H. Res. 120 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
February 11, 2019. 
Whereas the death of former chairman of the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, Representative John David Din-
gell, 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 Con-
gressional 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
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his father was elected to serve in the Seventy Third Con-
gress; 
Whereas John Dingell was fiercely proud of his Polish-Amer-
ican 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 par-
ticipation 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 wit-
ness President Franklin Roosevelt deliver his iconic ad-
dress asking for a declaration of war against Japan fol-
lowing 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. de-
grees from Georgetown University and then served in pri-
vate 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 sen-
iors, as championed by his father, and worked to secure 
the enactment of Medicare in 1965, presided over its pas-
sage in the House, and was on hand to witness its sign-
ing 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
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Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, 
the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environ-
mental 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 Jan-
uary 3, 1995, and again from January 3, 2007, to Janu-
ary 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
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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 dem-
onstrated his wit, wisdom, and clever commentary on the 
Nation’s politics, while promoting greater civility, patriot-
ism, tolerance, justice, and inclusion; and 
Whereas John Dingell was held in the highest esteem by 
Members of the House from both parties, not only be-
cause 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 pass-
ing. 
Attest: 
Clerk.