Norman D. Dicks

Norm Dicks
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1977
Preceded by	Floyd Hicks
Personal details
Born	(1940-12-16) December 16, 1940 (age 71) Bremerton, Washington, US
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Suzanne Callison
Residence	Belfair, Washington
Alma mater	University of Washington
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Lutheran

Norman DeValois "Norm" Dicks (born December 16, 1940) is the U.S. Representative for Washington's 6th congressional district, serving since 1977. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in the northwestern corner of the state, and includes most of Tacoma. Norman Dicks has confirmed he will retire at the end of his current term.^[1]

Early life, education, and early career

Born in Bremerton, Washington, he attended the University of Washington, where he was a linebacker on the football team, the Huskies, and pledged Sigma Nu Fraternity. He earned a B.A. and a J.D. degree. He then became legislative and administrative assistant to long-serving U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson of Washington.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1976, incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Floyd Hicks decided to retire to run for a Washington State Supreme Court seat. Dicks qualified for the general election via the blanket primary and won the general election with 74% of the vote against Republican nominee Rob Reynolds.^[2] He won re-election 17 more times and only got less than 58% of the vote in a November general election once (1980).^[3] That year, he defeated Republican nominee Jim Beaver 54% to 46%, the lowest winning percentage and margin of victory in his career.^[4] His second lowest general election winning percentage is 58%, in 1994 and 2010 (both years when Republicans took back the majority).

Tenure

Elected to the House in 1976, he won a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee in his first term. He is now a "powerful . . . senior Democrat" on that committee.^[5] He later served for 8 years on the House Intelligence Committee.

On October 22, 2004, Dicks cut the ribbon during the dedication ceremony for the Norm Dicks Government Center in Bremerton, Washington. On June 9, 2007, he presented the 132nd commencement speech at the University of Washington.^[6] Recently, Congressman Dicks was given the 2008 Ansel Adams Conservation Award by The Wilderness Society^[7]

Congressman Norm Dicks and Major General Howard S. McGee tour Camp Murray, Washington in 1975.

On June 20, 2008, Representative Dicks voted yes on the controversial FISA Amendments Act of 2008. The bill would provide immunity for AT&T, Verizon Communications and other U.S. telecommunications companies against 40 lawsuits alleging that they violated customers' privacy rights by helping the government's NSA electronic surveillance program conduct a warrantless spying program after the September 11th attacks.^[8]

The bill would also:^[9]

• Require FISA court permission to wiretap Americans who are overseas.
• Prohibit targeting a foreigner to secretly eavesdrop on an American's calls or e-mails without court approval.
• Allow the FISA court 30 days to review existing but expiring surveillance orders before renewing them.
• Allow eavesdropping in emergencies without court approval, provided the government files required papers within a week.
• Prohibit the government from invoking war powers or other authorities to supersede surveillance rules in the future.

On May 8, 2008, Norm Dicks voted yes on H.R. 4279: Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007, sometimes called the PRO-IP Act. The PRO-IP Act is an act that would increase both civil and criminal penalties for trademark and copyright infringement. The purposed act would create a new executive branch office, the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative (USIPER).^[10]

Preliminary punishments involve seizing of pirated copies and the device on which the copies are stored. Hefty fines may also follow.

On October 10, 2002, Norm Dicks was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq but later changed his position and supports an end to the war. With Boeing a major employer in Washington, Dicks has also supported the acquisition of military aircraft on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

In June 2007, Dicks expressed support for a House of Representatives bill that would increase funding for environmental protection, national parks and conservation by approximately $1.2 billion. In support of the bill, he said "The Bush administration has cut the Interior Department budget over the last six to seven years by 16 percent..."It has cut EPA by 29 percent. It has cut the Forest Service by 35 percent. It has devastated these agencies...We are trying to turn the corner, to bring these agencies back".^[11]

When he decided to retire from congress in 2012 he said his biggest regret was voting for the Iraq War. "I'm still glad Saddam Hussein is not there, but I feel we were misled, not intentionally misled, but we were not given accurate information, and if we had known Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, I don't think Congress would even have been asked to vote on that."^[12]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations (Ranking Member)
  • As ranking member of the full committee, Rep. Dicks may sit as an ex officio member of all subcommittees.
  • Subcommittee on Defense (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships

• International Conservation Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• Congressional Arts Caucus

Electoral history

References

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Senator Dodd Speaks in Opposition to FISA Bill on Floor of U.S. Senate

• Congressman Norm Dicks official U.S. House site
• Norm Dicks for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Profile at SourceWatch
• Norm Dicks Government Center dedication, Eric D. Williams, City of Bremerton, October 24, 2004
• Dicks gets greenie award Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 31, 2008