Longest serving US congressman

LONGEST SERVING CONGRESSMAN JOHN DINGELL WILL RETIRE AFTER THE COMPLETION OF HIS PRESENT TERM The 87-year-old Michigan Democrat Mr John Dingell was first elected in 1955, filling the House seat vacated by his late father. He will complete almost 60 years at Capitol Hill. He became the longest-serving member of Congress last year on June 7 when he surpassed the record held by the late Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Dingell is the former chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and has been a master of legislative deal-making and staunch advocate for the auto industry. Dingell has played a role in a number of major pieces of legislation, including President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul and Medicare. He jokingly says that he has served " with " not "under "11 US Presidents and has signed close to 25,000 bills in the congress as of 2011.