Eilberg, Joshua, 1921-2004

Joshua Eilberg (February 12, 1921 – March 24, 2004) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he notably served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district from 1967 to 1979.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Central High School there before earning a B.S. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an LL.B. from Temple University School of Law. After graduating, Eilberg entered the United States Naval Reserve and became a private practice lawyer, later becoming assistant district attorney of the city of Philadelphia from 1952 to 1954. He was elected to the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, serving from 1954 to 1966, rising to the position of majority leader in 1965–1966. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1960, 1964 and 1968, and was the Democratic ward leader for the fifty-fourth ward of Philadelphia.

He was elected in 1966 as a Democrat to the 90th and to the five succeeding Congresses. While in office, he served as the Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and International Law. In that role, Representative Eilberg led a legislative veto to override the Attorney General's suspension of deportation of Jagdish Rai Chadha and five others under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Supreme Court later found the legislative veto unconstitutional in INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983). In 1978, then-U.S. Attorney David W. Marston investigated Eilberg for money he received in connection with a federal grant to Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia. Eilberg lost his 1978 reelection bid, and, three months later, pleaded guilty to conflict of interest charges. He was sentenced to five years of probation and a $10,000 fine.

Eilberg died in Philadelphia and was interred in Montefiore Cemetery in Fox Chase, Pennsylvania.