Remembering Carl Levin

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Madam President, first let me thank Senator Stabenow and Senator Peters for bringing us together to recognize an extraordinary gentleman, an extraordinary friend, and, for me, an extraordinary mentor, Senator Carl Levin.

I want to begin by offering my deepest sympathies to Carl's family, his wife Barbara, their wonderful daughters and grandchildren, his brother Sandy, and his nephew Congressman Andy Levin. Those who knew him knew that Carl was, above all else, a loving father, a devoted husband, and a profoundly compassionate man. Today, we mourn with the entire Levin family.

I would like to take just a few minutes to reflect on his remarkable life and legacy. Carl served 36 years in the U.S. Senate and made every single day count. He was a gentleman and a statesman, a true champion for Michigan, for working families, for justice, and especially for the men and women of the U.S. military Throughout his long and wide-ranging career, he carried with him a constant, enduring commitment to service.

From his earliest days growing up in Detroit, Carl understood what service meant. He worked his way up as an auto factory worker and taxi driver to get to law school and then to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, where he dedicated his early career to service as a public defender. From there, he committed himself even further to the people of Detroit, serving 8 years on the city council and fighting constantly to advance the civil rights of his constituents.

His 3\1/2\ decades in the Senate truly defined his commitment to service, and his accomplishments are monumental. While Carl is particularly associated with national defense, as the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he was one of the most productive, effective congressional investigators and legislators of his era--or any era. Wielding his gavel on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations with great clout and distinction, he was relentless in going after waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption whenever and wherever he saw it.

He didn't shy from tough issues. He worked tirelessly to expose major corporate tax avoidance and evasion, knowing that it was unfair for working men and women to pay their share while corporations found loopholes to pay nothing.

Carl changed the very way our government worked, using his legislative powers, his backbone, and his brain to take on the most powerful institutions in America on behalf of not just the little guy but a healthier republic.

Serving alongside Carl Levin on the Armed Services Committee was one of the greatest privileges of my life. We liked to joke that we were friends and we traveled together so much because I made Carl feel tall and he made me feel like the most elegant dresser in the United States of America.

I was always intrigued during our 11 trips overseas together--mostly to battlegrounds--when I would try to pack light, my experience in the military having suggested that. Carl would show up with a little bag-- just a little black bag. And I would think, ``How could he get through these 5, 6, 7 days of trips with just that?'' Then I discovered the answer. We would have a meeting with a Prime Minister, for example, and he would have his coat and his tie and his white shirt on and his slacks. And then he would get ready to go to the field. He would just take his coat off or undo his tie, roll up his sleeves, and head out to the field. Then we would come back to have another meeting, and he would put his tie back on. It was the Carl Levin method. And as much as I tried to emulate it, I could not.

He was one of the most incredibly genuine and kind individuals you would ever meet.

When he took on his duties on the Armed Services Committee, he understood that national security is not a partisan issue, and he maintained a spirit of bipartisanship that continues to motivate all of us.

He also understood that national security requires more than just defense. So he was an active supporter of diplomacy and international organizations.

Throughout his life, Senator Levin was a steadying force in turbulent times in global affairs. He was a staunch advocate for NATO, recognizing that our national power is enhanced by strong alliances with other democracies. He also lent crucial support to the START Treaty between the United States and Russia, limiting and reducing the number of nuclear weapons on this planet. And he later supported the Nunn-Lugar legislation that removed many unsecured nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

But, most profoundly, Carl always recognized that the dedication and sacrifice of our servicemembers is fundamental to our military security. I feel that in every critical decision he made, he viewed it through the eyes of those young soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines on the ground--what would his decisions mean to them? That is why he traveled to countless outposts and ships to see for himself the needs of our men and women in uniform and to thank our troops personally for their service. And I was privileged to travel with him many, many times and to witness his concern for those who served.

At this moment, my mind is awash with memories and images; for example, in 1997, standing with Carl before a crowd of 50,000 pro- democratic Serbians in Belgrade, calling for a democracy to replace the dictator, Milosevic. It was a moving moment. In 2003, visiting our troops in Iraq--one of the first codels to enter Iraq--to find out for ourselves what was happening; what the troops needed; what we could do to protect them and give them the tools to do their job; and in 2009, crowded together, sitting on the floor on carpets with Afghan leaders in a small village, trying to determine a path forward. Carl always led by example and with decency and integrity.

Later this summer, it will be the honor of my life to speak at the commissioning of the U.S. Navy's newest warship, the USS Carl M. Levin. It is a great and formidable ship, bearing the name of a great and formidable man. I wish more than anything that Carl could be there to witness the tremendous honor for his namesake ship's commissioning. But Carl always did prefer to avoid the spotlight and the fanfare, and, I think, perhaps he will be smiling even wider as he looks from above at the christening of that ship.

Carl's life was defined by service, and we should all be grateful to be part of the legacy that he created in this very Chamber. His loss is immeasurable, but I am grateful for his lifetime of contributions to the people of Michigan and the people of our Nation.

We can best honor Senator Levin by carrying out his ideals and example in what we do here and what we do for the Nation, and, particularly, what we do for the brave young men and women who serve this Nation.

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