, that the Republicans would still remain firm on the issue. There has been talk that Harry Reid has asked Nancy Pelosi to NOT bring it up again.

Boehner handled the Sen. Grassley solo act question with appropriate humor and candor. Republicans and Democrats continue to negotiate on the issue. Contrary to what you may have heard from the liberal blogosphere and from the 527 media, Republicans love children and are fighting hard on their behalf. It is shameful that liberals and Democrats continue to use the issue in such a shameful manner. Perhaps this might explain the Democratic Congress' dismal approval numbers.

We are likely to cover this call, with some audio, on the TIB All-Stars show on Saturday night at 7PM...be sure to tune in for more!

Murtha’s Earmark Trail

Originally posted at 8:46 AM - UPDATE posted at 2:35 PM

Roll Call (subscription) has the latest on the investigation in to Rep. John Murtha's sahdy dealings. It appears that Black Jack has been funnelling money to clients of his brother's lobbying firm. Some of these companies may no longer exist and there is evidence that some of them never did.

Murtha has almost — but not quite — single-handedly created a new economy in his district, with start-up companies getting Murtha earmarks, getting contracts from other companies that have gotten Murtha earmarks or getting trained on how to get government money by other institutions that have gotten Murtha earmarks.

A good guide to the patterns of Murtha’s largesse is the client list of KSA Consulting, a lobbying firm that employs a former Murtha staffer and used to employ Murtha’s brother, Kit Murtha.

News stories have highlighted KSA’s success in getting earmarks for its clients, but there is more to the story than that. KSA’s client list consists largely of small businesses that are either based in Johnstown , Pa. , or have opened offices in Johnstown , plus a significant smattering of companies that no longer exist and may never have existed at all.

The pattern that appears dominant is that the companies’ federal contract dollars expand shortly after they open an office in the 12th Congressional district — though it is not entirely clear how much of their work is actually conducted in the district.

Kit Murtha, who says he retired from KSA a year ago, told Roll Call that he doesn’t believe there is any connection between the earmarks and the companies’ move to the Johnstown area. “You can’t really answer that ... which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” he said. KSA represents “people that are in Johnstown , and some came to Johnstown , and which came first, and why, you can’t say.”

But KSA’s client list indicates a pattern. Applied Ordnance Technologies was a Maryland-based firm that signed up with KSA in 2001, opened a Johnstown office in 2004 and saw the value of its government contracts jump from $12 million in 2003 to $21 million in 2004 and $24 million in 2005.

Just remember, folks, this is the most open and most honest Congress in history...and Black Jack was Speaker of State Nancy Pelosi's choice for Majority Leader...

No wonder Congress has a lower approval rating than the President...

UPDATE: From the vault... See if the above doesn't have a familiar ring to it...



Transcript:

“I'll tell you exactly what I'd like. I'd like to be able to tell you that there's some places I'd like you to invest some money, in banks, on my district, uh and I'd say some, you know, some substantial deposits…”

”I think that in order to introduce legislation, you have to have a real tie to the district.”

“I’ll give you maybe a list of businesses that I think would be the appropriate businesses that would be very helpful to me if you could see your way clear any one of those... you know, that you might -- this then would make a tie, which we'd have to make a little bit of a fuss about, maybe the guy doesn't wanna do this, but you have to remember this, you have to look down the road -- public relations.”

Emphasis added...

...the most open and ethical Congress in history, folks, don't forget it!

UPDATE 2: Total Federal Contracts in Murtha’s District from FY2004 to FY2006: $564,816,799

That's over a half a BILLION dollars worth...

Murtha's National Drug Intelligence Center to Take Over Terrorist Watch List?

Black Jack has earmarked the National Drug Intelligence Center to take over the terrorist watch list. This was news to the intelligence community in general and the Justice Department in particular. The Justice Department is the NDIC's parent agency where a spokesman indicated that there were no such plans in the works. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has already recommended that the NDIC be closed due to poor performance. Does this sound like the caliber of organization that should be maintaining the list of terrorists who shouldn't be granted access to an airplane?

All of this was news to Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) too. He's on the intelligence committee and says he never saw the request from Murtha for the $23 million earmark that made this outrageous claim.

USA Today has this story and more stuff like this:

Murtha's earmark request also claimed that the NDIC was taking over the "terror incident training program," which the Justice Department also denied.

This man is a pathological liar...

And check this one out:

An earmark application for $500,000 to give anti-terrorist training to Phoenix police doesn't mention that the amount is six times the cost of the program. Nor does the application letter, from Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., note that police already have paid for the anti-terrorist training themselves and are no longer seeking federal funds.

This is just an absurd waste of tax payer funds. This is why we never get the national debt down...we keep spending ridiculous amounts of money on crap like this...

UPDATE: Gribbit weighs in on the revelations contained in the USA Today article here.

