John Dingell to retire

The longest serving member of the House of Representatives (currently, AND in House history) is announcing his retirement. John Dingell has served in the House since 1955. He was elected in a special election for the seat his father had held since 1932. Whilst studying for his law degree he served as a Capitol elevator operator.

Procedure or Policy?

Not unreasonably, many politicians think that policy is more important than procedure. Procedure is for the "geeks", the (slightly) obsessed individuals who take great pleasure in things that bore the rest of us rigid.

But smart politicians (or students of the legislative process) don't think that way. As John Dingell once said "I'll let you write the substance . . . and you let me write the procedure, and I'll screw you every time." The outcomes of any policy process is often determined by the procedure that is followed. Understand the procedure - and you can be alerted to the ploys of your opponents - and how to defeat them. (See my post of October 2009)

Rules matter - and so today I am posting the C-SPAN video of the debate that was held at the start of the current Congress on the House of Representatives rules. In coming weeks, I'll be looking at some of those rules - and their significance.

The Oldest Living Congressmen

There are two former Congressmen - William Walsh (pictured - Dec 2009) and Perkins Bass, who are both aged 98. They also are both fathers of Congressmen! A list on Wikipedia (OK it's a source to be taken with a great pinch of salt - I once found a claim that the Peer who I sat next to was the Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords - he was surprised as I was by this news - which had no basis in fact - but the article cites both the Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present and the The Political Graveyard as sources - I haven't fully checked out the raw data, but am prepared - as long as no one relies on the claims - to accept it) - lists the 100 oldest surviving members of Congress - the 100th oldest is 85 years, & 283 days.

Perkins Bass first sat in the House of Representatives on January 3, 1955 - later that year John Dingell - who still sits in the House, joined him (though Bass is a Republican and Dingell a Democrat). Lord Glenamara, better known to most people as Ted Short, is still alive and a member of the House of Lords (I've not seen him there, but he has a Life Peerage) was also born in 1912.

What to do?

An article in yesterday's Washington Post highlights the dilemmas that elected politicians and their families can face. John Dingell represents a district in Michigan - the home of the American auto industry. He has throughout his career (which began in 1956) advocated the interests of his district (as all of us would expect of our representative).

In 1979 he met Debbie Insley, who worked for GM Motors. They married in 1981. She did not go to work for Representative Dingell (a practice now being stopped in the UK & European Parliaments). Debbie Dingell voluntarily stepped down as a registered GM lobbyist. Representative Dingell said "Her instincts were good enough that she just assumed that wouldn't work, so she terminated that...I never had to raise it." In the Article she says "I stayed at GM so no one could say I got my job because of my husband." No doubt there are many firms who would have loved to have employed the wife of a senior congressman.

When the stock value of GM stock fell precipitously before it eventually declared bankruptcy, "Debbie Dingell was caught in a dilemma. Selling her stock earlier would have opened questions of whether she was motivated by insider information from her husband or her company. So she kept the stock as her husband fought to rescue GM -- and skeptics cast his actions as a battle to save their personal fortune.

"No matter what, people were going to say something," she said.

"Frankly, she rode that stock right into the ground," John Dingell said. "She did that because she had to." "

We expect higher standards of those in public life than we do of those in the private sector. The media who "expose" the actions of those in public service do not have to, nor do they, live by similar standards. Thomas Frank in his book "The Wrecking Crew" notes that the biggest houses in Northern Virginia do not belong to the politicians and public servants - but to the representatives of business. Sometimes those who have spent their lives serving the public face dilemmas in which they lose whatever they do.

A New Record of Service

Today John Dingell will become the longest serving Representative in history. He will surpass former Rep. Jamie Whitten (D-Miss.), who served from Nov. 4, 1941 until Jan. 3, 1995 — a total of 19,419 days. His service amounts to about 24 percent of the entire history of the House of Representatives. (Carl Hayden and Robert Byrd have longer service in both Houses combined)

Congressman Dingell represents the 15th District of Michigan. His website is http://www.house.gov/dingell/index.shtml.

After service in the US Army he began a lawyer. He won a special election to succeed his father as Michigan's 15th District Congressman. He has been re-elected 26 times! Congresspedia has a detailed biography at http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Dingell

House Committee on Energy and Commerce

One of the most interesting battles on 'The Hill' is for the chairmanship of the House of Representative's Committee on Energy and Commerce. The current chairman, John Dingell, is being challenged by Henry Waxman, currently Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

John Dingell is a House veteran, being the longest serving current Member of the House and second longest serving Member in our US history. He is now 82 years old - and served in World War II. He has represented Michigan (the boundaries of his district have changed many times) since 1955. He retook the chairmanship of Energy & Commerce in 2007, when the Democrats gained a majority in the House, having previously served as Chairman from 1981-1995.

Roll Call reports that "House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) on Friday sought to put more weight behind his bid to hang on to his gavel, releasing the names of 26 lawmakers making up the “first round” of his whip team." Representative Dingell's House website can be found at http://www.house.gov/dingell/

Henry Waxman is regarded as one of the most influential liberal members of the House. He represents California's 30th district and has been a congressman since 1975. He previously served as a subcommittee chair of Energy & Commerce. A Time magazine article about him in 2006 was titled "The Scariest Guy in Washington". - http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562974,00.html. His website is http://www.house.gov/waxman/

This battle of the Titans is attracting much interest on the Hill. The committee is one of the most important in the House. Its website is http://energycommerce.house.gov/. It has a very wide remit and has been in continuing existence (albeit with name changes) for 213 years.