Joseph Paul "Joe" Kolter (September 3, 1926 – September 8, 2019) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

from 1983 to 1993.

Early life and career

Kolter was born in

McDonald, Ohio McDonald is a village in southern Trumbull County, Ohio, United States, along the Mahoning River. The population was 3,172 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb in the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. History The community was named after t ...

.KOLTER, Joseph Paul, (1926 - )
''

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates fr ...

.'' He graduated from New Brighton High School in 1944 and

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848 in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880. It enrolls about 1,400 undergraduates in over 30 majors, as wel ...

in 1950. He served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

from 1944 to 1947.J.D. Prose
Former state lawmaker, U.S. Rep. Joe Kolter dead at 93
, ''Beaver County Times'' (September 13, 2019). He was a New Brighton city councilman from 1961 to 1965, and a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1969 to 1982.

Congress

A Democrat, Kolter was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, defeating incumbent Eugene Atkinson, a Republican who had been elected twice as a Democrat, but switched parties in 1981. He was reelected four times, before he was defeated in the Democratic primary by

Ron Klink Ronald Paul Klink (born September 23, 1951) is an American television broadcaster and politician and who served four terms as a United States Representative from Pennsylvania from 1993 to 2001, as member of the Democratic Party. Early life and ...

in 1992.

Ethics and legal issues

Kolter was implicated in the Congressional Post Office scandal that also ensnared

Ways and Means Committee A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...

chairman

Dan Rostenkowski Daniel David Rostenkowski (January 2, 1928 – August 11, 2010) was a United States Representative from Chicago, serving for 36 years, from 1959 to 1995. He became one of the most powerful legislators in Congress, especially in matters of t ...

of Illinois. He pleaded guilty to conspiring with the House Postmaster to embezzle $9,300 in taxpayer funds and received a six-month prison sentence. Kolter was also fined $20,000 and ordered to pay

restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...

for the amount converted.''CQ Guide to Congress'', Vol. 1 (7th ed. CQ Press), p. 1189.

Death

Kolter died on September 8, 2019, at age 93, in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

.Joseph P. Kolter obituary
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References

External links