CAGW Names Rep. John Murtha Porker of the Month

WASHINGTON, May 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Representative John Murtha (D-Pa.) the May Porker of the Month for throwing a temper tantrum and threatening his colleagues over a challenge to a $23 million pet project in the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008.

Rep. Murtha became infuriated by Rep. Mike Rogers' (R-Mich.) motion to challenge his earmark for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) in Johnstown, Pa. According to The Politico, Rep. Murtha, who is not on the Intelligence Committee but does chair the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, confronted Rep. Rogers on the floor of the House and threatened to remove both any of his earmark requests in the defense appropriations bill and any other earmark "now and forever." Rep. Rogers responded, "This is not the way we do things here -- and is that supposed to make me afraid of you?" To which Rep. Murtha arrogantly replied, "That's the way I do it!"

Rep. Murtha also assailed Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) for voting with Rep. Rogers against the NDIC during the Intelligence Committee markup of the bill. Rep. Murtha threatened a Boeing project in Rep. Tiahrt's district.

Rep. Rogers submitted a resolution charging that Rep. Murtha violated a House rule which forbids members from blocking earmarks based on how a colleague votes. The resolution seeks a formal reprimand from the House. Rep. Rogers said, "This is exactly why Americans are disgusted with out of control federal spending. In order to restore the faith of the American people in Congress, we must do better. We can't allow members to be threatened and intimidated when they stand up for hard-working taxpayers' money."

The Hill reported that Rep. Murtha also skirted the rules by submitting his required earmark certification late. The deadline was March 23, but Rep. Murtha's letter was only sent on May 1, the day before the bill mark up.

The Murtha outburst exemplifies how earmarks corrupt the legislative process. The NDIC, which is funded through the Drug Enforcement Administration, was cited last year by the House Government Reform Committee as "an expensive and duplicative use of scarce federal drug enforcement resources." CAGW's 2007 Prime Cuts and the President's budget both recommended that the NDIC should be eliminated. But it will probably be funded, not based on merit, but out of fear of Rep. Murtha's power as an appropriations cardinal.

Rep. Murtha sees Congress as a place where threats and power plays control spending decisions. While pushing the pork-filled 2006 defense appropriations bill through the House last year, Rep. Murtha unleashed his money-hungry wrath upon his colleagues, "If you vote against this bill, you won't have any input at all the next time." The congressman barrels through legislation while inserting whatever he can to serve himself and his district. Since 2005, Rep. Murtha has obtained a total of $26,877,250 in pork.

Rep. Murtha claims that when submitting an earmark he asks, "Is this worthwhile not only to your district but to the country?" However, it is difficult to ascertain what the country gets out of pork projects such as the $194,000 he secured for the construction of a new community center in Green County, Pa. in 2005.

For filling important intelligence and defense bills with pork and threatening anyone that challenges his authority and arrogance, CAGW names Rep. John Murtha its May 2007 Porker of the Month.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.

Democrats Break Promises on Reform, Laugh Off Ethics Troubles

Via email:

Last night, Congressional Democrats voted to protect one of their Members from being reprimanded for violating House ethics rules. The Hill reports that during the vote, “several Democratic lawmakers joked and laughed with Murtha as they sat in the so-called Pennsylvania corner of the House floor.” According to the Politico, they didn’t have any problem laughing off their ethics troubles:

“During the vote, Murtha sat in a darkened corner of the House floor, laughing with colleagues who surrounded him. As the clock wound down, other Democrats congratulated the senior member of the Appropriations Committee who oversees a massive defense spending bill every year.”

Murtha, who has not denied the violating House rules, nevertheless voted FOR the motion to prevent his reprimand.

Two Democrats voted against their leaders because, as one explained, if a Republican “had been accused of threatening a Democrat on the House floor, I would expect” the matter to be debated or referred to the House Ethics Committee. According to Associated Press, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) blasted Democrats for violating their repeated promise to lead a more “honest” Congress:

“‘It sends a message to the American people that our ethics rules are meaningless, and that it is OK for members of Congress to be threatened and intimidated when they try to crack down on wasteful spending.’”

Democrats may not be laughing for long though, as they struggle to bring to the floor a lobbying reform package. According to Roll Call:

“Facing significant internal strife, House Democratic leaders are mulling whether to postpone a Thursday vote on overhauling lobbying laws, despite promises of action by Memorial Day…Deep and wide resistance to the reform package from within the Democratic Caucus threatens to sink the rule governing debate on the measure.”

Some outside groups are beginning to wonder aloud whether Democrats are “really serious about lobbying reform.”

This week, Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) renewing his longstanding request for a bipartisan working group tasked with recommending fair, sensible and understandable House ethics rules. The letter states: “Rep. John Murtha was recently able to secure tens of millions of dollars for a questionable project in his district by highly suspect methods that either flaunted the new rules without penalty or at best nominally complied with them – proving in either case how utterly ineffective the new rules really are.”

