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. He won re-election 17 more times and only got less than 58% of the vote in a November general election once (1980). That year, he defeated Republican nominee Jim Beaver 54% to 46%, the lowest winning percentage and margin of victory in his career. 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 became a "powerful . . . senior Democrat" on that committee. He also served for 8 years on the House Intelligence Committee. As a member of Congress, he was known as a close friend of
Al Gore. On March 28, 1981, Norm Dicks attended the christening of the
USS Bremerton (SSN 698) along with U.S. Senator
Henry M. Jackson. 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. 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. Recently, Congressman Dicks was given the 2008 Ansel Adams Conservation Award by
The Wilderness Society, and in 2010, Congressman Dicks was the first recipient of Washington non-profit Long Live the King's annual Lifetime Achievement Award in Salmon Conservation. 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". In 2008 the
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation awarded Congressman Dicks its Naval Heritage Award for his support of the
U S Navy and military during his terms in Congress on the Appropriations Committee. 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 increases both civil and criminal penalties for trademark and
copyright infringement. It has created a new executive branch office, the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative (USIPER). In addition to fines, preliminary punishments involve the seizing of unlicensed copies and the devices on which the copies are stored. 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. • 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. in 2010.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Appropriations (Ranking Member) • As ranking member of the full committee, Rep. Dicks was entitled to 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 ==Retirement and ongoing civic engagement==