John Dingell, longest-serving congressman in U.S. history, turns 90

Michigan Radio ^ | 7/8/2016 | LEV FACHER

[Borges]

John Dingell turns 90 today, meaning he's spent barely over one-third of his life not representing Southeast Michigan in Congress.

With 59 years of service, Dingell remains the longest-serving congressman in the history of the United States. His wife, Debbie, succeeded him as the representative from Michigan's 12th Congressional District when he retired in 2014.

Dingell is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in recent years has developed a cult following on Twitter -- not exactly a hotbed of octogenarian politicians.

In honor of Dingell's birthday, greetings are pouring in from around the country. Among the more noteworthy was this one from Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who invited Dingell to come to Washington, D.C., so he could hunt squirrels on the Capitol lawn.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I wish Trump would talk about term limits.

He can talk about them. But short of a Constitutional Amendment there's not very much he can do about them. The time would be better spend on issues he can actually do something about.

[Buckeye McFrog]

As someone who was redistricted into Mike Doyle’s district (D-PA) I feel your pain.

[D_Idaho]

I wonder how many people know that he took over the congressional seat from his father who represented the district from 1933 until Junior replaced him. 80 years of... uh, service from this family. Right.

[j.havenfarm]

Ding. Ding. Ding. Well done, FRiend. You beat me to it, and get an automatic “A” in political history for this semester.

[cashless]

Thank you Newt Gingrich for not spending the political capital or having the political will to pass the 2 most critical parts of your Contract with America, namely 1) TERM LIMITS (where a Dingle, a Rangel, a Pelosi, a Reid, a Durbin, or a Schumer would be impossible and 2) a balanced budget amendment that maybe would have kept us from being $17 trillion in debt and the lowest labor participation rate in over 40 years. You are such a loser, to coin a phrase.

[equaviator]

Senator Dingelberry.

[hattend]

With 59 years of service graft, corruption, malfeasance,

Fixed it

[fivecatsandadog]

RIP ..... eventually.