Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the outspoken House appropriations leader who some observers joked should be labeled “D-Boeing,” said Friday he will retire from Congress.
In announcing his decision he highlighted accomplishments including “supporting Boeing programs that employ tens of thousands of Washington workers, including helping to win the contract for the new Air Force refueling tanker.”
Dicks has served in Congress for 18 years, and in January of 2011 took the coveted seat of the lead Democrat, or ranking member, on both the House Appropriations Committee (HAC) and its defense subcommittee (HAC-D).
His departure next year opens the HAC seat to Democrats including Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who is generally friendly to the defense industry and is eyeing the spot.
Moran joined a chorus of politicians, including President Barack Obama, in praising Dicks last Friday for his passion and work ethic.
Boeing [BA], a major employer in Dicks’ state, also issued a statement lauding Dicks for being a “true champion for his district and for all of Washington State.”
“Many Boeing workers are proud to call him their representative in Washington, D.C.,” spokesman Dan Beck said.
“No statement about Congressman Dick’s service would be complete without mention of his invaluable contributions to building a strong national defense for America,” Beck added, also noting Dicks work on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Dicks was outspoken in his advocacy for Boeing in the Air Force aerial-refueling tanker contest, which the company won after many years and legal tangles. When government auditors found fault with a previous contract award to Northrop Grumman [NOC] and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) in 2008, Dicks angrily grilled Air Force officials at congressional hearings.
If “the Air Force doesn’t get it right, I’m going to reserve all my options as a member of the Appropriations Committee to offer amendments and do anything I can to stop this thing from going forward,” he said in a characteristic comment back in June of 2008 (Defense Daily, June 19, 2008).
Dicks’ most-recent HAC-D hearing was last Thursday, on the Navy and Marine Corps’ budget, when he was both jovial with naval officials and blunt in questioning them.
Dicks became HAC-D chairman in March of 2010, following the death of former chairman John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat. The Washington lawmaker became HAC ranking member in January 2011, after the former top HAC Democrat, David Obey of Wisconsin, retired. Dicks held on to the defense panel gavel as well.
Dicks’ role mirrors that of the lead Senate appropriator, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and its defense subpanel. Dicks and Inouye previously clashed over earmark reform. Yet the two worked well together, and Inouye last Friday noted he has known Dicks for more than 40 year, dating back to when he was a staff member for Democrat Warren Magnuson, a former Washington senator.
“The man is a class act and his word is good,” Inouye said in a statement. “You can take what Norm says and put it in the bank.”
Dicks was one of seven HAC-D members that a House ethics panel investigated because of earmarks in appropriations bills. The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct concluded in February 2010 that the eight lawmakers did not improperly earmark funds for defense firms linked to campaign contributions and a former aide’s lobbying shop, PMA Associates (Defense Daily, March 1, 2010).
Dicks said he and his wife “made the decision to change gears and enjoy life at a different pace.”