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Tributes came in late Friday and on into Saturday to honor former U.S. Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, who died Friday at his home in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
“Congressman Stark dedicated his life to defending every American’s right to quality, affordable health care,” said U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) in a statement Friday. “Personally and professionally, I was proud to work with Pete to pass the Affordable Care Act, which stands as a pillar of health and economic security in America today.”
Stark, 88, was a congressman from 1973 until January 2013, and represented Alameda, Union City, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and Fremont, plus parts of Oakland and Pleasanton at the time he was unseated by Eric Swalwell.
Swalwell weighed in Friday night on Stark’s death.
“Pete Stark gave the East Bay decades of public service as a voice in Congress for working people,” Swalwell said on Twitter. “His knowledge of policy, particularly health care, and his opposition to unnecessary wars demonstrated his deep care and spirit. Our community mourns his loss.”
Born Nov. 11, 1931 in Milwaukee, Wis., Stark served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955 to 1957 and earned a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1960. In 1963 he founded Security National Bank in Walnut Creek, which eventually had branches in several cities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties and still exists today.
Originally a Republican, Stark – a strident opponent of the Vietnam War — became a Democrat. As a Congressman, he was often blunt, and made controversial and sometimes indelicate statements. But his fellow electeds said he always put his constituents first.
“Congressman Stark dedicated his life to expanding access to quality, affordable health care for all. His tireless work as a leader of the critical Health Subcommittee on the Ways and Means Committee helped safeguard the Affordable Care Act and Medicare from partisan attacks,” U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said in a statement Saturday. “He made a difference in the lives of millions of people across the country, guaranteeing that everyone had access to health care when they needed it – whether through COBRA or ensuring that hospitals treat people seeking emergency care, regardless of insurance coverage.”
A former president also praised Stark.
“Pete believed in the power of government to make a real difference in people’s lives. And he proved it for 40 years,” former President Bill Clinton said in a statement Saturday. “In the White House, I saw firsthand how he worked for an inclusive, peace-loving America, and how
his deep policy knowledge and lawmaking skills helped millions of people – providing health care to workers after they leave a job, ensuring no one can be denied care at an emergency room, and giving coverage to millions of uninsured children and ultimately 20 million of his fellow Americans through the Affordable Care Act. ”
Stark is survived by his wife Deborah, seven children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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Pete Stark was a pathetic member of Congress. He was a complete opportunist, as evidenced by the fact that early on he was a conservative Republican. That just wouldn’t work to get elected in the Bay Area. He became so loony that (even) Nancy Pelosi blocked him from becoming the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, to which he would have risen because of seniority. We thought we would see an improvement when he was replaced by Swalwell – NOT! Swalwell is grossly incompetent, completely full of himself, and is merely Pelosi’s lapdog.
I have to fully agree with Diskman regarding Pete Stark. I’m also surprised at the tribute that Swalwell gave him. Although Swalwell has demonstrated that he is not much better at being truthful. Here’s an excerpt from my letter to the editor back in May of 2012 regarding Stark. “Throughout Pete Stark’s career, his penchant for verbal volatility has been well documented. He once called a black Cabinet official a “disgrace to his race,” accused a female colleague of being a “whore” for industry, and dared another member of Congress who told him to “shut up” to come and fight: “I dare you, you little fruitcake.” That history is one of the chief reasons why House Democrats passed Stark over for the gavel of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in 2010, despite his seniority.
Now he dares to say that his opponent (Swalwell) was provided a platform to attack him on personal issues at the League of Women Voters debate.
Just one more example of Pete Stark simply not telling the truth. In fact, he was the one that falsely accused his opponent of taking “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes; a statement that he was forced to apologize for under the threat of a slander lawsuit. He also accused his opponent (Swalwell) of having a spotty voting record, again a flat out lie that he was forced, again, to apologize for. At the conclusion of the debate, he lashed out at his opponent with a profanity laced sentence reportedly calling his opponent a “f____ crook”..
Even the Chronicle has had enough of him saying “Stark’s disregard for the truth, not to mention basic decency, has been an embarrassing display in Campaign 2012.”
While Stark wasn’t great, and his faults need to be remembered, is his time of passing the appropriate time to do so? If anything, this is when ones merits should be highlighted (their faults remembered). He served his community as a public figure, and regardless of our agreement to his decisions, in his time of death, we should all be respectful of that contribution.