Norm Dicks 'not interested' in possible Interior post
U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks is not interested in becoming secretary of the interior, said his spokesman, George Behan.
Responding to a Peninsula Daily News inquiry following an NBC News report Friday that the retiring congressman is on a short list for a Cabinet appointment should current Interior Secretary Ken Salazar step down, Behan said about Dicks:
"He's flattered by it but is not intending to be Interior secretary.
"He just completed his public service career. He's turning the page."
Dicks is retiring at the end of this year after 18 terms in Washington. He is being succeeded by Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, a former state senator who was elected in November.
Behan said Dicks' 36 years on the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee made Dicks' name a source of speculation.
There has been no official inquiry from the White House about his availability, Behan added.
"This is just speculation in the press," he said.
That speculation was fueled Friday afternoon by a report from NBC News that Dicks and departing Gov. Chris Gregoire are under consideration, along with North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, also a Democrat.
There are numerous reports out of Washington, D.C., that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar may be leaving his post at the beginning of the second Obama term.
Since obtaining the North Olympic Peninsula in his congressional district in a 1992 redistricting move, Dicks has overseen the funding and demolition of the Elwha River dams, which have been under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department via Olympic National Park for more than a decade.
Gregoire, before she was elected governor and, before that, state attorney general, was director of the state Department of Ecology.
Responding to a Peninsula Daily News inquiry following an NBC News report Friday that the retiring congressman is on a short list for a Cabinet appointment should current Interior Secretary Ken Salazar step down, Behan said about Dicks:
"He's flattered by it but is not intending to be Interior secretary.
"He just completed his public service career. He's turning the page."
Dicks is retiring at the end of this year after 18 terms in Washington. He is being succeeded by Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, a former state senator who was elected in November.
Behan said Dicks' 36 years on the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee made Dicks' name a source of speculation.
There has been no official inquiry from the White House about his availability, Behan added.
"This is just speculation in the press," he said.
That speculation was fueled Friday afternoon by a report from NBC News that Dicks and departing Gov. Chris Gregoire are under consideration, along with North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, also a Democrat.
There are numerous reports out of Washington, D.C., that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar may be leaving his post at the beginning of the second Obama term.
Since obtaining the North Olympic Peninsula in his congressional district in a 1992 redistricting move, Dicks has overseen the funding and demolition of the Elwha River dams, which have been under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department via Olympic National Park for more than a decade.
Gregoire, before she was elected governor and, before that, state attorney general, was director of the state Department of Ecology.
He will become a lobbyist, this way he can screw the public without oversight.
"He just completed his public service career. He's turning the page."
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Turning the page?
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Great! Now... 899 more pages to go on that Obamacare tingy.
I'm confused Norm...When did you get tired of dicking the people?
Pension plan, health bennies, and retirement quota met? Paid by taxpayers?
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Good job.
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"Norm Dicks 'not interested"
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That's OK, I'm not interested in a corrupt career politician.
He knows the U.S. is going to be attacked...in his last few public interviews, he disclosed this vaguely. Rumor floating around military that Russia and China have planned a "pearl harbor' style attack on America if Iran or Syria is invaded by U.S. Many affluent Americans have left or are leaving for safety.
@Yeswecan2012 Um, that sounds like the plot to the new Red Dawn movie.
 @Yeswecan2012 Good of you to keep that "rumor" alive, just like Elvis
 @al_wa  What? I had lunch with Elvis just a few days ago. He's back from Venus and will be mounting a comeback soon.
Interesting...Most politicians would jump at a chance at this.Unless he is hiding something or somethings.What are you hiding Norm?
@grog: Having spent the last 36 years in the US House of Representatives he would be a shoo-in for just about any post Obama would nominate him for. Hiding something? Those guys in Washington know more about Dicks that he knows about himself.
@grog Maybe he's just tired of politics... who can blame him? Â
Politics, a world where turds float to the top.