Now it's perfect! BTTTT!
June 13, 2005
WASHINGTON — When Congress passed the $417-billion Pentagon spending bill last year, Rep. John P. Murtha, the top Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee, boasted about the money he secured to create jobs in his Pennsylvania district.
But the bill Murtha helped write also benefited at least 10 companies represented by a lobbying firm where his brother, Robert "Kit" Murtha, is a senior partner, according to disclosure records, interviews and an analysis of the bill by The Times.
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Kit Murtha successfully lobbied the state for a $1.5-million grant to build the complex, according to his biography on the KSA website.
The lobbyist said his brother played no role in helping secure the money from the state.
However, Rep. Murtha took credit for "introducing AEPTEC to the opportunities" in Pennsylvania, according to a news release issued by his office in April 2004. Several of the congressman's staffers attended groundbreaking ceremonies for construction of the business complex and Murtha, in the news release, called AEPTEC "a great example of the way we're reinventing the region's economy."
In June, two months after the groundbreaking, Rep. Murtha's subcommittee approved the $4.2-million appropriation for an AEPTEC wireless network that supported the Aegis cruiser program.
Stalder said he lobbied Rep. Murtha's office on behalf of AEPTEC.
The company, with sales last year of $22.1 million, paid KSA $20,000 during the first half of 2004 to lobby for the appropriation.