Biography

In January 2013, Congressman Tim Murphy, Ph.D. of Upper St. Clair began serving his sixth term in Congress representing the 18th District of Pennsylvania, encompassing the South Hills of Pittsburgh and portions of Greene, Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
 
Congressman Murphy relies on his three decades as a psychologist to advocate for meaningful reforms in the U.S. healthcare system. As one of only a handful of members of Congress with a background in healthcare, Tim quickly established himself as a leader on the issue. He is Co-chair of the Mental Health Caucus and a founding member of the GOP Doctors Caucus, giving him a platform to educate other members of Congress and the public on ways to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for all families.

Representing Southwestern Pennsylvania, a world leader in the research, development, and transmission of energy, Congressman Murphy holds a senior position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee as Chairman of Oversight and Investigations. Rep. Murphy also sits on two additional subcommittees: Health and Environment & Economy.

As the oldest-standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, Energy and Commerce has jurisdiction over telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health research, environmental quality, energy policy, and interstate and foreign commerce. Oversight Chairman Murphy is continuing with a vigorous review of the administration’s stimulus spending, implementation of the healthcare law, elimination of government waste, fraud and abuse, and outlining steps to prevent future incidents of food and drug contamination.

In an effort to educate the public and formulate policies to help meet the country’s energy needs through environmentally-friendly, responsible production of natural gas, Rep. Murphy founded the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus. Murphy also formed a bipartisan energy working group tasked with creating a plan to free the United States from dependence on foreign oil. The resulting work product, the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act (HR 787), expedites the exploration of American oil and gas resources, and invests new revenues from leasing and royalties into rebuilding the country’s crumbling roads, bridges, and locks and dams.

As chair of the Congressional Steel Caucus, Murphy also fought vigilantly to curb illegal trading practices, acting as lead Republican sponsor of the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (HR 1276) and authoring legislation requiring taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects to use only American-made steel. Last year, Murphy’s leadership of the caucus was also instrumental in shepherding through a new law allowing the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission to penalize China for subsidizing its exports.

In June 2011, Congressman Murphy was appointed to the Speaker’s Select Task Force on Cyber-security, which was tasked with making recommendations on cyber-security authorities, information-sharing and public-private partnerships, critical infrastructure, and domestic legal frameworks.
 
Legislative accomplishments include authoring the 'Generic Drug and Biosimilar User Fee Act of 2012’  (H.R. 3988), which was signed into law by President Obama in July 2012 as part of a larger Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Reform package. Murphy’s innovative legislation closes a major safety gap in the global drug supply chain and establishes the first-ever program bringing life-saving generic medications to market faster. In addition to requiring the FDA to inspect foreign factories with the same rigor and biennial frequency as domestic plants, Murphy’s bill will add to the $1,000 in savings each senior citizen receives due to access to safe generic medications.

Murphy also authored the Seniors Access to Mental Health Act, which ended the discriminatory practice of charging higher co-pays to seniors on Medicare seeking mental healthcare services. The legislation became federal law as part of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act on July 15, 2008.
 
Most recently, Murphy’s ‘Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers Act’  (SMART Act, H.R. 1063) was signed into law by President Obama. Murphy’s bill eliminates bureaucratic hurdles to the Medicare Secondary Payer program and recoups billions of dollars owed to taxpayers. The new law accelerates the processing of Medicare secondary payer reimbursement from liability and workers’ compensation settlements; removes bureaucratic delays at Medicare that can jeopardize seniors’ benefits; and collects billions of dollars owed by insurance companies to the Medicare Trust Fund.

He also introduced the Mental Health Security for American Families in Education Act and passed legislation into law to get college students suffering from depression or other mental illnesses the help they need before tragedy strikes.
 
Congressman Murphy also authored the Pipeline Safety Emergency Notification Act, better known as “Marc and Chelsea’s Law,” which has improved community emergency notification procedures when a gas pipeline is ruptured.

Before coming to Congress, Congressman Murphy served in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1997-2002. There he penned the state’s historic Patient Bill of Rights and increased funding for medical research, while consistently supporting responsible fiscal management of government to promote job creation and reduce the tax burden on families.

In addition to his work in Congress, Lieutenant Commander Murphy currently serves in the Navy Reserve Medical Service Corps at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda.  There he works as a Navy psychologist with service members with traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress. His ADT has included service with Navy Special Warfare Coronado and on the USS Carl Vinson.

He and his wife Nan now reside in Upper St. Clair and attend St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Bethel Park. They have one daughter, Bevin.
 
Congressman Murphy earned a bachelor’s degree from Wheeling Jesuit University, a master’s degree from Cleveland State University, and his PhD from the University of Pittsburgh.