DETROIT (AP) — U.S. Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the longest-serving member of Congress in history, was hospitalized Monday after experiencing abdominal pain but is “doing well” and is expected to be released in a few days, according to his office.
The 88-year-old Democrat was admitted Monday to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
“Dingell is doing well, is receiving an IV treatment of antibiotics and remains in good spirits,” spokesman Christopher Schuler said in a statement.
Dingell, of Dearborn, expects to return to Washington for session next week, Schuler said. In March, Dingell underwent a procedure to correct an abnormal heart rhythm.
He is retiring at the end of the year and his wife, Debbie, is expected to win election to his Democratic-leaning seat covering Ann Arbor and “Downriver” working-class Detroit suburbs.
Following the death of his father in 1955, John Dingell — then a 29-year-old attorney — won a special election to succeed him. In 2013, Dingell broke the record for the longest-serving member of Congress held by the late Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
As a congressional page in 1941, Dingell watched firsthand as President Franklin D. Roosevelt called on Congress to declare war on Japan in his “Day of Infamy” address.
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