House Republicans will continue to work to make the earmark process more transparent and more accountable, and will work to root out wasteful spending littered throughout the federal budget.

It's no secret that I was elected to several positions in student government back in college. One of the reasons why I resist the urge to get involved in "real" politics is that I get the distinct impression that my experience with universtiy politics wouldn't be all that different...like reliving elementary school all over again.

Politics is supposed to be about public service and getting things done, but I have found over the years that it has become less and less about that than it is about gaining and maintaining personal power. It is a dirty business...which is why I find no irony in the cliche that politics is the second oldest profession. Some days you can't tell a difference between politics and prostitution...

Democrats promised change. They campaigned on it. The American people bought the lies despite my telling you that the Democrats were not interested in change. Elections are supposed to have consequences...too bad the only consequences are paid by the American people. Who's laughing now?

Murtha/Rogers Incident Update

The vote on the Murtha/Rogers Incident is expected to occur at approximately 3:30 PM, during the second series of schedule votes today. As Matt Dole points out (see item #2), whether or not the Demcorats actually go through with it or not is something that we have to wait and see. Interesting how "trust but verify" has been shortened to just "verify."

Murtha Earmark Highlights Growing Pattern of Abuses by House Democrats

Via email:

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) will offer a privileged resolution later today to force the full House to vote on whether to reprimand senior Democrat John Murtha (D-PA) for threatening Rogers on the House floor last week. The actions by Rep. Murtha constitute a violation of House rules which preclude Members from conditioning earmarks on another Member’s vote. Curiously, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) chose to defend Murtha yesterday even though – according to the Associated Press – Rep. Murtha DID NOT deny he violated House rules.

CongressDaily PM reports that Democratic leadership aides “want to make this go away as soon as possible,” but Rep. Murtha’s violation is part of a growing pattern of abuses that show the House has moved away from earmark reform under Democrats, rather than toward it. Today Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi to renew his longstanding request for a bipartisan working group tasked with recommending fair, sensible and understandable House ethics rules. As an example, the letter cites:

“Rep. John Murtha was recently able to secure tens of millions of dollars for a questionable project in his district by highly suspect methods that either flaunted the new rules without penalty or at best nominally complied with them – proving in either case how utterly ineffective the new rules really are.”

As has been reported previously, this is the second incident where Rep. Murtha has threatened a GOP member who dared challenge his questionable earmark, which has been deemed “an expensive and duplicative use of scarce federal drug enforcement resources,” according to the May 8 edition of The Hill. Fox News has also previously reported on his threat to Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), including the video of it on the House floor.

House Democrats have repeatedly promised the most “open and ethical” Congress in history. During a week when Democrats will bring up their lobbying and ethics reform bill, will they back Rep. Murtha and make a mockery of their own rules, or will they keep their pledge to the American people?

Murtha Faces a Priviliged Resolution on Ethics

Jack Murtha has been accused of ethics violations (The Politico)

According to the draft resolution, Murtha shouted at Rogers on the House floor Thursday afternoon for offering a motion last week to expose $23 million Murtha requested in an intelligence bill.

The Pennsylvania Democrat requested the money to prevent the administration from shuttering the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown , Pa. -- which sits in Murtha’s district.

“I hope you don’t have any earmarks in the defense appropriations bills because they are gone and you will not get any earmarks now and forever,” Murtha told Rogers on the House floor, according to the draft transcript supplied to The Politico.

“This is not the way we do things here -- and is that supposed to make me afraid of you?” Rogers replied.

“That’s the way I do it,” Murtha said.

This must be more of that most open, most honest, and most ethical Congress we were promised...

Republicans seem ready to battle on this issue as well (via email):

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) strongly backed Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) after he announced his intent to file a privileged resolution in response to the threats by senior Democratic Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) on the House floor today. The resolution, set to be introduced by Rogers on Monday, will force the full House to vote on whether to reprimand Murtha for his conduct. Boehner issued the following statement:

“The resolution offered by Congressman Rogers outlines a blatant abuse of power stemming from a Republican-authored proposal to cut wasteful earmark spending from legislation pending before the House. This egregious action is not only beneath the dignity of this institution, it constitutes a violation of House rules, which preclude Members from conditioning earmarks on another Member’s vote, and the House should reprimand Murtha for his conduct.

“Mike Rogers knows public corruption and he knows about threats and intimidation. For five years as an FBI Special Agent, it was Rogers ’ job to go after those who abused the public’s trust and to stare down mobsters. No Member of Congress should be threatened or intimidated because of his or her efforts to crack down on wasteful spending and protect the interests of taxpayers.

