Murtha-fest SOLD OUT

By Michael Goldfarb
Published May 23, 2007 7:08pm ET
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At the end of this month, Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, will be attending the Showcase for Commerce in Johnstown, PA, a defense industry trade show that, despite its remote location, draws some of the biggest names in the business as both sponsors and exhibitors. Why? The DEW Line informs us:

Perhaps the booth-agent legions of the defense industry are flowing into Johnstown for this event like a gushing river — oops, bad metaphor! — because they like the late-spring weather near Dutch Country.

Another possible explanation could be the proximity to Murtha, who is famous for many things but certainly well-known as the King of Earmarks. That word — earmarks — is the polite term for lawmakers using their anonymous discretion to fatten an already bloated federal budget with their favorite spending projects. Murtha’s prime seat on the defense appropriations committee makes him a key benefactor, and he is known to love this part of the job.

Our spies in industry report that many attendees have another name for this annual weekend affair: Murtha-fest.

That was written before Murtha’s latest embarrassment, in which he “stormed to the [House] floor during a vote to threaten GOP Rep. Mike Rogers that he would cut off all pork for Rogers’ district after he worked to kill a Murtha earmark in an Intelligence bill.” That tantrum, a technical violation of House ethics rules, forced the Democrats to avoid a House vote to reprimand the Pennsylvania congressmen. In today’s edition of the Hill, “industry sources” and “sources familiar” with Murtha-fest weigh in anonymously on the event and its rise to prominence:

“[Murtha’s performance] can be a little bit heavy-handed,” one source familiar with the event said, adding that there is an expectation that a number of local jobs and contracts come out of the show.

“It would be important to get some face-time with him,” said one industry source who will attend this year. “He remembers who is who and he remembers everybody’s pitch.”

The paper goes on:

Murtha, the largest recipient of defense-industry contributions, had star power in the industry even before he became the chairman. Murtha, Thomson said, devotes personal attention to the ins and outs of the show.

In just three months this year Murtha raised more than $733 million, the largest amount of anyone on the committee and six times more than he raised in the same period two years ago.

More than 80 percent of the contributors have business before Murtha’s defense panel, according to data gathered by watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense. Among the largest donors is DRS Technologies with $21 million. A unit of DRS (DRS Laurel technologies) is based in Johnstown.

Eager to see for myself just how business is done at Murtha-fest, I contacted the Showcase for Commerce ten days ago to get my name on the press list for the General Dynamics-sponsored breakfast with Murtha on the final day of the show. There was only one problem: I was told that access to the breakfast had to be cleared by Murtha’s office, as would any waiver for the $300 registration fee. Well, that was more than a week ago. I called back today to check on the status: the breakfast is sold out. Heavy-handed? Nah.

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