How did Lincoln Davis get that seat on Energy & Water?
Knoxville Business Journal
By Frank Munger
June 15, 2009

For years, Oak Ridge has relied on U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp to help keep those federal funds flowing.

Wamp is strategically placed in Congress, with a seat on the all-important House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee that controls funding for the U.S. Department of Energy.

The eight-term congressman, of course, is running for Tennessee governor and plans to leave his position in Washington. That underscored the importance of Democratic Congressman Lincoln Davis joining the Appropriations Committee with a seat on the same powerful subcommittee as Wamp.

With Wamp gone, Davis presumably will be in a position to look after Oak Ridge's interests.

So, how on earth did Davis, who calls himself Tennesse's rural congressman, manage to land a seat coveted by other congressmen with more seniority?

"I asked for it," he said.

Davis said he went to Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wisc., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and made his case.

"It was a 10-minute conversation that lasted an hour and a half," he said.

Davis said he emphasized his district's federal connections across the region and crossing state lines, noting that 8,000 of his constituents work at Huntsville, Ala., facilities such as Redstone Arsenal, as well as about 2,500 in Oak Ridge, and about the same number at the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma.

With Rep. Bud Cramer's decision last year not to run for reelection in Alabama and Wamp's decision to leave his seat at the end of this term, that could have left these facilities without a representative in a critical position in Congress, Davis emphasized to Obey.

"Someone needs to be there to be sure at the least they're not left out of the funding formula," he said.

Davis said he also explained to Obey that, as a conservative "Blue Dog" Democrat, he had certain principles that might bring him into conflict on some pieces of legislation.

"I've been endorsed by right to life. I've been endorsed by folks on some of the family value issues. There are some issues that I explained to him that I won't compromise my principles on," Davis said. "He said, 'I've got some of the same issues you have.' We just seemed to connect."