Political Quotes

“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.”