“This is yet another example of the Democrats abusing the rules of the House and breaking the commitments they made to the American people. In fact, over the last four months they have not led at all, nor have they delivered anything remotely close to an open, deliberative, and results-oriented House.”

NOTE: Last Friday, Rogers offered a GOP motion-to-recommit to the FY 2008 Intelligence Act that would have taken funding away from an illegitimate, wasteful earmark tucked into the bill to benefit Murtha in order to restore funding for human intelligence programs. The Murtha earmark would authorize tens of millions for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), a government agency based in Murtha’s district that the House Government Reform Committee has deemed “an expensive and duplicative use of scarce federal drug enforcement resources,” according to an article in the May 8 edition of The Hill.

Today, on the House floor, Murtha violated House rules by telling Rogers “I hope you don’t have any earmarks in the appropriations bills because they are gone and you will not get any earmarks now and forever.”

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PRIVILEGED RESOLUTION IS OUTLINED BELOW:

Whereas, the Code of Official Conduct provides that a Member “may not condition the inclusion of language to provide funding for a Congressional earmark… on any vote cast by another member;

Whereas, Chairman Reyes filed the Report to accompany the bill H.R. 2082, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008;

Whereas, the report states that, with respect to the requirements of clause 9 of House Rule XXI, “The following table provides the list of such provisions included in the bill or report,” and includes a table of 26 items identifying “Requesting Member,” “Subject,” and “Dollar Amount (in Thousands)”;

Whereas, the referenced table includes an item denoted as: Requesting Member, Mr. Murtha; Subject, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE PROGRAM COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT ACCOUNT – National Drug Intelligence Center ; Dollar Amount, $23 million;

Whereas, the Gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Rogers, offered and voted for a motion to recommit the bill to change the provisions of the aforementioned Murtha earmark during its consideration in the House;

Whereas, as a result of Mr. Rogers motion and vote on the Murtha earmark, the Gentleman from Pennsylvania , Mr. Murtha subsequently threatened to withdraw support for earmarks providing funding for projects located in the Gentleman from Michigan ’s district.

Whereas, on May 17, 2007, in the House Chamber, the Gentleman from Pennsylvania stated, in a loud voice words to the effect, to the Gentleman from Michigan as a result of offering and voting for the motion to recommit, “I hope you don’t have any earmarks in the defense appropriation bill because they are gone and you will not get any earmarks now and forever.”

Whereas, the Gentleman from Michigan responded, in words to the effect, “this is not the way we do things here and is that supposed to make me afraid of you?”

Whereas the Gentleman from Pennsylvania raised his voice, pointed his finger and stated, in words to the effect, “that’s the way I do it.”

Whereas the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) is the ninth most senior member of Congress, whose seniority ranks him over 426 of his 433 colleagues in the House;

Whereas the gentleman from Pennsylvania chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which has jurisdiction over the activities and functions of the nation’s intelligence agencies;

Whereas the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), the second-ranking and second longest serving Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, has been described in numerous media accounts as a master of the legislative process and an expert on earmarks;

Whereas the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) has stated that he is a former member of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, whose members are among the most knowledgeable in the House concerning the ethical obligations of Members of Congress;

Resolved, that the Member from Pennsylvania , Mr. Murtha has been guilty of a violation of the Code of Official Conduct and merits the reprimand of the House for the same.

VIDEO UPDATE:

House Republicans Target Rep. Murtha's Earmark

Via email:

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today announced House Republicans will offer a measure on the House floor that would ensure scarce intelligence funds are used to fund programs that protect the American people instead of funding wasteful congressional pork-barrel projects.

The GOP measure would take funding away from an illegitimate earmark tucked into an important intelligence bill to benefit senior Democratic Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), and use the money to restore funding for human intelligence programs that protect the American people against attacks from terrorists. Democrats cut funding for such valuable intelligence programs against the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

The Murtha earmark has drawn a torrent of criticism from House Republicans not only because it is a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars, but also because it was tucked into the intelligence bill in apparent violation of House rules meant to keep pork-barrel projects from passing Congress without appropriate scrutiny and debate.

The Murtha earmark would authorize tens of millions of federal dollars to be spent on the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), a government agency based in Murtha's district that the House Government Reform Committee has deemed "an expensive and duplicative use of scarce federal drug enforcement resources," according to an article in the May 8 edition of The Hill.

The GOP measure will request an audit of the NDIC and shift $23 million away from NDIC into human intelligence programs. The measure would leave $16 million in the NDIC account to cover the estimated termination costs of the facility.

Against the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, Congressional Democrats cut funding for human intelligence programs as well as other initiatives related to America's efforts to counter radical jihadists. The Republican measure today would take money away from Rep. Murtha's illegitimate earmark and use the money to restore some of the intelligence funds slashed in the original bill.

UPDATE: Americans for Prosperity weighed in here...