John D. Dingell (D-Mich.)

Dingell is as prolific as he is consistent. As of October 20, 2005, he had cast 21,875 roll call votes. But some issues have grabbed his attention more than others.

Despite his age, Dingell, partly because the Energy and Commerce Committee encompasses telecommunications, is technologically savvy. He led the effort to create the anti-telemarketing "Do Not Call" list in 2003 and has stated his intention to look at the issue of net neutrality. His Web site includes "DingellCast" podcasts.

Challenge to Chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee

Dingell was reportedly shocked when Waxman called him just after the 2008 elections and announced his intention to unseat him. Dingell then released a barrage of phone calls trying to shore up support.

The 57-member committee handles one of the largest portfolios in the House, including oversight of energy, trade, telecommunications, Medicare and Medicaid, and consumer protections. And with President Barack Obama promising to make global warming a key part of his presidential agenda, the panel promised to be even more critical in the 111th Congress.

"I think we need new leadership in the committee in order to move a very active agenda being proposed by the Obama administration," Waxman told the New York Times magazine in December 2008, after winning the gavel.

Waxman forfeited his chairmanship of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to seek the new post, first among Steering Committee Democrats and then among the full House on November 20, 2008, 137 to 122.

One key to the battle was Pelosi, who has clashed with Dingell in the past and places more emphasis on immediate environmental action.

The Economy

A big-government Democrat, Dingell has still been accused by his colleagues of putting the interests of automotive makers in Detroit above the liberal goals of the party.

He was a strong voice in favor of a Congressional bailout of the Detroit's 'Big Three' carmakers, but chided President Bush for placing conditions on the help.

"While I applaud President Bush's decision to provide short term loans to the domestic automakers, I have strong concerns about some of the conditions that were placed on these loans. We all want to see the Big 3 restructure and be competitive in the future, but it is irresponsible during a time of economic crisis for the White House to insist that workers take further wage cuts on top of the historic concessions they have already made," Dingell said."No one is asking corporate executives to reduce their salaries to levels similar to that of their Japanese counterparts, and no one required the employees of Citibank or AIG to take a pay cut. I strongly urge President-elect Obama to revisit this issue as his first priority upon being sworn in, and to ensure that assistance to the automakers is provided in a way that is fair to working Americans."

But in fall 2008, Dingell voted in favor of the $700 billion economic bailout package for the financial industry and called for the government to extend further help to struggling automakers.

In that instance, Dingell seemed to be working with Pelosi, praising the Speaker's "courageous and appropriate" support for an auto-industry package.

Health Care

As a tribute to his father, Dingell introduces the national health insurance bill that John Dingell, Sr., once sponsored at the beginning of every session of Congress. Junior has made inroads of his own. While he favors a national health care system - he has said the optimal system is "Canada's, right across the river" - he has settled for taking smaller steps.

He was a proponent of 1999's "Patient's Bill of Rights" legislation that would have allowed patients to sue their healthcare providers. The bill passed the House but not the Senate. He is a vocal proponent of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as women's health measures such as breast and cervical cancer screening. He was strongly opposed to the GOP-favored prescription drug bill in 2003.

The Environment

Dingell has authored or supported the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as legislation on automobile fuel efficiency, safe drinking water, and the transportation of hazardous materials, as well as the creation of North America's first international wildlife refuge in Michigan and Canada.

For his trouble, Dingell receives consistently high marks from the League of Conservation Voters.He also makes time to serve on the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission and the board of the Nature Conservancy of Michigan.

But that has not soothed the suspicions of environmentalists, who think his agenda is too friendly to car companies in Detroit. After Democrats retook the House majority, Pelosi actually established a separate committee to examine global warming and headed by ally Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Dingell was enraged, and called that committee an "embarrassment "and as useful as feathers on a fish." MoveOn.org has run radio ads accusing Dingell of an outdated approach to environmentalism, calling him a "dingellsaurus."

Asked in December 2006 by Grist.org whether he thought global warming represented the biggest environmental threat, Dingell answered: "I don't agree and I don't disagree. I don't know what the biggest one is. Certainly if there is environmental warming, it is a very major environmental problem and it should be addressed."

But in summer 2008, Dingell was busy crafting his own climate change bill. But that's unlikely to get very far after Dingell lost control of his committee.

Pelosi and Dingell clashed when Dingell drafted legislation in summer 2007 that would have prevented her home state of California from limiting the emission of greenhouse gases.

But that same year, Dingell and Pelosi worked jointly to usher in the first changes to fuel automotive standards in three decades.

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