Norman DeValois Dicks (born December 16, 1940) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for , between 1977 and 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.2003-2004 Official Congressional Directory: 108th Congress
/ref> His district was located in the northwestern corner of the state, and includes most of

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

. He retired at the end of the 112th Congress. He currently serves as Senior Policy Advisor at the law and public policy firm Van Ness Feldman LLP. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States House of Representatives from the state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Early life, education, and early political career

Norm Dicks was born and raised in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...

. His family attended Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Bremerton, and he was confirmed there as a teenager. He attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where he was a linebacker on the

Huskies Husky is a general term for a type of dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team and was a member of

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869. Since its founding, Sigma Nu has chartered more than 279 chapters across the United States and Ca ...

fraternity. He earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

and a J.D. degree there. After college, he became legislative and administrative assistant to long-serving

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Warren G. Magnuson of Washington.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1976, incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative

Floyd Hicks Floyd Verne Hicks (May 29, 1915 – December 1, 1992) was an American politician and attorney who served as an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court and member of the United States House of Representatives. Background Hicks was born ...

decided to retire to run for a

Washington State Supreme Court The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. Justices must retire ...

seat. Dicks qualified for the general election via the

blanket primary The blanket primary is a system used for selecting political party candidates in a Partisan primary, primary election, used in Argentina and historically in the United States. In a blanket primary, voters may pick one candidate for each office wit ...

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 The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Co ...

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 Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

. On March 28, 1981, Norm Dicks attended the christening of the USS Bremerton (SSN 698) along with U.S. Senator

Henry M. Jackson Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington (state), Washington. A Cold W ...

. On October 10, 2002, Norm Dicks was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the

invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

but later changed his position and supports an end to the war. With

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

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

. On June 9, 2007, he presented the 132nd commencement speech at the

. 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 An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

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 Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (PRO-IP Act of 2008, , , ) is a United States law that increases both civil and criminal penalties for trademark, patent and copyright infringement. The law also esta ...

. The

increases both civil and criminal penalties for trademark and

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

. 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 FISA Amendments Act of 2008, also called the FAA and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008, is an Act of Congress that amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It has been used as the legal basis f ...

. The bill would provide

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

for

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

Verizon Communications Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

and other U.S. telecommunications companies against 40 lawsuits alleging that they violated customers'

privacy rights The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the global ...

by helping the government's NSA electronic surveillance program conduct a warrantless

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

ing program after the

September 11th attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The bill also sought to: *Require

FISA court The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), also called the FISA Court, is a U.S. federal court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests for surveillance warrants aga ...

permission to

wiretap Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

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 Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information. Etymology The verb ''eavesdrop'' is a back-formation from the noun ''eave ...

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. Norman Dicks with Soldier

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

When deciding to retire from Congress in 2012, Dicks said his biggest regret was voting for the Iraq War. "I'm still glad

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

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 A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

, I don't think Congress would even have been asked to vote on that." In 2013, the former congressman joined the board of the Seattle non-profit Long Live the Kings as an Ambassador to a new U.S./Canada partnership, the Salish Sea Marine Survival project, stating that: "Efforts like the joint US/Canada Salish Sea Marine Survival Project promise to fundamentally change our knowledge about salmon and steelhead in saltwater; filling a crucial information-gap that has inhibited the progress of recovery." In 2014, Dicks was elected to the board of directors of the

National Bureau of Asian Research The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) is an American non-profit research institution based in Seattle, Washington, with a branch office in Washington, D.C. NBR brings together specialists, policymakers, and business leaders to examine e ...

Electoral history

, + : Results 1976–2010 ! Year ! ! Democrat ! Votes ! % ! ! Republican ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - ,

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 137,964 , , 73% , , , Robert Reynolds , , 47,539 , , 25% , , , Michael Duane , , U.S. Labor , , 2,251 , , 1% , , , , , , , - ,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 71,057 , , 61% , , , James Beaver , , 43,640 , , 37% , , ! style="background:#aa0000; ", Mary Smith , ! style="background:#aa0000; ", Socialist Workers , ! style="background:#aa0000; ", 2,043 , ! style="background:#aa0000; ", 2% , , , , , , , - ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 122,903 , , 54% , , , James Beaver , , 106,236 , , 46% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 89,985 , , 63% , , , Ted Haley , , 47,720 , , 33% , , , Jayne Anderson , ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, align="right" , 6,193 , align="right" , 4% , , , , , , , - ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 124,367 , , 66% , , , Mike Lonergan , , 60,721 , , 32% , , , Dan Blachly , ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, align="right" , 2,953 , align="right" , 2% , , , , , , , - ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 90,063 , , 71% , , , Don McDonald , , 36,410 , , 29% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 125,904 , , 68% , , , Kevin Cook , , 60,346 , , 32% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 79,079 , , 61% , , , Bert Mueller , , 49,786 , , 39% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 152,933 , , 69% , , , Lauri Phillips , , 49,786 , , 22% , , , Tom Donnelly , ,

, align="right" , 14,490 , align="right" , 7% , , , Jim Horrigan , ,

, align="right" , 4,075 , align="right" , 2% , , - ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 105,480 , , 58% , , , Benjamin Gregg , , 75,322 , , 42% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 155,467 , , 66% , , , Bill Tinsley , , 71,337 , , 30% , , , Ted Haley , ,

, align="right" , 5,561 , align="right" , 2% , , , Jim Horrigan , ,

, align="right" , 4,075 , align="right" , 2% , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 143,308 , , 68% , , , Bob Lawrence , , 66,291 , , 32% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 164,853 , , 65% , , , Bob Lawrence , , 79,215 , , 31% , , , John Bennett , ,

, align="right" , 10,645 , align="right" , 4% , , , , , , , - ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 126,116 , , 64% , , , Bob Lawrence , , 61,584 , , 31% , , , John Bennett , ,

, align="right" , 8,744 , align="right" , 4% , , , , , , , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 202,919 , , 69% , , , Doug Cloud , , 91,228 , , 31% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 158,202 , , 71% , , , Doug Cloud , , 63,883 , , 29% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 205,991 , , 67% , , , Doug Cloud , , 102,081 , , 33% , , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , , Norm Dicks , , 151,873 , , 58% , , , Doug Cloud , , 109,800 , , 42% , , , , , , , , , , ,

References

External links

Congressman Norm Dicks
''official U.S. House website''
Norm Dicks for U.S. Congress
''official campaign website'' *
Profile
at

SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by prog ...

Norm Dicks Government Center dedication
Eric D. Williams, ''City of Bremerton'', October 24, 2004
Dicks gets greenie award
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', March 31, 2008 * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dicks, Norman D. 1940 births Living people 20th-century Washington (state) politicians American athlete-politicians American football linebackers American Lutherans Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) Members of Congress who became lobbyists National Bureau of Asian Research People from Bremerton, Washington Players of American football from Washington (state) United States congressional aides University of Washington School of Law alumni Washington (state) lawyers Washington Huskies football players 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives