Steven Holt: “We will miss Jack Murtha. Strong-willed plain spoken, fearless, dedicated, patriotic, honorable, and remarkably generous…”

“We will miss Jack Murtha. Strong-willed plain spoken, fearless, dedicated, patriotic, honorable, and remarkably generous with his time, his wisdom, and his advice. We will not see the like of him. The descendant of veterans of the American war of independence and the Civil War, he was the champion of the marine, the soldier, the sailor, the flyer. And to me personally he was magnanimous. When the Speaker created the Select Intelligence Oversight panel as part of the Appropriations Committee and asked me to take the chair, Jack Murtha embraced the panel and gave it strength, even though it might have appeared to lessen his authority. Of course, nothing ever diminished the authority of Jack Murtha. He embodied authority. More than magnanimous, he was kind and sharing. We express our sympathy to the family, friends, and all of those who Jack Murtha championed who don't know what he did for them and what he did for America. What a loss.”