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Driving into downtown Johnstown along Route 56, motorists may notice a bronze statue standing near the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, extending a hand, seemingly to request a friendly shake.
The statue stands as a monument to late U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, a man who befriended the small southwestern Pennsylvania city and the state’s 12th Congressional District through his efforts to enhance the economy, heritage and infrastructure while serving his constituents.
Many associate the congressman with his pork-barrel tactics, which allowed him to bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the district through defense contracts – garnering both criticism and acclaim.
Like others in his generation, including former U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, who served the state’s 9th District, he leveraged political influence to guide money and jobs into his district. Now, with old-style congressional earmarks all but banned, it’s a generation that seems to have waned.
But, five years after Murtha’s Feb. 8, 2010, death, those who worked closely with him define his legacy as his ability to inspire others to take up leadership positions and to continue to work toward enhancing quality of life – a legacy they claim continues to thrive in the district today.
Bringing in the pork
Johnstown Area Regional Industries President Linda Thomson, who worked with the congressman for about 10 years, described Murtha as a man who “was not about talking about things. He was about getting things done.”
Murtha, a Democrat and a Marine who became the first Vietnam War veteran elected to Congress, served District 12 – all of Beaver County, and parts of Allegheny, Cambria, Somerset and Westmoreland counties – for 18 consecutive terms across 36 years from 1974 till his death at age 77.
Almost as a testament to his ability to get things done, the name “Murtha” is showcased across the region in names of medical centers, the John P. Murtha Johnstown Cambria County Airport, Johnstown, and a stretch of Route 219 near Ebensburg.
But former U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, Murtha’s district director and successor, said Murtha wasn’t interested in seeing his name in print. He was interested in making progress.
“He wasn’t in it for short-term publicity,” Critz said. “He was in it to establish for the long term.”
Looking toward the future, he helped to establish a Procurement Technical Assistance Center – a program that provides government contracting assistance – under the JARI umbrella, Thomson said.
Thomson said through the center, JARI was able to aid about 200 companies, including DRS Technologies, Concurrent Technologies Corp. and Lockheed Martin, as well as many others, by pulling government defense contracts into Johnstown and the district.
“We’ve helped all of those companies over the years,” she said, explaining some have worked on projects as big as building remote weapons systems while other smaller subcontractors may have worked to produce parts and components.
“Murtha helped to do that. He helped us understand what (the center) was and why it was important,” she said.
Concurrent Technologies Corp. president and CEO Ed Sheehan Jr. said the research and development company, which often worked to find ways to improve defense construction, benefited from its partnership with the procurement center, establishing connections that are still growing and being maintained.
“He was always looking out for the area and doing anything to help,” Sheehan said of Murtha, explaining he was instrumental in helping to establish those connections.
Thomson said pursuing government contracts and expanding the district’s defense contracting industry was vital in revitalizing the economic downturn that stemmed from Johnstown’s waning steel industry.
Thomson said the congressman’s connections, use of earmarks and effort to establish an annual Showcase for Commerce – a business and industry trade show and defense contracting exhibition – helped local businesses secure many Department of Defense contracts that brought thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the area.
Murtha’s dealings in Congress drew attention from others, too, including the FBI, who were investigating Murtha’s ties to defense contractors and nonprofit groups when he died, according to news accounts after his death.
During the 1980 federal “Abscam” investigation that prompted convictions of seven congressmen – and inspired the 2013 hit film “American Hustle” – Murtha tentatively turned down an FBI agent’s $50,000 bribe but was later named as an unindicted co-conspirator.
As a testament to his desire to draw money to his district, Murtha instead asked the agent, who was posing as a criminal, to secure investments for mines in Pennsylvania.
“The jobs is really the end thing. … How many jobs does this mean and how can I justify it?” he asked the agent. “I want to get the (expletive) jobs in the area.”
Defense isn’t the only way Murtha worked to bring jobs and money into the district, said Richard Burkert, Johnstown Area Heritage Association CEO.
Burkert said Murtha helped to establish JAHA and helped to secure federal funding for local sites like the Johnstown Flood Museum, as well as national sites like the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site and Fort Necessity National Battlefield.
“He helped to paint a new vibrant image of post-industrial communities,” Burkert said. “I think Jack Murtha was really a visionary when it came to these types of things.”
Burkert said funding often didn’t pay for bricks and mortar but was enough to fund planning phases, which transitioned into fundraising.
Burkert said Johnstown and Cambria County weren’t Murtha’s only focuses. Through the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission – a commission that has since disbanded – the congressman was able to aid a nine-county region.
He said Murtha also contributed to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, an effort to transform unused rail corridors into public parks and hiking trails, and there were many other ways Murtha worked to bring visitors and their dollars to the district.
“It wasn’t just history museums,” he said.
Gruff with a big heart
While Critz also lauded the late congressman for his more visible works, he remembered Murtha for his acts of kindness that were outside of the public eye but were equally inspiring.
Murtha, towering well over 6 feet tall, was known as a gruff ex-Marine Corps officer and drill instructor, Critz said, and, sometimes, when tempers flared, the congressman’s drill-instructor habits would show through.
Critz said once, while walking with Murtha, a man came to them and relayed a problem he was having with a military discharge. Murtha instructed Critz to get the man’s information so he could be helped.
