Irey files to challenge Murtha

Washington County Commissioner Diana L. Irey, an all-but-announced Republican congressional candidate, has taken the first formal step toward a bid to unseat veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha.

Neither Irey nor her media consultant, John Brabender, returned phone calls for comment Tuesday after Irey's name was listed among those having filed as candidates in Harrisburg, and her secretary said she would not be in the Washington County commissioners' office, where she took few questions last week on her pending decision.

"Petitions are being circulated. If I'm going to be a candidate, I will announce. I'm still weighing this. I'm looking at it, and I don't have any other comment," said Irey, 43, of Carroll Township.

At a gathering of Peters Township Republicans Thursday night, she gave a small audience that braved a snowstorm an update about Washington County's new voting machines and a recent redevelopment authority retreat.

Her mention of "a little news story" that she was circulating petitions was met with applause, and she told of appearing with Fox News Network's Sean Hannity and U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., in Cambria County the weekend before last.

"I had a lot of encouragement at that event," Irey said of her parley with Hannity, which also included a stop at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

She said Hannity signed one of her nominating petitions. He's not a Pennsylvania resident, so Irey said she's keeping that page as a memento, tacked to the door of her refrigerator.

"I will be giving you a final decision in the very near future," Irey said of what would be her first run for office outside Washington County, where she has been a commissioner since 1996.

State Sen. John Pippy, R-Moon, was treating Irey's petition drive as a fait accompli at the gathering in Peters Township, which is part of the 18th Congressional District represented by Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, not the 12th, which Murtha represents.

"I'm delighted at Diana's pending decision," he said. "We can send two Republicans to Congress."

Bonnie West of Lawrence, a Cecil Township Republican committeewoman and vice chairman of the county GOP, said of an Irey run for Congress, "I'd be thrilled to death. I don't approve of Murtha's stance against the war in Iraq."

In November, Murtha, a 73-year-old decorated veteran from the Johnstown area, called for an immediate pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. The House Republican leadership forced a vote on the withdrawal proposal, which even Murtha voted against.

"I understand it's going to be a very uphill battle for her, because of the amount of Democrats here," West said.

Murtha, the senior member of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation, was elected to Congress in 1974.

"Even though the 12th Congressional District has a Democratic registration edge of about 150,000, and even though I've defeated 22 opponents, including two congressional incumbents, in primary and general elections during my 32 years in office, I take every opponent seriously," Murtha said through a spokesman Tuesday.

The 12th Congressional District includes about half of Washington County, all of Greene County and pieces or all of seven other counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana, Somerset and Westmoreland.

In the 18th Congressional District, which includes the northern part of Washington County and parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, two Democrats are vying for the opportunity to face Murphy in November.

Chad Kluko, 44, of Monroeville, who won the endorsement of Allegheny County Democrats last month, and Tom Kovach, 44, of Peters Township will square off in the May 16 primary.

Murphy, 53, a former state senator, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2002.

The Stolen Valor Act would make the fake purple hearts a felony.

All seems to be quiet on both accounts now though.

The FR RINO's hate the truth! Maybe they are the FR WINO's LOL

Call to action!
Please help get this bill passed
AND signed into law
BEFORE the '06 elections!

Stolen Valor Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)
HR 3352 IH
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:h.r.3352:

Call or write your media
http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

Write every Senator and Representative.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt?command=congdir

Spread the word far and wide.

This is a no brainer, conservatives control Congress
and the White House

Stolen Valor Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)
HR 3352 IH

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3352

To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to protections for the Medal of Honor, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 19, 2005

Mr. SALAZAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to protections for the Medal of Honor, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Stolen Valor Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that--

(1) fraudulent claims surrounding receipt of the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished-Service Cross, the Air Force Cross, the Navy Cross, the Purple Heart, or any other medal or decoration awarded by Congress or the armed forces damage the reputation and meaning of these medals;

(2) Federal law enforcement officers are currently limited in their ability to prosecute fraudulent claims of receipt of military medals; and

(3) changes to the current statute are necessary to allow law enforcement personnel to protect the reputation and meaning of these medals.

SEC. 3. MILITARY MEDAL PROTECTIONS.

Section 704 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in subsection (a)--

(A) by inserting `purchases, attempts to purchase, solicits for purchase, mails, ships, imports, exports, produces blank certificates of receipt,' after `wears'; and

(B) by inserting `attempts to sell, advertises for sale, trades, barters or exchanges for anything of value' after `sells';

(2) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting `or (b)' after `subsection (a)'

(3) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);

(4) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:

`(b) False Claims About Receipt of Military Medals- Whoever falsely represents himself or herself, verbally or in writing, to have been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States, or any of the service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces, or the ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration or medal, or any colorable imitation thereof shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.'; and

(5) by adding at the end the following:

`(d) Other Medals- If a decoration or medal involved in an offense under subsection (a) or (b) is a Distinguished Service Cross awarded under Section 3742 of title 10, an Air Force Cross awarded under section 8742 of section 10, a Navy cross awarded under section 6242 of title 10, a silver star awarded under section 3746, 6244, or 8746 of title 10, or a Purple Heart awarded under section 1129 of title 10, or any replacement or duplicate medal as authorized by statute, in lieu of the punishment provided in that subsection, the offender shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.'.

