Dingell retiring from Congress:
'It's time to cash it in'
February 24, 2014 at 9:00 am
Nolan Finley
The Detroit News
Rep. John Dingell is
leaving the Congress he’s served for longer than anyone else in United States
history.
At a luncheon Monday in his
beloved Downriver, the Dearborn
representative says he will announce he won’t seek re-election this fall to the
seat he’s held since 1955.
“I’m not going to be carried out
feet first,” says Dingell, who will be 88 in July. “I don’t want people to say
I stayed too long.”
Dingell says his health “is good
enough that I could have done it again. My doctor says I’m OK. And I’m still as
smart and capable as anyone on the Hill.
“But I’m not certain I would have
been able to serve out the two-year term.”
More than health concerns, Dingell
says a disillusionment with the institution drove his decision to retire.
“I find serving in the House to be
obnoxious,” he says. “It’s become very hard because of the acrimony and
bitterness, both in Congress and in the streets.”
That’s a jarring assessment from a
man who last summer surpassed the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd as the
longest-serving member of Congress.
But he says poisonous partisanship
and a growing disregard for serving the interests of the people have taken the
joy out of the job.
“This is not the Congress I know
and love,” he says. “It’s hard for me to accept, but it’s time to cash it in.”
The question now becomes who will
succeed Dingell. He won the seat at age 29 after the death of his father, a
Depression-era New Dealer who served the district for 20 years.
An open congressional seat draws
lots of interest. It’s no secret the congressman would like to see the Dingell
tenure continue. While she won’t announce her candidacy Monday, his wife of 38
years, Debbie, a Democratic National Committee member and former General Motors
executive, will almost certainly run.
“We’ve accomplished a lot
together,” Dingell says. “I couldn’t have done it without her. She’s been my
guide, my counsel, my friend and my closest adviser.”
Dingell is not only the
longest-serving congressman, but also one of its most influential — and at one
time its most feared. As chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce
Committee, he expanded its investigative reach and was noted for grueling
interrogations of government contractors.
“We investigated millions of
dollars of thievery from the federal government,” he says.
Dingell was a champion of the auto
industry, but also an advocate for the environment, writing the clean air and
water bills and helping obtain thousands of acres for parks and preserves. He
cites those as his greatest accomplishments, along with civil rights, food and
drug safety, immigration reform and finally, the Affordable Care Act. He views
the health care reform law as a tribute to his father, whose primary cause was
universal health care.
“I’ve done most of what I came to
do,” he says. “You’re never satisfied. But I know I’ve done the best I could.”
Dingell had wrestled with his
decision for most of the winter. I talked to him extensively about his plans in
January, and I felt then he was leaning toward leaving.
But earlier this month Henry
Waxman, the ranking minority member on Energy and Commerce, announced his
retirement, putting Dingell in line to reclaim that position in the next
Congress, or perhaps the chairmanship should Democrats take the House.
Several of his colleagues pledged
their support, and Dingell was tempted to go for it to assuage a deep wound
Waxman and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi inflicted in 2008, when they orchestrated
his defeat as chairman. That was the low point of Dingell’s career.
But in the end, the realities of
age and the desire to decide his own exit won out.
“I’m not the man I was,” he says.
“I’m not sure how long the good Lord is going to give me.”
John Dingell has done an
extraordinary lot with the time he’s been given so far, and says he won’t fade
away.
“I’ll be around,” he says. “There
are still some things I’d like to take on.”
John Dingell
John
D. Dingell is a member of the U.S.
House of Representatives, and an honorary co-chair for the Third
Way.
Note: NY Times: Obama to Propose Shrinking Military to
'Pre-World War II Level' (Past Research for the Third Way)
Monday, February 24, 2014
William
M. Daley is a trustee at the Third Way,
a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and was the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
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