Dan Kildee: “I thank the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, as a freshman, I have learned to be brief, and I will be brief. Coming from…”

“I thank the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, as a freshman, I have learned to be brief, and I will be brief. Coming from Michigan and growing up in a political family and actually succeeding my own uncle, Dale Kildee, in this seat, one would think that Dale is the first Congressman that I really knew, but if you are from Michigan and you were born any time after the middle of the 1950s, John Dingell is the first Congressman that we knew. He was a strong voice for our State, and he was really the picture of a Member of Congress for so many years. His longevity is obviously remarkable, but it is what John did and stood for that is most remarkable over his long tenure. He first was a witness to history in this place when 73 years ago this past Monday, his father was here and he was a page, he sat and watched Franklin Roosevelt give that famous speech on December 7. He made history in this body. I remember just a few months ago watching on C-SPAN, as I do occasionally, and watching the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and watching John Dingell stand there and receive a pen from President Johnson as that act was signed into law. I sat with him the next day and discussed that time in our history and realized what an amazing privilege I have been given to serve in the same body with John Dingell. He is a witness to history, and he made history, but more importantly, for 59 years, John Dingell was on the right side of history. Look at his record.…”