U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer is named to House Appropriations Committee

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, January 14, 2015

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, a Port Angeles native, is following in the steps of his predecessor, longtime Congressman Norm Dicks.

As he began his second term in office, Kilmer was named Tuesday to the prestigious House Appropriations Committee.

Kilmer, 41, a Gig Harbor Democrat, represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties — a district Dicks represented for 38 years before retiring in 2012.

Dicks also served on the House Appropriations Committee.

To serve on the panel, Kilmer gave up seats on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

“It will be an honor to serve our region and the nation as a member of this important committee,” Kilmer said in a statement.

“Serving on this committee will enable me to have more impact for our region — whether making investments that enable communities in our region to compete economically, to protect our natural resources like Puget Sound or to support those who currently serve or previously served our nation in a military uniform.”

The committee is responsible for discretionary spending on government agencies and programs and produces 12 annual appropriations bills.

“It is one of the most powerful of the committees, and its members are seen as influential,” according to www.govtrack.us, the nonpartisan legislative tracking website.

Kilmer will be the only Democrat from the Pacific Northwest on the committee.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a doctorate from the University of Oxford in England.

Kilmer was a business consultant for McKinsey & Co. of Seattle before working for a decade for the Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County.

He served in the Washington state House from 2005-2007 and the state Senate from 2007 to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012.

“This is a huge deal for our region,” Dicks said in the news release. “Having spent my congressional career on this committee, I can tell you it’s a critical place to get things done.

“Derek will do us proud.”

Said Clallam County Economic Development Council Board President Brian Kuh: “This new role on an essential committee is a great perch to continue his drive to jump-start the economy in our rural communities.”