Joseph M. McDade | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's10th district | |
| In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1999 | |
| Preceded by | William Scranton |
| Succeeded by | Don Sherwood |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1931-09-29)September 29, 1931 Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | September 24, 2017(2017-09-24) (aged 85) Fairfax, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | [1] Sarah Scripture |
| Children | 5[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania |
| Profession | lawyer, judge |
McDade speaks on agreed appropriations for the aftermath ofOperation Desert Storm Recorded March 22, 1991 | |
Joseph Michael McDade (September 29, 1931 – September 24, 2017) was an American politician who was a member of theUnited States House of Representatives, having representedPennsylvania's 10th congressional district.
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McDade was born inScranton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from theUniversity of Notre Dame in 1953, and earned hisLL.B. from theUniversity of Pennsylvania. McDade served a clerkship in the office ofJohn W. Murphy, chief federal judge for theMiddle District of Pennsylvania. He opened his own law practice in 1957. McDade was elected Scranton City Solicitor in 1962.
However, just after taking office as city solicitor, he was elected to Congress as aRepublican. He barely held onto his seat in 1964 amidLyndon B. Johnson's gigantic landslide that year, winning by just over 2,800 votes over James Haggerty. However, he would never face another contest nearly that close, and even ran unopposed in 1990.
In 1966, along with seven other Republican members of Congress, McDade signed a telegram sent to Georgia GovernorCarl E. Sanders regarding theGeorgia General Assembly's refusal to seat the recently electedJulian Bond in their state House of Representatives. This refusal, said the telegram, was "a dangerous attack on representative government. None of us agree with Mr. Bond's views on the Vietnam War; in fact we strongly repudiate these views. But unless otherwise determined by a court of law, which the Georgia Legislature is not, he is entitled to express them."[2]
McDade was a longtime member of theHouse Appropriations Committee. After the Republicans gained control of the House in 1994, he served as vice-chairman of the full committee, chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security.
Unlike most Republicans, McDade had strong ties to organized labor. This served him well, since 60% of the 10th's vote was cast in the heavilyDemocratic and thoroughly unionized city of Scranton.
McDade was conservative on social issues. He was a member of theNational Rifle Association[3] and cosponsored several bills attempting to ban abortion and flag burning.[4] He was also a strong supporter of tax and welfare reform, but also was an opponent of free trade agreements.
Regionally, McDade was the principal advocate for the Tobyhanna Army Depot and was instrumental in establishing theDelaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, theSteamtown National Historic Site, and the National Fishery Laboratory in Wellsboro. The government acquisition ofSteamtown, U.S.A. and spending on the National Historic Site was criticized aspork barrel spending.[5]
McDade retired from the House in 1999. He suffered fromParkinson's disease.[6]
In 1992, McDade was indicted on bribery charges. He was charged with racketeering and conspiracy after allegedly accepting gifts and trips in exchange for allegedly diverting government contracts to specific groups. He wasacquitted after a jury trial in 1996.[7][8] Nevertheless, the indictment resulted in him being passed over for the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee in 1995, even though he was the committee's most senior member. The chairmanship instead went toBob Livingston ofLouisiana, who was first elected to the House in 1977.[7]
Following his acquittal, Congressman McDade sought to restrict the DOJ's attempts to set its own standards for ex parte contacts of represented persons and parties. He also objected to DoJ's view that its attorneys should be exempt from the ex parte contact rules of the states in which they are licensed and in which they practice. See generally Charles A. Weiss, Lawyers Bypassing Lawyers, 28 Litigation, Winter 2002, at 42.
McDade was successful in his efforts to ensure DOJ attorneys adhere to state bar ethics standards. The text of the statutory change he authored, commonly referred to as the "McDade Amendment," is as follows:
For the codified text of this law see 28 U.S.C. § 530B (2000). To see the implementing regulations, see 28 C.F.R. § 77.2 (2006).
The McDade Amendment principally applies to DOJ lawyers but is also applicable to attorneys from other federal government departments and agencies working with the DOJ. See Memorandum for Command Counsels, Office of Command Counsel Newsletter (U.S. Army Material Command, Office of the Command Counsel, Ft. Belvoir, Va.), Dec. 1999, at 52–53.
On January 18, 2007, several years after leaving Congress, McDade was accused by at least three women of "masturbating on the beach and by the pool area of the hotel" at a Florida beach resort in Sanibel, Florida. McDade was charged with first degree misdemeanor of indecent exposure.[9][10][11]
McDade died on September 24, 2017, inFairfax, Virginia, five days before his 86th birthday.[1][12]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 10th congressional district 1963–1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Small Business Committee 1979–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Appropriations Committee 1991–1995 | Succeeded by | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
