111th Congress is one of the most productive legislative sessions he has had in his career.

Washington, DC - Dean of the United States House of Representatives, John D. Dingell, and his colleagues in the House last year successfully addressed innate challenges of economic stability, fairness, and opportunity and enacted strong legislation that moves America forward.

In the 111th Congress, John Dingell’s work created jobs, brought economic recovery to Americans in the worst recession in 60 years, expanded access to affordable and quality health care, overhauled the food safety system for the first time in 70 years, and helped Michigan’s citizens move forward towards a brighter future. 

Highlights of his accomplishments include:

CREATING JOBS

• ANN ARBOR BRIDGES INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT, Congressman Dingell played a central role in working with the City of Ann Arbor to secure $13.9 million in a federal TIGER grant to replace the bridges over Stadium Boulevard.  This funding will save more than $33 million a year in traffic delays, vehicle operation and crash costs, and will also generate more than $53 million in real economic benefit and create an estimated 450 jobs. 

• HIGH SPEED RAIL DEVELOPMENT, Congressman Dingell worked tirelessly with the Michigan Congressional Delegation to secure more than $200 million in federal funding for the development of high speed rail.  Michigan will receive $50 million for train station development, including $28 million for a new station in Dearborn, as well as $161 million for acquisition and improvements to the track between Kalamazoo and Dearborn, a new bridge and track connection in West Detroit, and planning money for the Detroit to Chicago corridor.  This funding is expected these grants will create nearly 1,200 jobs in Michigan.

• SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH, Congressman Dingell helped write a provision of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 providing $1.5 billion for state capital access programs.  The program will leverage $780 million in new small business lending in Michigan.   In addition, he held a successful district event to connect Southeast Michigan small businesses with government resources.  Over 100 small business owners attended the event, which enabled them to hear from and network with key representatives of the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Homeland Security, the Small Business Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan Small Business Technology and Development Center (MI SBTDC), the Michigan Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC), and Ann Arbor SPARK. 

• UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AND TAX RELIEF, Congressman Dingell helped secure an extension of unemployment benefits and existing tax rates for middle-class families so aggrieved by the current recession, giving them time to find stable employment.  In Michigan, the importance of the unemployment extension cannot be overstated.  In November 2011, almost 300,000 Michiganders will lose their unemployment benefits without federal action.  These are real numbers, and this is real money that will have a positive impact on our economy at a time when it is desperately needed.

AFFORDABLE QUALITY HEALTH CARE

• HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM, Congressman Dingell was the author of the historic health care reform legislation, which provides affordable health care for American families, strengthens Medicaid and Medicare, and ensures access to health coverage for the uninsured.  Signed into law in March 2010, this legislation will improve health care coverage for 488,000 residents of the 15th Congressional District, provide tax credits and subsidies to 160,000 families and nearly 12,000 small businesses, and extends coverage to 18,000 uninsured residents, among many other achievements.  The legislation also reduces the deficit by $143 billion over the next 10 years.

PROTECTING CONSUMERS

• FDA FOOD SAFETY AND MODERNIZATION ACT, Congressman Dingell authored the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act law, which overhauls the nation’s food safety system to provide FDA with the authority to prevent food safety problems in our system quickly and efficiently, and grant FDA with enforcement tools to detect and immediately respond to food-borne illness outbreaks.  This legislation will take the first step necessary to prevent unnecessary sickness and deaths of millions of Americans who have suffered from food borne illness in the past. 

• RESPONSE TO BP OIL SPILL, Congressman Dingell played a key role in the oversight of the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion.  The success was threefold – first his vigorous and thoughtful questioning of then BP CEO Tony Hayward.  For every poor decision made by BP, Dingell asked Hayward if the decision was driven by cost.  Second, Dingell pounded on the Department of Interior and their use of categorical exclusions for off-shore drilling.  Finally, Dingell called for a full moratorium from off-shore drilling until questions from the BP disaster could be answered.

• REIN IN GREEDY WALL STREET BANKING PRACTICES, Congressman Dingell advocated for bold action to restore responsibility and accountability in our financial system after the failures that led to the worst financial crisis in our nation’s history.  His work helped pass historic reforms to end taxpayer-funded bailouts and the idea of ‘too big to fail’ banks. The legislation also ensures American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, and protect them from hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices. 

