Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left, and former President Bill Clinton, share a laugh at a Capitol Hill ceremony honoring Dingell (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
by Frank James
"Change" was the rallying cry of last year's general election. Indeed, the desire for a new order is often what drives political cycles every two or four years.
But there are also examples in politics of continuity, the politician who represents decades of accumulated power, knowledge and relationships.
Rep. John Dingell, who has served in the House since 1955, is such a politician, a lawmaker now on his 11th president.
This week, the 82-year old becomes the longest serving House member in the history of the venerable institution. As of Wednesday he will have 19,420 days in the House, passing the previous record holder, the late Jamie Whitten of Mississippi.
So the House paid tribute to him on Tuesday with a ceremony in the Capitol building's Statuary Hall. Former President Bill Clinton was among the dignitaries there to celebrate the man known as the dean of the House. (The New York Times profiled him recently.)
Dingell, who occupies the same seat representing Michigan's 15th Congressional District that his father did, has seen fat years and lean years when it comes to his time in Congress and these days are certainly more lean than than he's been accustomed to.
The auto industry he has championed throughout his career is on the ropes because of the economic recession and stronger vehicle environmental standards he was once able to fend off are now a priority for President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Further, he recently lost his House Commerce and Energy Committee chairmanship to Rep. Henry Waxman of California.
But no one, let alone Dingell, focused on on such things at Tuesday's event. Instead, it was all about Dingell as the new iron man of the House.
Here's a transcript of the speech he gave:
"I want to begin by thanking all those that made this event possible today.
"Thank you to all the staff, the caterers, the Capitol Police and the Sergeant at Arms office for all extra hard work on this event.
"I want to thank all of you for coming and being a part of this special day.
"Jamie Whitten was a tremendous Member - a believer in public works, and his Mississippi district is full of reminders of all he did to help make it better place to live.
"Today, representing Congressman Whitten here is Hall DeCell, his former Chief of Staff.
"I want to thank you for being here and I want to tell you, Mr. Whitten's record will be broken tomorrow, but his legacy and fine work will live on forever.
"A special thank you to the leadership - my dear friend Steny Hoyer, the Republican Leader John Boehner, and the many other distinguished leaders of the House and Senate. Thank you all.
"A special thank you to my dear friend Senator Levin. You are a champion for Michigan and our country.
"Thank you to my colleagues Joe Barton and John Lewis for their powerful words. I am honored to serve with both of you. You are both great public servants and I love you.
"And thank you President Clinton for making the special trip here today. It is honor to be with you Mr. President. You honor us all with your presence.
"And a special thank you to you, Madame Speaker.
"Today you have given me a real honor and I am very grateful.
"You have shown yourself to be a tremendous leader of this institution, and I am privileged to serve with you and to be honored by you here today.
"I also want to thank my family that is here to today.
"I want to take a moment to recognize them, because they are the most important people in my life.
· My little sister, Jule and her partner Bob.
· My brother, Dr. James Dingell with his wife Gigi and grandson James III
· My dear son, Judge Christopher Dingell and his wife Cindy
· My magnificent daughter, Jennifer
· And my nephews, Marc & Robin, Eric, Kirk, Michael, and Debbie's cousin Larry Fisher are all here with me today
· And lastly, the great love of my life. The woman that makes me smile every morning when I wake. My lovely wife, Deborah.
"Mr. President, Madam Speaker, colleagues and friends - to serve in the United States House of Representatives for any length of time - one term or many - is a great privilege.
"To be entrusted to do the people's business is an honor and a responsibility we must never take lightly.
"That I have been so fortunate to do this for more than 53 years is an enormous blessing - a blessing I feel anew every time I walk onto the Floor of the House.
"Never, never have I failed to appreciate the extraordinary wisdom of our founding fathers in designing a system of government that has not only stood the test of time, but which, I am confident, will serve us well in the future.
