Ullman, Al

Al Ullman, Democrat of Baker, Oregon, represented Oregon’s second district in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1957 to 1981. He was born in Great Falls, Montana on March 9, 1914, and was raised in the Northwest. In 1935 he graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, in political science. He also earned a master’s degree in public law from Columbia University in 1939. Ullman was a high school teacher and a businessman in Baker before his election to Congress. He was also a veteran of World War II, having served with the Navy in the South Pacific.

Ullman was first elected to Congress in 1956, defeating incumbent Sam Coon largely on the issue concerning Hells Canyon on the Snake River. It was his second try for the second district congressional seat. Once in Washington, D. C., he devoted major attention to the development of Oregon’s water resources and the improved management of public lands and national forests. He served on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and was a member of the National Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission.

In 1961, Congressman Ullman was elected to the important Ways and Means Committee. In 1973, while serving as acting chairman in the absence of Representative Wilbur Mills, he led the committee in developing the Trade Reform Act of 1973 and guided other legislative efforts in the areas of tax reform, welfare reform, and national health insurance. He became chairman in 1975.

Ullman was also considered a leader throughout Congress in the effort to reform budgetary procedures. In 1973, he initiated and later co-chaired the Joint Study Committee on Budget Control, leading to major budget reforms. He also served as chairman of the new House Budget Committee in 1974.

In addition, during his tenure in Congress, Ullman served on the Judiciary Committee, the Democratic Committee on Committees, the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation, and many other joint committees and commissions.

Congressman Ullman was defeated in his bid for re-election for his thirteenth term in 1980, though he remained active in Washington, D. C. until his death in 1986.

From the guide to the Albert Conrad Ullman papers, 1957-1980, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)