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Al Ullman

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Al Ullman (March 9, 1914 - October 11, 1986) (full name: Albert Conrad Ullman), was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented the 2nd Congressional District of Oregon from 1957 to 1981. One of the most influential Oregonians ever to be elected to Congress, along with Senator Wayne Morse, Ullman presided over the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means during a period of time in which he was deeply involved in shaping national policy on issues relating to taxation, budget reform, federal entitlement programs, international trade, and energy.

Background

Albert Conrad Ullman, Jr. was born on March 9, 1914 in Great Falls, Montana. As a boy, he was raised in Snohomish, Washington, where his father ran a small grocery store. In 1935, he graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington (where he played football as a running end) with a degree in political science. After teaching American history at Port Angeles High School in Washington for two years, Ullman earned a master's degree in public law from Columbia University in 1939.

Later, from 1942 to 1945, he served as a communications officer with the United States Navy in the South Pacific. After the war, Ullman settled in Baker, Oregon (now known as Baker City) where, having taught himself how to design and build houses, he worked as a real estate developer in the early 1950s.

Political career

Ullman's first success in electoral politics came in 1956, when (following a failed try two years earlier) he was elected to the House of Representatives, soundly defeating the ultraconservative Republican incumbent, Sam Coon. Ullman won by waging a populist campaign focused on issues regarding public power, of which Ullman was a fierce proponent, and disputes over the development of Hells Canyon on the Snake River.[1] During his service in Congress, the vast and diverse Second District -- which included alpine forest, rangeland, and desert, as well as the state capital of Salem, Oregon -- encompassed a geographic area larger than any state east of the Mississippi River. (Pursuant to the 1980 Census, the Second District was subsequently divided into two smaller Congressional districts as a result of Oregon's acquisition of an additional House seat.)

Committees Ullman served on:

  • Democratic Committee on Committees

Ullman, who for most of his Congressional career was viewed as a moderate Democrat, was a thoughtful leader and respected legislator who took a particular interest in economic reforms relating to budget, tax, welfare and health insurance. Among other things, Ullman is regarded as the father of the present-day United States budget process, which for the first time required Congress to reconcile spending with revenues in order to address widespread concerns about mounting federal deficits. In 1975, Ullman ascended to the chairmanship of the House's powerful Ways and Means Committee, on which he had served since 1961 (and as acting chairman since 1973). As chairman, he oversaw the drafting and enactment of numerous major tax reform bills, as well as other key legislation such as the Windfall Profits Tax Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-223), which redirected an estimated $79 billion (according to the Congressional Research Service) of oil companies' excess profits resulting from price deregulation toward support for mass transit, oil price relief for poor families, and the development of alternative energy sources. In striking contrast to the authoritarian style of his predecessor as chairman, Wilbur Mills (D-Ark.), who left Congress after his alcoholism and an affair with a stripper were publicly revealed, [2]Ullman's tenure as chairman was characterized by his marked preference for fostering collegiality and creating consensus among committee members wherever possible.

On many regional issues, Ullman was a de facto leader of the Pacific Northwest's Congressional delegation, along with Senator Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson (D-Wash.) and Representative (later to be House Speaker) Tom Foley (D-Wash.). In addition, Ullman was well known for his longstanding advocacy on behalf of American Indian tribes in Eastern Oregon, which he felt had historically been treated unjustly by the federal government with respect to treaty, land and other issues. [3]

Unfortunately, in the midst of the "Reagan landslide" -- which also led to the defeat of President Jimmy Carter and the Republican takeover of the United States Senate -- Ullman narrowly lost his bid for a thirteenth term from the Second District in the November 4, 1980 general election. (See United States presidential election, 1980.) Ullman's electoral defeat was widely attributed to the nationally prevalent anti-incumbent and anti-government mindset; the presence in his House race of an independent candidate; the increasing conservatism of the Second District; and to his advocacy for a value-added tax similar to that now used in the European Union and other nations as a partial alternative to what he viewed as inequities in the existing Federal income tax system. Ullman was succeeded as chairman in 1981 by Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.), who was forced to resign the chairmanship and leave the House in 1994 in disgrace amid numerous political corruption charges, for which he later served prison time. [4]

After politics

After leaving office in 1981, Ullman remained in Washington D.C. and established Ullman Consultants, Inc., a consulting firm in Georgetown, with his wife Audrey and former members of his Capitol Hill staff. In 1981, Ullman gifted his extensive Congressional papers to the University of Oregon. [5] He moved to Falls Church, Virginia, and lived there until his death on October 11, 1986. He is survived by Audrey Ullman.

References

Tom Bates, "I'm just a country boy," Oregon Times Magazine (Portland, OR: New Oregon Publishers), September 1978.


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