But Critz found the man was not a District 12 constituent and referred him to his district’s congressman instead. When he returned to Murtha and told him what had happened, Murtha became angry, Critz said.
“When he got mad at you, it was scary,” Critz said. “He said, ‘We will do everything and anything we can to help him.’ That stuck with me. That’s how he always operated. Because he was kind of gruff, I don’t think people realized how big his heart was.”
Critz also highlighted veterans affairs, health care and technology improvements among Murtha’s unsung achievements and applauded the congressman for his efforts to improve sewage and water infrastructure.
“It’s the things he did that were not sexy,” Critz said. “His reach was so broad.”
Critz said he first began working with Murtha when volunteering during an early 1990s campaign. He was hired to Murtha’s staff and eventually was promoted to district director – the congressman’s highest staff position.
Critz described Murtha as “a giant in Congress,” someone who was very well respected even outside his district and across political lines. Even though he was almost sure to be re-elected, Critz said he worked at it every day.
“He was always looking to do more, not only for our region but for our nation,” he said, adding that his reach even went as far as improving an American visitors center in Normandy, France.
“He was about results,” Critz continued. “To me, that’s exactly what a congressman should do. You should do everything you can to help your constituents, help your state and help your country. He never missed anything.”
‘You have to stand on your own feet’
On Feb. 8, 2010, Murtha died at age 77 as a result of galbladder-removal surgery complications.
Critz, also a Democrat, was voted to fill the rest of Murtha’s term in a special election and won a subsequent election in November of the same year.
“I think he was an institution, so moving beyond that is not easy,” Critz said. “I always joked that I pitied the fool who was going to follow Jack Murtha, never thinking it was going to be me.”
Following Murtha’s death, the area struggled to hold onto some of the economic benefits he helped to establish, Thomson said. But the decline was not a direct result of his death or new leadership, she said. Along with Murtha’s death came a drastic decline in defense budgets and increased restrictions on earmarks.
“(The Department of Defense) started putting contracts out slower. I think the impact is that we didn’t have as many opportunities presented to us. Even if he would have survived, he would not have been able to put directed funding into this,” Thomson said.
Critz said the downturn in defense spending was scary for local companies. Burkert agreed, but he said the economic downturn affected areas beyond defense. Spending cuts affected his organization, too.
“It’s harder than it certainly used to be, just finding planning money,” he said. “That’s what I miss – Murtha’s ability to really get a project to the point that you can start fundraising for it.”
Thomson said JARI staff saw a resurgence in defense contracts, and utilizing Murtha’s leadership and training they have been able to coax record numbers of defense contracts from the Showcase for Commerce in recent years.
“Murtha would invite a lot of prime contractors to that event,” she said. “That’s where we miss him most. But our staff is trained and certified. It’s not haphazard. They’ve made those connections and kept those connections on their own.
“Frankly, I think we’ve already bottomed out,” she continued. “I think we’re headed back up the other way. Things are looking a lot brighter for the defense sector. It seems like there is more certainty of what is going to happen.”
Critz credited Murtha with providing the leadership skills that allow others to continue his work to make improvements.
“That’s like losing your father,” Critz said of Murtha’s death. “At some point you have to stand on your own feet, but it’s scary when it’s happening. When he was the top guy, everyone listened to what he’d say. He opened the door, but at the end of the day our companies had to step up and prove they can do the work. Now, the strength of our region is shining through.”
Similarly, Burkert said JAHA staff also learned from Murtha’s leadership, and his organization, working through different funding streams, continues to make improvements.
“We needed some initial investment and some track record to show this type of investment works,” he said, explaining Murtha’s work did that. “Although the funding sources are different, there is a real legacy there. Johnstown maintains and expands infrastructure created by the congressman. We are really growing at that. “
The future of District 12
U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus, the Republican who replaced Critz in 2012, admitted he knew little about Murtha, but like Murtha and his successor, he too hopes to bring jobs and money to the district while focusing on constituent outreach, defense spending and eliminating government limitations placed on the private sector.
Though Murtha and Critz, both living in Johnstown during their collective four decades in Congress, may have seemed more Cambria County focused, Rothfus, based in Beaver County, said he aims to aid all of his constituents.
Rothfus said, locally, his Johnstown office has allowed him to connect with his Cambria County constituents on a more intimate basis.
“It has been invaluable,” he said. “It has allowed me to develop relationships.”
In developing those relationships, Rothfus also said he hopes to continue to support defense contracting within the district.
“We’ve been very much in touch with local defense contractors,” he said. “Defense is the No. 1 job of the federal government. I support a robust defense budget.”
While he plans to continue to support defense, Rothfus said he also feels he has a responsibility to improve and maintain veterans affairs, Social Security and medicare.
However, with coal mines being closed and power plants being shut down, he said working to alleviate federal regulations on coal, especially refuse-coal operations, is important for the district’s future.
“They are actually an environmental success story,” he said of the refuse operations.
Rothfus also touched on a want to pursue tax reform and health care stability, explaining he sees a need for more transparency and fewer regulations to “empower” the private sector.
“I largely came out of the private sector myself,” he said. “All of those regulations are inhibiting the ability for job growth and wage growth.”
Whatever the future holds, Critz said he is happy to have worked alongside Murtha and to see others continue his work five years after his death.
“We miss him terribly,” he said.
Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.