Rep. John Dingell made history Friday by becoming the longest-serving member of Congress, notching his 20,997th day in Congress.
The Michigan Democrat surpassing the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd’s record.
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Mr. Dingell commemorated the event with an appearance at the Atlantic Exchange in Washington, where the 86-year-old shared stories about his tenure in Congress and warned that the gridlock on Capitol Hill is diminishing the nation’s ability to “survive the challenges that we confront.”
A member of the House when President Obama was born, Mr. Dingell said that the 113th Congress is the “most snarled up” Congress that he has ever been a part of.
“We are still able to do things, but just barely,” Mr. Dingell said. “I have observed that I would not bring the Ten Commandments up for fear that they would get voted down.”
“There is a real fault here,” he said. “It is in good part the Congress’ fault. It is also in good part the fault of the people. They tolerate this. They send us down here not to compromise or work together. They send us down here to fight.”
Mr. Dingell said that “compromise, conciliation and cooperation are not dirty words.”
“These are the words that our Founding Fathers intended would guide us,” he said.
