Washington U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks has announced he will retire from his 6th Congressional District seat at the end of the year.
The 71-year-old Dicks, who has served 18 terms in Congress, is the top Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Dicks earned a reputation over the years as an inside player, popular with Democrats and Republicans alike on the panel.
Dicks said he’s particularly proud of the work he’s done to protect the waters of Puget Sound and Hood Canal and help restore the downtowns of Tacoma and Bremerton, the main cities in his district. And he said his most recent term has been very productive, pointing to the U.S. Air Force decision last year to have Boeing build its new fleet of aerial refueling tankers. The $35 billion contract was a big plus for the Seattle-area economy.
Dicks was a guard and linebacker at the University of Washington, playing on a Rose Bowl team in 1961. He graduated with a degree in political science in 1963, then got a law degree from UW in 1968. (AP)
