Congress\, White House remember John Dingell

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) The White House and congressional members including Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday remember John Dingell, the longest-serving member of Congress who died Thursday at the age of 92.

The White House and other federal buildings lowered their flags to half-staff in honor of the late Dingell.

Dingell, a gruff Michigan Democrat who entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1955 to finish his late father's term, became a legislative heavyweight.

The former lawmaker's wife, Debbie Dingell, who was elected to succeed him, was with him when he died peacefully at home in Michigan, her office said.

"He was a lion of the United States Congress and a loving son, father, husband, grandfather, and friend," Debbie Dingell's office said.

"He will be remembered for his decades of public service to the people of Southeast Michigan, his razor sharp wit, and a lifetime of dedication to improving the lives of all who walk this earth." The Detroit News reported that he was in hospice care after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, which he had decided not to treat.

Dingell served 59 years in the House before retiring in 2015 because, as he said to a Michigan business group at the time, he could no longer "live up to my own personal standard" for serving in Congress.

Dingell served as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee for 16 years, where he pushed major legislation, including the breakup of telecommunications firm AT&T, cable deregulation, the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act.

He also played an important role in passing the legislation leading to Medicare, the health insurance program for elderly Americans, in 1965, and the Affordable Care Act in 2010, popularly known as Obamacare.