Bud Shuster (born January 23, 1932) is an American politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1972 to 2001. He is best known for his advocacy of transportation projects which critics deride as "pork barrel" spending. Shuster was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Glassport, Pennsylvania, Shuster received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1954, an M.B.A. from Duquesne University in 1960, and a Ph.D. from American University in 1967. Shuster served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956. After becoming a vice-president at RCA, he made a fortune when he started his own computer business. In 1972, he defeated a state senator in the Republican primary for Congress and was elected that November.
In Congress, Shuster was one of the opponents of the Automobile Airbag and ran for the position of Minority Whip in 1981, losing to Trent Lott. Shuster chaired the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure from 1995 to 2001.
Shuster was frequently unopposed for re-election. His most notable challenger came in 1984 when Nancy Kulp, the actress who played Miss Jane Hathaway on The Beverly Hillbillies won the Democratic nomination. Kulp, a native of Pennsylvania, had returned to her home state upon her retirement from acting and received support from her friends in Hollywood. This prompted Shuster to recruit Kulp's Hillbillies co-star Buddy Ebsen, a Republican, to record radio spots declaring "Hey Nancy, I love you dearly but you're too liberal for me--I've got to go with Bud Shuster." Shuster would win with two-thirds of the vote and Kulp would never forgive Ebsen, complaining about it bitterly for the rest of her life.
During his time as chairman, Interstate 99 (named the "Bud Shuster Highway" by Governor Robert Casey) was commissioned and numerous other transportation projects were funded. When the transporation authorization bill known by its initials as "BESTEA" was under consideration, his fellow members joked the letters stood for the "Bud E. Shuster Transporation for All Eternity Act" for its many "pork barrel" projects.
Shuster resigned from Congress on February 3, 2001, amid scandal and accustions of corruption. He was succeeded by his son Bill, elected in a special election that May after many critics blasted his Republican nomination as being crooked.
