February 11, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 26 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H1506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE LIFE, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE OF 
 JOHN DAVID DINGELL, JR., AND EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES TO HIS FAMILY ON 
                              HIS PASSING

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on 
House Administration be discharged from further consideration of House 
Resolution 120, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House; 
and further, I ask unanimous consent that it be read in full.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Butterfield). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Maryland?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows

                              H. Res. 120

       Whereas the death of former chairman of the Committee on 
     Energy and Commerce, Representative John David Dingell, Jr., 
     on February 8, 2019, brought not only a sense of deep 
     personal loss to his family, including his wife 
     Representative Debbie Dingell of Michigan's 12th 
     Congressional District and his children and grandchildren, to 
     his many former colleagues and friends, but also to the 
     institution of the House of Representatives and to the 
     Nation;
       Whereas John Dingell represented the people of southeastern 
     Michigan with distinction in the House for 59 years, from 
     December 13, 1955, to January 3, 2015, making him the longest 
     serving Member of either chamber of Congress in its history 
     to date;
       Whereas John Dingell's father, the late John David Dingell, 
     Sr., preceded him in service as a Member of the House from 
     March 4, 1933, to September 19, 1955, and his wife Debbie 
     Dingell succeeded him on January 3, 2015, and continues to 
     serve, and Michiganders have entrusted John Sr., John Jr., 
     and Debbie Dingell together to serve as their voice in the 
     Congress for the past 86 years;
       Whereas John Dingell was raised from the age of six in 
     southeast Michigan, his parents' home State, and where his 
     father was elected to serve in the Seventy Third Congress;
       Whereas John Dingell was fiercely proud of his Polish-
     American roots and throughout his life shared the joys of his 
     heritage with others, including delivering paczki pastries to 
     colleagues, House staff, and visitors to the Capitol;
       Whereas John Dingell's first taste of public service and 
     participation in government was as a page for the House of 
     Representatives;
       Whereas John Dingell, while serving as a House page, was in 
     the Hall of the House on December 8, 1941, to witness 
     President Franklin Roosevelt deliver his iconic address 
     asking for a declaration of war against Japan following the 
     bombing of Pearl Harbor;
       Whereas John Dingell was drafted into the United States 
     Army at the age of 18 and served honorably;
       Whereas John Dingell received both his B.S. and J.D. 
     degrees from Georgetown University and then served in private 
     law practice, as a park ranger with the National Park 
     Service, and as an assistant prosecutor before his election 
     to the House;
       Whereas John Dingell was elected to the House following the 
     death of his father in 1955 and was reelected 29 times;
       Whereas John Dingell took up the mantle of advocating for 
     affordable health insurance coverage for the Nation's 
     seniors, as championed by his father, and worked to secure 
     the enactment of Medicare in 1965, presided over its passage 
     in the House, and was on hand to witness its signing into law 
     by President Lyndon Johnson;
       Whereas John Dingell was a crusader for the environment, 
     helping to author and shepherd to passage the Clean Air Act, 
     the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the 
     Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy 
     Act;
       Whereas John Dingell fought to make civil rights a part of 
     Democrats' platform in 1960, standing up to those who 
     believed it would alienate certain voters and declaring that 
     it was the right thing to do;
       Whereas John Dingell was a strong supporter in the House of 
     the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1960, 
     the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 
     1965;
       Whereas John Dingell served as chairman of the Committee on 
     Energy and Commerce from January 3, 1981, to January 3, 1995, 
     and again from January 3, 2007, to January 3, 2009, and 
     served as its ranking minority member during the years in 
     between, making him the senior Democratic member on that 
     Committee for 26 years;
       Whereas during every Congress in which he served, John 
     Dingell introduced legislation to provide universal access to 
     health care, and he invited Speaker Nancy Pelosi to use the 
     gavel with which he presided over passage of Medicare in 1965 
     to preside over the Affordable Care Act's passage in the 
     House in 2010;
       Whereas John Dingell, over the course of his tenure, served 
     with eleven Presidents (Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, 
     Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama);
       Whereas John Dingell served as Dean of the House from 
     January 3, 1995, until January 3, 2015;
       Whereas John Dingell retired from the House in 2015 and was 
     succeeded by his beloved wife, whom he referred to as his 
     ``lovely Deborah'', who carries on his legacy and now serves 
     as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications 
     Committee in the Democratic Caucus;
       Whereas, in 2014, President Barack Obama awarded John 
     Dingell the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's 
     highest civilian honor;
       Whereas John Dingell, both before and after his retirement, 
     gathered a large following on Twitter, where he demonstrated 
     his wit, wisdom, and clever commentary on the Nation's 
     politics, while promoting greater civility, patriotism, 
     tolerance, justice, and inclusion; and
       Whereas John Dingell was held in the highest esteem by 
     Members of the House from both parties, not only because of 
     his record tenure in office but because of his sharp 
     intellect, good humor, congeniality, and belief in working 
     together to achieve consensus through trust and camaraderie: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) honors the life, achievements, and distinguished public 
     service of John David Dingell, Jr.; and
       (2) expresses condolences to his family on his passing.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the consideration of 
the resolution?
  There was no objection.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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