Timothy F. Murphy

Tim Murphy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Mike Doyle
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate from the 37th district
In office January 7, 1997 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Mike Fisher
Succeeded by	John Pippy
Personal details
Born	September 11, 1952 (1952-09-11) Cleveland, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Nanette Missig
Residence	Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania
Alma mater	Wheeling Jesuit University, Cleveland State University, University of Pittsburgh
Occupation	psychologist
Religion	Roman Catholic

Timothy "Tim" F. Murphy (born September 11, 1952, Cleveland, Ohio) is the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the Pennsylvania Senate.

The district includes several suburbs south of Pittsburgh. It includes parts of Allegheny, Washington, Beaver and Westmoreland counties. In the 2010 elections, he won re-election with 67.3% of the vote.

Early life, education, and career

Murphy was born in Cleveland, Ohio. One of eleven children, he grew up in a working-class Catholic family. After graduating from Walsh Jesuit High School, Murphy attended college and graduate school, receiving a Bachelor of Science from Wheeling Jesuit University, a MA from Cleveland State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Upon leaving school, he became a practicing psychologist and a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He also made regular appearances on KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh from 1979 to 1995 as a health care expert.

Books

Murphy is co-author of "The Angry Child: Regaining Control When Your Child Is Out of Control", and "Overcoming Passive-Aggression: How to Stop Hidden Anger from Spoiling Your Relationships, Career, and Happiness", both co-authored with Loriann Hoff Oberlin.

Pennsylvania Senate

Elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1996, Murphy served as chair of the Pennsylvania Committee on Aging and Youth and wrote the Pennsylvania Patient Bill of Rights. Despite claiming to be a fiscal conservative, he pushed for increased public funding for medical research. In 2002, the political website PoliticsPA named him to the list of "Smartest Legislators." He resigned his senate seat on January 3, 2003.

U.S. House of Representatives

Murphy lives in Upper St. Clair, a suburb of Pittsburgh. However, he is listed on the official House roll as "R-Pittsburgh", although his district does not include any portion of Pittsburgh itself.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Environment and Economy (Vice Chair)
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Vice Chair - Environment and the Economy)

Murphy previously served on the Veterans Affairs and Government Reform committees. He is a member of the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership.

Caucus Memberships

• Congressional Arts Caucus

Political Leanings

Despite endorsing Pro-Choice Senator Arlen Specter, Murphy claims to be pro-life. He was previously named a "Hero of the Taxpayer" by Americans for Tax Reform. In his 2010 reelection, he was endorsed by Veterans of Foreign Wars PAC and the US Chamber of Commerce.

On key votes, he opposed both Wall Street bailouts in 2008, the $820 billion stimulus package supported by President Obama, and against the climate change/greenhouse gas initiative bill known as "Cap and Trade." This bill would have had a detrimental effect on southwestern Pennsylvania, who has an energy economy and jobs dependent on coal. The bill, if signed into law, potentially could have resulted in a loss of 97,500 Pennsylvania jobs by the year 2030 and higher energy costs for Pennsylvania families, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.. Murphy also supported the Republican Cut, Cap and Balance Budget, a House earmark ban, and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.

Campaign Scandal

In 2006, Rep. Murphy was confronted by KDKA News reporter Andy Sheehan with evidence indicating his District Office employees were illegally working on his campaign. Congressman Murphy snatches the document from the reporter and refuses to give it back.

Solyndra Scandal

As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Tim Murphy was at the forefront of exposing the approximately $500 million taxpayer funded green energy loan scandals involving Solyndra. In appearances on CNN's Anderson Cooper and Fox News Channel, he highlighted the wasteful spending and political associations involved in the now bankrupt solar panel company.

Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act

Congressman Tim Murphy was the Republican sponsor of the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, along with Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives on September 29, 2010, received overwhelming, bi-partisan support. The final vote was 348-79. The measure seeks to protect American manufacturing and the jobs they create by making China more accountable to its artificially low currency. It would authorize the United States Commerce Department to impose tariffs and countervailing duties against goods from countries with currencies that it deems are undervalued.

Murphy told WDUQ that the goal is to, “protect domestic manufacturers and the steel industry from countries unwilling to compete fairly in the global marketplace.” He added that by tying China's currency to the dollar and not floating its currency on the open market, China can undercut US manufactures by 40%. In other words, manufacturers in China can make and ship products to the US for less than a manufacturer here can buy the raw materials.

The Senate under the leadership of Democrat Harry Reid failed to take up the legislation, and President Barack Obama's Treasury Department failed to label China a "currency manipulator." As a result, Murphy reintroduced the bi-partisan measure in February 2011.

Health Care

Rep. Murphy has served as a Co-Chair of the House Republican Doctor's Caucus since its creation in March 2009. Murphy opposed President Obama's health care reform law, and voted to repeal it in the 112th Congress. Murphy serves on the 21st Century Healthcare Caucus, the Mental Health Caucus, and the Men's Health Caucus.