"My gratitude goes to the people of southeast Michigan who have stood with me, as I have stood with them, these many years.
"It is no secret that I work hard on behalf of my constituents, just as I expect my colleagues to do for their constituents.
"My gratitude goes to the hundreds of colleagues with whom I have served; colleagues who have taught me much, tolerated my imperfections, shared my labors and made me better at my job day after day.
"My gratitude goes to my family, for as those who have served and are serving here know all too well, doing this job properly takes one away from one's family more than any of us like.
"My gratitude goes to my friends, those who are here today, and those who couldn't be here, without whom I may not have had the fortitude and patience to deal with the adversity we all face in life.
"As you know, I was fortunate enough to be raised by a loving mother and follow in the footsteps of my father, who served here for 22 years before passing away while in office. I didn't just love my father, I respected him immensely and have sought to conduct myself as he would have wanted.
"When my father died in 1955 and I came to Congress, the horrific murder of Emmett Till was much in the news.
"A young black man had been killed for no good reason in a manner that only drove home the viciousness of racial intolerance.
"Two years later I had the chance to vote for the 1957 Civil Rights Act, and later to work on and vote for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and then for a succession of other bills meant to achieve racial equality.
"I know we are not finished, but I nonetheless will be eternally grateful I could be here to know and work with our first African-American President.
"President Obama is the 11th President with whom I have served.
"In that time the Soviet Union confronted us as our greatest adversary, and then imploded.
"China emerged from isolation to become our single most important bilateral relationship of the 21st Century.
"The continents of Africa, South America and Asia went through extraordinary political and economy transformation.
"In that time, the lives of the American people went through remarkable change. Technology vastly altered how we eat, how we communicate, how we learn, how we travel, and how we use the earth's resources.
"Most of the change has been for the good.
"For all its flaws, our health care system has improved the quality of life for most of us. But we still have more work to do to improve our system so it works for all Americans.
"The standard of living, despite recent setbacks, has risen dramatically.
"Advanced education is more necessary, and more readily available.
"And we must be mindful of and vigorous in fighting global climate change.
"I am mindful, as we stand here today, that we are a moment of great stress on our economic system, and, consequentially, great stress on the American family.
"We are at war in two foreign countries, and alert to the threat of terrorism. It is, the headlines scream at us daily, a painful moment in the history of this country.
"But I tell you, with the confidence of one who has lived much of our history, who has been through the Great Depression and more recessions than I can recall, as one who remembers Pearl Harbor and 9/11, I tell you I have unbroken confidence in the future of this country.
"We will, yet again, overcome adversity and restore the American dream.
"We will reassert America's rightful place as the leader of free people everywhere.
"I am too old to be naïve and too experienced to dismiss lightly the tasks ahead.
"But as I stand here today I am certain our nation will do better, we will cure our ills, and the future will once again be bright.
"For if I have learned nothing else over all these years. It is that we can have faith in our system of government and ultimately in the American people, whose work ethic and ingenuity rival no other."
Comments
Dingell is the poster child for term limits.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspirator | February 11, 2009 8:42 AM
Wonder hoiw much Political,Donation he collected in al of those years?
Posted by: Inky | February 11, 2009 10:02 AM
"Vast Right Wing" do you still have that poster of Strom Thurmond hanging in your room?
Posted by: Flo | February 11, 2009 10:52 AM
Vast Right Wing Conspirator, I couldn't agree more.
Posted by: GK | February 11, 2009 10:54 AM
Ding, Strom--did not know how to retire gracefully,quit when they were ahead.
However, Ding still had that zing when a few months back he colostomized that twit Bush had installed as head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
That was a take down worthy of Hannibal Lecter himself.
I'm afraid that if the Replican obstruction continues, we will have to see some more take downs like that, even in the criminal context.
After all, the fact is, Replican malfeasance and neglect has brought about the debacle.
Posted by: ornery | February 11, 2009 11:40 AM