Analysis: Retirement of lawmakers will cost Mich. clout

WASHINGTON — Officially, the curtain won't come down on the 113th Congress until Jan. 6, but, with the U.S. House and Senate wrapping up work, it's all but over now.

And with it ends a remarkable run for the Michigan delegation.

In recent Congresses, the state punched well above its weight class with six full committee chairs across the two chambers, two more legislators who are their party's top-ranking members on their committees and the longest-serving member in congressional history.

"What a delegation when you think of it," U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, said last week at a party for the delegation. "No state rivals us."

But that's all about to change.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and U.S. Reps. John Dingell, Dave Camp and Mike Rogers depart with a combined 133 years of congressional experience among them. Three of them — Levin, Camp and Rogers — are current committee chairmen. Dingell, no longer a chairman, has been in Congress longer than anyone in history, and has the accomplishments, personal connections and friendships to prove it.

And Michigan is going to miss them.

It's easy to criticize Congress considering the partisan politics, the legislative gridlock, the endless stream of hollow soundbites emanating from Washington, the ceaseless campaign cycle, the constant drumbeat of fund-raising and the political hit jobs.

But it's equally easy to forget that, regardless of your political leanings, few legislators remain in office without producing at some level for their constituents. And, by any measure, longevity in Congress — when tied with legislative acumen, as it has been with these four — is an asset to a state.

Forget that Dingell helped write or pass almost every piece of social, manufacturing and conservation legislation of the last six decades, including Medicare, the Clean Water Act and the Affordable Care Act. Forget that Levin, as chairman of the Armed Services Committee and Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, spent decades helping to set military policy and report on corporate wrongdoing.

Forget that Camp, as a member and then-chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, helped write welfare reform in the 1990s, set trade policies and pushed for tax reforms that almost certainly will someday happen.

Forget that Rogers, as the most recent chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has set a standard for bipartisanship during one of the most divisive periods in our political history.

Instead, concentrate on Michigan.

Dingell has left his mark across the state in ways that will remain: from housing complexes and a new train station in Dearborn that bears his name — and which he helped secure the funding for — to an international wildlife refuge along the Detroit River. Levin has not only helped secure military research in the state, he has helped create nature preserves and sanctuaries, and found the funding to redevelop the area around Tiger Stadium and to reclaim Detroit's riverfront.

Camp has not only been a champion of Michigan agriculture in trade deals, he's been a stalwart defender of the Great Lakes from the threat posed by Asian carp — his position in House leadership has gone a great way to secure funding to fight that threat. He's recognized as one of Congress' most active members in the fight to break down barriers to adoption.

Rogers has helped secure funding for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University and got a long-awaited highway interchange finally under way in Livingston County.

It's not to say that other legislators couldn't or wouldn't have gotten these things done: It's that these four did. Because, any criticism of Congress to the contrary, getting something done in Washington typically takes more than just showing up. It often depends on who you are and what you can do for someone else. It also often depends on how skilled you can be at forming relationships with other people, including those who are not necessarily of the same political stripe.

All four of these men were able to do that. Just ask Sen. John McCain of Arizona about Levin, or Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland about Rogers, or Sen. Max Baucus of Montana about Camp, or just about anyone about Dingell.

Of course, Michigan still has key members representing its interests. In the Senate, Debbie Stabenow is part of Democratic leadership and a ranking member of the Agriculture Committee. In the House, Upton will continue to chair the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, for one more two-year term at least. Detroit's John Conyers becomes the longest-serving member of Congress with Dingell's departure.

There are other changes, too, that suggest promise: If Gary Peters' success in helping to set policy and reach compromise in the House is any indication, he may be a strong senator replacing Levin. Dingell's wife, Debbie Dingell, is headed to the House to replace him, with all of his allies in both parties looking for her to succeed.

But it will not be the same without a Dingell, a Carl Levin, a Camp and a Rogers representing Michigan in Congress.

Speaking on the Senate floor last week, McCain — a Republican who has sparred with Levin on Armed Services and will become its chairman — called him "a model of serious purpose, firm principle and personal decency ... whose example ought to inspire the service of new and returning senators.

"We could not aspire to better service than what he has given our country," McCain said.

Given their service, that goes for the others, as well.