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Title
Oral history interview with Drew D. Pettus [Transcript]
Date(s)
- 2002-06-05 (Creation)
Extent
Transcript; 85 pages
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Biographical history
Drew Douglas Pettus was born in Long Beach, California, in 1946. When he was twelve years old, his parents separated and he came with his mother to Bellingham, Washington. He attended Western Washington University in Bellingham for one year, then left school to work on a project for U.S. Representative Lloyd Meeds. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1971. In 1970, he and Mary Catherine May were married. In 1974, he earned a degree from the Northwestern School of Law, then entered into private law practice in Bellingham until 1976, when he joined Meeds' staff as assistant counsel for the House Rules Committee. He then served as chief of staff for Meeds' successor, U.S. Representative Al Swift. Pettus worked primarily on immigration and trade legislation, and helped to author the 1980 Northwest Power Act. In 1989, he returned to private law practice in Washington, D.C., and focused on immigration and environmental law. In 1994, he returned to Bellingham and began his own law firm, which focused on immigration law.
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Scope and content
Transcript. This oral history interview with Drew Pettus was conducted by Michael O'Rourke on June 5, 2002. The interview was conducted as part of the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Project, which documented the history and purpose of the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
In this interview, Pettus discusses his family background and early life in Southern California and Bellingham, Washington, including his education and early political ambitions. He talks about his experience at Western Washington University, his association with U.S. Representative Lloyd Meeds, and his experience at the University of California, Berkeley. He speaks briefly about practicing law in Bellingham from 1974 to 1976, after graduating from the Northwestern School of Law. He then talks about working on Meeds' staff as associate counsel on the House Rules Committee, and describes life in Washington, D.C. He discusses serving as chief of staff for U.S. Representative Al Swift, and speaks at length about his work on the 1980 Northwest Power Act. He talks about the inclusion of fish protection and renewable energy sources in the act, about some of the people who also worked on the act, and about opposition to the act. He also discusses the formation of the Northwest Power Planning Council and the council's accomplishments. He closes the interview by talking about his activities since returning to private legal practice in 1989.
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Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
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- English
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- O'Rourke, Michael (Filmmaker) (Contributor)