Honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Honorable John D. Dingell's Service in the House of Representatives

HONORING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HONORABLE JOHN D. DINGELL'S SERVICE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES -- (House of Representatives - December 13, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. PELOSI. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I am proud to join you in co-sponsoring this resolution honoring the 50th anniversary of the Honorable John D. Dingell's service in the House of Representatives. As we celebrated at the National Building Museum before, I am pleased to join you once again in congratulating John Dingell. It is impossible to acknowledge his service and congratulate him for his great leadership without also acknowledging Debbie Dingell, who has been his partner in so much of his life's work.

As I mentioned, Mr. Speaker, you and I had the privilege of celebrating this milestone with Congressman Dingell at an extraordinary event at the National Building Museum on October 26. Something phenomenal happened that night when Republicans and Democrats came together in unity to praise this great man. Everyone in the bipartisan group, President Clinton, Vice President Cheney, Governor Granholm of Michigan, and so many of John's colleagues in the House and Senate, including his chairman, Joe Barton, who regaled us with Dingell stories that night, agreed that John Dingell is an American statesman of the highest order.

President Kennedy could have been describing John Dingell when he said: ``No government is better than the people who serve it. We want the best, we need the best, and we deserve the best.'' For 50 years in John Dingell we have had the best.

To the pages in the room, I want to say tonight we could really be celebrating his 54th anniversary in the House because from age 12 to 16, he served here as a page, the longest-serving page in history. It was as a page in 1941 that John Dingell was standing on the House floor when President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. It was World War II that would ultimately call him to service.

He served in the Army with distinction, rising to the rank of second lieutenant. John would later say of his service, ``It taught me the meaning of discipline and respect, two qualities which I believe are key to success in the United States.'' It also began a public life dedicated to making America strong both at home and abroad.

A member of the Greatest Generation, John Dingell applied his brilliant mind, his great judgment, and his broad vision to making the future better for generations to come. John always made clear that a strong America had to be a healthy America. Continuing a tradition his father began, in every Congress he has introduced a bill for universal national health insurance. Because of his tireless work in securing health care for the elderly, John presided in the House in 1965 when Medicare was passed into law. The gavel he used that day still sits on his desk. He was a very young man at the time, still is.

As part of his focus on future generations, John was one of the first elected officials to link public health with environmental health, and he has had a hand in almost every major environmental legislation of the past 40 years. He has done as much to clean up government as he has to clean up the environment. For the last 50 years, Federal agencies have checked their mail with one eye squinted open hoping they have not received what became known as ``Dingell-grams.''

In the 1980s, the EPA even had an employee whose sole responsibility was responding to Chairman Dingell's inquires, and it was recognized that her job was not an easy one. To work alongside John Dingell is to be inspired by the history of our institution and humbled by the seriousness of our work. John is a giant in Congress and a symbol of continuity.

Fifty years ago on December 13, 1955, John Dingell took over the seat that had been opened by his father. After hearing his father's colleagues eulogize John, Sr., John stepped up and said, ``My father loved and respected the House and all of its Members. If I can be half the man that my father was, I shall feel that I am a great success.''

On this 50th anniversary, we say that we love and respect John Dingell and by any measure his leadership and his success have been unsurpassed. I am sure that John Dingell, Sr., is very, very proud. We may call John Dingell the Dean of the House, as the Speaker has done; but for many of us here tonight he has also been a teacher.

I know I speak for all of the Members of the House when I say we are proud to call John Dingell colleague.

We are all so glad that your lifetime of service continues. The best is yet to come. Thank you, JOHN DINGELL.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov