1.1969

Dingell is appointed to the Migratory Bird Commission.  Dingell still serves on the Commission and it has been instrumental in the creation of the International Wildlife Refuge.  The Migratory Bird Commission was created and authorized to consider and approve any area of land and/or water recommended by the Secretary of the Interior for purchase or rental by the US Fish and Wildlife Service under the Act, and to fix the price or prices at which such areas may be purchased or rented. In addition to approving purchase and rental prices, the Commission considers the establishment of new waterfowl refuges.  (Defender of Wildlife News, 1.23.69, http://www.fws.gov/realty/mbcc.html)

4.19.1969

Dingell gives a speech in Detroit to the Midwest regional conference of American Military Engineers and calls for a dramatic increase in funding for clean water programs.  Over the next two years, Dingell fights for full funding of the Clean Water Quality Act, increasing the amount dedicated to the program by more than 5 times. The funding is used to assist local governments with building water treatment plants and is responsible for helping to clean up many of the waterways in the country, including the Detroit River and Lake Erie.  (Free Press, 4.16.69, Trenton Times, 8.13.69, West Side Courier, 2.19.70, Dearborn Guide, 6.25.70)

7.20.1969

Neil Armstrong lands on the Moon.  Dingell says: "The Apollo 11 moon landing represents the greatest scientific and technical accomplishment in the history of mankind.  It has been an outstanding success to this point and I hope and pray that the astronaut will return safely to earth."(Times Herald, 7.23.69)

11.15.1969

Jennifer Dingell is born.

12.1969

Dingell declares the 1970's "the environmental decade."Dingell was the spokesman for a group of colleagues launching the "environmental decade."He said: "Wetlands and estuaries are where land and water meet.  Destroy them, and we destroy the areas where our fish and wildlife breed and where the air we breathe gets its start."The group pledged "to work diligently to identify and overcome all that degrades our earth, our skies, our water and the living things therein, so that the end of the Environmental Decade of the 1970s may see our environment immeasurable better than at the beginning."(Detroit News, 12.15.69, Herald Advertiser, 12.29.69)