"A generation ago constituents were clear in their demands from elected representatives: Bring home the bacon. The Seattle P-I, like most newspapers of that era, was pleased when Sens. Warren G. Magnuson and Henry M. Jackson delivered our "share" of federal appropriations.
The same could be said for Rep. Julia Butler Hansen. The Washington Democrat was the first woman to chair an appropriations subcommittee in 1967 after serving four years on the committee. "Member-to-member pressure is much greater on appropriations than on the authorizing committee," she said in an oral history. "Authorizing legislation is more technical and only a few people get interested in it. But when you get to the money, every member is interested."
Everyone is still interested.
One story Hansen told was about pressure from the Appropriations Committee chairman to trim a spending bill. She replied: "I represent all the states west of the Dakotas, and that's a pretty big piece of real estate." Nice try, but she was still told to shrink the number.
"I went home and thought it over and worked like fury to take some money out of the bill, and I found five projects I could cut," she said. One of those projects was in the chairman's district. The next day he called her up and said, "What do you mean cutting this project?"
She stuck to her guns and said it was the only way to reach the total dollar amount the chairman requested. She prevailed."
Get the Story:
Balancing national interest, local demand
(The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 9/16)
More Mark Trahant:
Mark Trahant: Election system presents few
choices (9/10)
Mark Trahant: Deflation a
threat to U.S. economy (9/4)
Mark
Trahant: 'Prez on the Rez' forum a success (8/27)
Mark Trahant: Is America turning inward? (8/20)
Mark Trahant: Democrats pass on Prez on the
Rez (8/13)
Mark Trahant: Bush tax cuts
come with a price (8/6)
Mark Trahant:
Real estate crisis really about credit (7/30)
Mark Trahant: Science still clear on global
warming (07/02)
Mark Trahant: Sacred
sites must be saved (6/25)
Mark Trahant:
Society is being numbed by dumb (6/18)
Mark Trahant: Creating a world with less garbage
(6/11)
Mark Trahant: A boost of the
unambiguous (6/4)
Mark Trahant:
Economics of immigration reform (5/28)
Mark Trahant: The changing face of America
(5/21)
Mark Trahant: Agree to disagree
about warming (5/7)
Mark Trahant:
Optimism for the newspaper business (4/30)
Mark Trahant: Tribal colleges effective and
essential (4/23)
Mark Trahant: The
global warming debate (4/16)
Mark
Trahant: America's cycles of boom and bust (4/9)
Mark Trahant: Spring cleaning for the government
(3/26)
Mark Trahant: The state of the
changing news media (3/19)
Mark Trahant:
Mismanagement of the Indian trust (3/12)
Mark Trahant: More gloomy prospects for economy
(3/5)
Mark Trahant: An important vote for
Seattle (2/26)
Mark Trahant: America
headed toward credit meltdown (2/19)
Mark Trahant: Doom and gloom on global warming
(2/12)
Mark Trahant: Americans unsettled
over economy (2/5)
Mark Trahant: Too
hard to ignore global warming (1/22)
Mark Trahant: Women finally take their place
(1/15)
Mark Trahant: Raise taxes to pay
for war in Iraq (1/8)
Mark Trahant:
President Gerald Ford and Indian health (1/2)
Advertisement
Trending in News
1 White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
3 Jenni Monet: Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on leave after fatal shooting of Brandon Laducer
4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
3 Jenni Monet: Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on leave after fatal shooting of Brandon Laducer
4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
More Headlines
Tim Giago: A disease that ravages Indian Country and America
EPA unveils Western office to focus on abandoned mine tracking, cleanup
Following McGirt decision, Oneida Nation case continues string of Indigenous court victories
Clara Caufield: Enduring the COVID Pandemic
Native Sun News Today: Authorities target traffickers during Sturgis rally
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn: A state of war?
Native Sun News Today: 'Sovereignty is Real'
Native youth navigate complex, contradictory jurisdictions
President of Oglala Sioux Tribe suspended ahead of impeachment hearing
'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
Tribes, Nevada Guard combine efforts for COVID-19 testing
More Headlines
EPA unveils Western office to focus on abandoned mine tracking, cleanup
Following McGirt decision, Oneida Nation case continues string of Indigenous court victories
Clara Caufield: Enduring the COVID Pandemic
Native Sun News Today: Authorities target traffickers during Sturgis rally
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn: A state of war?
Native Sun News Today: 'Sovereignty is Real'
Native youth navigate complex, contradictory jurisdictions
President of Oglala Sioux Tribe suspended ahead of impeachment hearing
'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
Tribes, Nevada Guard combine efforts for COVID-19 testing
More Headlines