During the tragic shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Murphy and Mental Health Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) spoke with national media about issues surrounding mental health issues. Both members also held a briefing for congressional staffers with questions on the Tucson shooting.

Traffic accident in Iraq

On November 26, 2005, Murphy was injured during a traffic accident in Iraq while riding in a van along with fellow congressmen Jim Marshall and Ike Skelton. The van swerved off the road to avoid an oncoming vehicle and overturned, injuring Murphy and Skelton. The two were airlifted to Ibn Sina hospital in Baghdad. The driver of Murphy's bus suspected a car riding alongside the bus was a suicide bomber, and drove off the road on purpose.

After an MRI indicated head and neck injuries, Murphy was flown to the US Military's Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany for further tests. These tests indicated no permanent damage. After wearing a neck brace for a brief period, Murphy made a full recovery.

Political Attacks

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington was dubbed by the non-partisan Politico.com as "one of a wave of new groups backed by liberal donors" and is "a vehicle for assaults on largely – but not entirely – Republican targets." On September 16, 2007, the organization released its third annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress entitled "Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch)". Murphy was included on the list. CREW issued their analysis of Murphy's alleged ethical lapses, together with various exhibits which CREW asserted supports their naming him to their list of the most corrupt members of Congress. The reality, however, is that

Political campaigns

2002

In a 2002 PoliticsPA Feature story designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, he was named the "Most Ambitious"

Murphy ran for the newly redrawn 18th Congressional District in 2002. The district had previously been the 20th, represented by four-term Democrat Frank Mascara. However, the legislature re-drew the district after the 2000 Census in such a way that a large portion of Mascara's district ended up in the neighboring Johnstown-based 12th District, represented by 28-year incumbent John Murtha.

The new district lines were harshly criticized, in part because in some areas portions of several neighborhoods—and even streets—were split between districts. In some areas, one side of the street was in the 18th while the other was in the 12th; in other areas, one side of the street was in the 18th while the other was in the Pittsburgh-based 14th District. In the most extreme example, nearly all of Mascara's hometown of Charleroi was drawn into the 12th district, but Mascara's house stayed in the 18th.

After a legal battle, the courts largely upheld Pennsylvania's redistricting plan after some minor modifications. Murphy was a member of the committee that redrew Pennsylvania's congressional map, and rumors abounded that he'd reconfigured the district for himself, even though numerous Democrats were also on the committee. Mascara challenged Murtha in the Democratic primary for the 12th District, since the newly configured 12th was geographically more his district than Murtha's. However, Murtha won handily. This removed a significant barrier to Murphy, and he ran against Democrat Jack Machek in the November election. Even though Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 70,000 registered voters, it was somewhat friendlier to Republicans than the old 20th had been. He won handily, defeating Machek by 20 points.

2004

Murphy was reelected in 2004 by a similar margin over Democratic challenger Mark Boles.

2006

Murphy faced Democrat Chad Kluko, a telecommunications executive, in the November 2006 general election. Murphy won reelection with 58% of the vote to Kluko's 42%.

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2008#District 18

Murphy's opponent was Democrat Steve O'Donnell, a Monroeville health care executive. Murphy won with 64% of the vote.

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2010#District 18

Murphy defeated Democratic nominee, Dan Connolly. Murphy received 161,888 votes (67.3%), to 78,558 (32.7%) for Connolly. Rep. Murphy was reelected for his fifth term in Pennsylvania's 18th district.

Electoral history

Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district: Results 2002–2010

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct
2002		Jack Machek	79,451	40%		Tim Murphy	119,885	60%	*
2004		Mark G. Boles	117,420	37%		Tim Murphy	197,894	63%
2006		Chad Kluko	105,419	42%		Tim Murphy	144,632	58%	*
2008		Steve O'Donnell	116,446	36%		Tim Murphy	206,916	64%
2010		Dan Connolly	77,212	33%		Tim Murphy	158,224	67%

*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2002, write-ins received 13 votes. In 2006, write-ins received 189 votes.

External links

Media related to Timothy F. Murphy at Wikimedia Commons

• Congressman Tim Murphy official U.S. House site
• Elect Tim Murphy official campaign site
• Energy Independence for America
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• YouTube Video from KDKA where Congressman Murphy is presented with documents stolen from his office.
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on Murphy's alleged ethics lapses
• 11/23/2006 Pittsburgh City Paper article regarding Murphy's use of staff to research writers of letters to the editor critical of Murphy

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Mike Doyle	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district 2003– present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Candice Miller R-Michigan	United States Representatives by seniority 217th	Succeeded by Devin Nunes R-California
Pennsylvania State Senate
Preceded by Mike Fisher	Member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 37th District 1997–2003	Succeeded by John Pippy