Yesterday, Dealscape turned an eye on Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, who is slated to head the House Financial Services Committee. To continue the series "Better know a Democrat," Dealscape turns its eye on Michigan Rep. John Dingell, who will probably chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee meaning he'll have oversight of most industries.
While Frank's 25 years of service may seem like a long time in political terms, Dingell has the distinction of being the longest serving member of the House with almost 51 years of service under his belt. Dingell first came to the House in 1955 at the age of 29 taking the place of his father — also John Dingell — who had died that year. Interestingly, at the beginning of every year, Dingell continues to put forth his father's national health insurance bill. Despite the bill's regular failure, Dingell's perserverance should be admired.
So what will Dingell do after filing his father's health insurance bill? He'll likely put the energy, media and telecommunications industries under the microscope first. As a matter of fact, Dingell has already put media executives on notice much like Frank put the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on notice. More specifically, Dingell has said the FCC should delay its vote on AT&T's $82.9 billion acquisition of BellSouth because the congressman feels it raises a "significant antitrust question." Of course, the FCC, which has already delayed the vote three times, has not rescheduled it yet.
For a better idea of what else Dingell will put on the agenda, Dealscape scanned some of the legislation he recently sponsored — unfortunately Dealscape neither has the time nor resources to examine all 51 years of his record. One would assume that Dingell sponsors a lot of bills, however, over the last two years, he's sponsored about half as many as Frank. Consequently, he doesn't give too many hints as to where he'll lead the committee. However, some of his bills unrelated to creating a national park to remember a War of 1812 battle site, which seems to be one of his recent pet projects, he's focused on his father's legacy of national healthcare by sponsoring a number of bills concerning Medicare. More closely tied to his committee, he's sponsored bills to modernize the electricity grid, and improve consumer privacy in the financial services industry.
Unfortunately, few of his bills clearly speak to the dealmaking community. —Matthew Wurtzel
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