• TOYOTA RECALLS/NHTSA REAUTHORIZATION, Congressman Dingell played a leading role in congressional oversight of Toyota's vehicle recalls for sudden unintended acceleration, and worked with Chairman Waxman and Chairman Rush to draft legislation to give the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) greater resources and authorities with which to compel vehicle manufacturers to be more transparent about recalls and initiate them in a more timely manner.  The legislation was approved by the Committee on Energy and Commerce but was not taken up by the full House or Senate.

GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT

• FCC OVERSIGHT, Congressman Dingell helped lead congressional oversight of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) proposal to regulate broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service.  Dingell believes the FCC does not possess the authority under law to do this and asked detailed questions of the Commission in correspondence to this effect.  Ultimately, and likely due to pressure from Congress, the Commission adopted a regulatory plan that does not seek to treat Internet access service as a telecommunications offering.

• CAMP LEJEUNE AMENDMENT, Congressman Dingell was successful in including an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to help resolve the historic drinking water contamination issue at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.  The language requires the Navy to share with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) – the health agency with the authority to determine the health effects of exposure to the contaminated water at the base – critical information in the Navy-owned databases relating to the contamination.  Camp Lejeune water contamination has been an issue of importance to Congressman Dingell since a 2004 hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce which sought to understand the Bush Administration’s proposal to exempt the Department of Defense from important environmental laws including the Clean Air Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and Superfund.

• FTC JURISDICTION, As Congress debated legislation to strengthen oversight of the financial services industry, Dingell was a leading voice in efforts to preserve the jurisdiction and authorities of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has for years been an effective force in consumer protection.  The draft financial services bill would have stripped the FTC of many of its consumer protection authorities and vested them in the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Dingell pushed the Committee on Energy and Commerce to assert its jurisdiction over parts of the legislation and was ultimately able to preserve the FTC's jurisdiction, most likely to the benefit of consumers.

NATIONAL PARK ESTABLISHMENT, WETLAND EXPANSION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN

• RIVER RAISIN BATTLEFIELD, The River Raisin Battlefield that Dingell envisioned and directed officially became a unit of the National Park system this year.

• DETROIT RIVER REFUGE EXPANSION, The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge added nearly 300 acres in 2010, growing to approximately 6000 acres.

• PARKVIEW, Dingell played an integral role in facilitating the transfer of Parkview Apartments in Ypsilanti, Michigan, from HUD to the Ypsilanti Housing Commission.  The transfer agreement included up-front development grants and 144 section 8 housing vouchers to help restore the property to habitable condition after years of neglect.

• U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, Congressman Dingell supported a bid to bring the first satellite office of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to Michigan.  The office will be located in Detroit, and will be a boon to Southeast Michigan, which is home to myriad innovative research and development initiatives within the private sector and various first-rate institutions of higher education.

REVIVING MICHIGAN AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY

• AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT, Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, of which Dingell was an early and ardent supporter, Michigan has received billions in federal stimulus funding.  Dingell then successfully lead the fight to bring billions of battery dollars home to Michigan.  This investment is putting Michiganders back to work and creating the jobs of the future.  The battery for the Chevy Volt is being built in Brownstown, A123 Systems is adding jobs throughout Southeast Michigan and down in Monroe, Ventower Industries is building wind turbines and Sunrise Windows continues to grow by manufacturing energy efficient windows.

• SECTION 136 - ADVANCED VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY, Congressman Dingell was one of the architects of the direct loan program authorized in Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act. His work this past Congress enabled Michigan manufacturers to take advantage of federal support for the development of advanced vehicle technologies.  Not only do these technologies have the potential to reduce vehicle fleet emissions and National fuel consumption, but their production also represents a growth industry, something of which Michigan greatly needed. 

• DETROIT AUTO SHOW, Congressman Dingell worked with his colleagues in the Michigan Delegation to bring a congressional delegation, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of President Obama’s Cabinet, to the Detroit International Auto Show in January 2010 to witness the great strides made particularly by domestic automobile manufacturers in designing and producing fuel efficient and desirable new vehicle models.

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