John Murtha

August 16, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.) - Congressman John P. Murtha announced today that the Department of Homeland Security has released Assistance to Firefighters Grants to 12th District volunteer fire departments.    » read more »

August 1, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.)- Congressman John P. Murtha today commended the House of Representatives for passing the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act (CHAMP), providing health care to 11 million children and protecting Medicare from privatization.

Established in 1997, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has successfully provided health insurance to low-income children across the country. Currently, six million children have health care because of CHIP, and since 1997 the number of children without health insurance has fallen by one-third.    » read more »

July 17, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.)- Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announced today that the House of Representatives has passed a supplemental report to the underlying $31.6 billion Energy and Water Appropriations Bill that includes funding for local sewage and water projects as well as construction and maintenance of our locks and dams.    » read more »

July 11, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.) - Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, voted today to approve legislation that would make the single largest investment in college financial aid since the 1944 GI bill. The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 would boost college financial aid by about $18 billion over the next five years, helping millions of students pay for college.

Each year in Pennsylvania 211,832 students take out need-based loans at 4-year public schools, amounting to nearly $14,000 of accrued debt per student on average.    » read more »

July 9, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.)- Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announced today that workers of Penn Mould Industries, Inc., who have become totally or partially separated from employment, are eligible for retraining or wage subsidies under federal programs designed to return trade-affected workers to the work force more quickly.    » read more »

July 3, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.) - Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, joined today with representatives from Conemaugh Health System, Northrop Grumman, MTS Technologies Inc., and state and local officials to break ground on the Greater Johnstown Tech Park and announce the project’s first phase occupants.

Northrop Grumman and MTS Technologies, Inc. (MTS) will both relocate from their current downtown facilities to the Greater Johnstown Tech Park in the fall of 2008.    » read more »

June 22, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.) - Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announced today that he is an original cosponsor of the 2007 Mine Safety and Health Bills introduced this week in the House of Representatives.

In response to last year’s mining tragedies in West Virginia, Congress passed the 2006 MINER Act. The legislation introduced this week supplements last years MINER Act by including, among other things, these additional provisions:

* Requires the installation of underground gas and smoke monitoring systems.    » read more »

June 1, 2007 -- (JOHNSTOWN, PA) - Congressman John P. Murtha announced today at the annual Showcase for Commerce that Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, AZ, has awarded Kuchera Defense Systems seven new development contracts and one production contract with a total value of $7.1 million.

These contracts will allow Kuchera to create eight new jobs while sustaining 17 current positions. Because the contracts are for Advanced Development Programs, they have the potential to provide additional jobs and product manufacturing for the next 5 to 10 years.

The contracts include:    » read more »

May 25, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.) - "Today, I voted for both the $22 billion supplemental funding for domestic programs and the $98 billion supplemental funding for our troops in Iraq.

The Democrats in Congress have already sent a supplemental to the President that would have set benchmarks and timelines for the responsible redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq. Instead of demonstrating to the American people and the Iraqi Government that our commitment is not open-ended, the President vetoed our bill and refuses to recognize that this war cannot be won militarily.    » read more »

May 21, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.)- Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announced today that ten of his nominees to our nation’s military academies have accepted appointments.

“These young men and women are among our nation’s best and brightest. They are the future leaders of our military and I am proud that they have chosen to serve our great country. It is an honor to nominate each one of them to our military academies,” Murtha said.

Those who have accepted appointments are:

U.S. Air Force Academy    » read more »

May 18, 2007 -- Note: The President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2008 significantly cuts domestic programs while continuing to spend nearly $9 billion every month for the war in Iraq. Each week throughout the month of May, Congressman Murtha will explain how these budget cuts hurt our families and communities throughout the 12th Congressional District. While the President continues to insist on remaining in Iraq indefinitely with no timetable and no strategy for success, we continue to spend over $300 million a day.    » read more »

May 5, 2007 -- (Washington D.C.) - Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, has taken steps to prevent federal authority from overruling state authority in locating proposed high power transmission lines across Pennsylvania to serve other states.    » read more »

May 4, 2007 -- Note: The President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2008 significantly cuts domestic programs while continuing to spend nearly $9 billion every month for the war in Iraq. Each week throughout the month of May, Congressman Murtha will explain how these budget cuts hurt our families and communities throughout the 12th Congressional District. While the President continues to insist on remaining in Iraq indefinitely with no timetable and no strategy for success, we continue to spend over $300 million a day.    » read more »

April 18, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, issued the following remarks today while discussing Army personnel issues:

“I just returned from visiting three major army bases: Ft. Hood, Ft. Stewart and Ft. Bragg.    » read more »