"From Ray Funderburk, MOPH

The greatest threat to the sanctity and significance of the Purple Heart comes from the medal's easy availability. Anyone can buy one at flea markets, pawnshops or on the Internet, where Web sites offer the decoration, no questions asked, for as little as $35. An accompanying certificate on onion skin parchment and personalized with your name and any rank you choose costs about $25.

Such commerce in the symbols of American courage and sacrifice would be outlawed by a measure spearheaded last July by Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo.

His "Stolen Valor Act" would make it a federal crime to falsely wear the Purple Heart and other top military decorations, or to even list them on a resume if they were not officially earned.

But the proposed bill now sits in the House Judiciary Committee, and its fate remains unclear.
"We're waiting for the committee to act," said Salazar

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1560750/posts?page=2#2

Any Republican or Democrat politicians who don't get this bill passed is
as guilty as the phonies that this bill targets.

The Swift Boat Vets already proved, beyond a doubt,
that hanoi kerry's 1st Purple Heart is fraudulent.

A US Attorney General can get ALL of hanoi kerry's
records and once and for all prove that the
Swift Boat Vets were accurate and true.

All that has to be done is to get this bill passed and signed into law now, before the '06 election.

Since hanoi kerry will be under indictment he'll
have to sit out the '06 election for his illegal seat
in the US Senate.

AND the best part is that it is a Democrat sponsored
bill that will his downfall.

COSPONSORS(60), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)

Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] - 7/27/2005
Rep Baird, Brian [WA-3] - 7/28/2005
Rep Barrow, John [GA-12] - 7/27/2005
Rep Beauprez, Bob [CO-7] - 9/6/2005
Rep Berry, Marion [AR-1] - 7/27/2005
Rep Boren, Dan [OK-2] - 7/27/2005
Rep Boswell, Leonard L. [IA-3] - 7/27/2005
Rep Boyd, Allen [FL-2] - 7/27/2005
Rep Calvert, Ken [CA-44] - 9/6/2005
Rep Cardoza, Dennis A. [CA-18] - 7/27/2005
Rep Case, Ed [HI-2] - 7/27/2005
Rep Chandler, Ben [KY-6] - 7/27/2005
Rep Cooper, Jim [TN-5] - 7/27/2005
Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 7/28/2005
Rep Cramer, Robert E. (Bud), Jr. [AL-5] - 7/27/2005
Rep Cuellar, Henry [TX-28] - 7/27/2005
Rep Davis, Geoff [KY-4] - 7/26/2005
Rep Davis, Lincoln [TN-4] - 7/27/2005
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 7/26/2005
Rep Gonzalez, Charles A. [TX-20] - 7/29/2005
Rep Green, Gene [TX-29] - 7/28/2005
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 7/26/2005
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 7/28/2005
Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23] - 7/26/2005
Rep Herseth, Stephanie [SD] - 7/27/2005
Rep Hinojosa, Ruben [TX-15] - 7/28/2005
Rep Holden, Tim [PA-17] - 7/27/2005
Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 7/28/2005
Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 7/27/2005
Rep Kline, John [MN-2] - 7/28/2005
Rep Lewis, Ron [KY-2] - 7/28/2005
Rep Marshall, Jim [GA-3] - 11/2/2005
Rep Matheson, Jim [UT-2] - 7/26/2005
Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 9/7/2005
Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7] - 9/14/2005
Rep Meek, Kendrick B. [FL-17] - 7/26/2005
Rep Melancon, Charlie [LA-3] - 7/27/2005
Rep Menendez, Robert [NJ-13] - 10/6/2005
Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] - 7/27/2005
Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] - 7/27/2005
Rep Musgrave, Marilyn N. [CO-4] - 10/17/2005
Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-38] - 7/27/2005
Rep Northup, Anne M. [KY-3] - 9/15/2005
Rep Ortiz, Solomon P. [TX-27] - 7/28/2005
Rep Peterson, Collin C. [MN-7] - 7/27/2005
Rep Pomeroy, Earl [ND] - 7/27/2005
Rep Reyes, Silvestre [TX-16] - 7/27/2005
Rep Rogers, Harold [KY-5] - 9/7/2005
Rep Ross, Mike [AR-4] - 7/27/2005
Rep Ryan, Tim [OH-17] - 7/26/2005
Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29] - 7/27/2005
Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] - 7/29/2005
Rep Strickland, Ted [OH-6] - 9/27/2005
Rep Tancredo, Thomas G. [CO-6] - 9/6/2005
Rep Tanner, John S. [TN-8] - 7/27/2005
Rep Taylor, Gene [MS-4] - 7/27/2005
Rep Thompson, Mike [CA-1] - 7/27/2005
Rep Udall, Mark [CO-2] - 7/22/2005
Rep Velazquez, Nydia M. [NY-12] - 7/28/2005
Rep Whitfield, Ed [KY-1] - 9/20/2005

There is no valid reason why this bill can't pass both Houses of Congress
and be signed by President Bush
BEFORE the '06 elections.

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