North Olympic Peninsula Congressman Norm Dicks is one of three Pacific Northwest members of Congress named Wednesday to a new House committee overseeing homeland security.
Dicks, D-Bremerton, said he was pleased at his new assignment, which came as something of a surprise.
“The state of Washington, with our ports and Boeing and Microsoft and . . . defense bases and dams, has a number of potential targets, and we need to do a lot of work,”‘ Dicks said.
“I want to do my part based on 24 years on Defense appropriations (committee) . . . to make sure this agency is doing what it needs to do to protect the American people,” he said. “My initial impression is we are not doing enough in this area. We need to beef up resources.”
Joining Dicks on the high-profile panel, which will oversee a range of national security issues, from assessments of terrorist threats to activities of the U.S. Coast Guard, are Reps. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. Dunn will be vice chairwoman.