    [Senate Document 113-34]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

    Carl Levin

                                    U.S. SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN

                                             TRIBUTES

                                         IN THE CONGRESS OF
                                         THE UNITED STATES

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                                   WASHINGTON : 2015

                                                       S. Doc. 113-34

                                          Tributes

                                    Delivered in Congress

                                         Carl Levin
                                    United States Senator
                                          1979-2015

                                Compiled under the direction

                                           of the

                                 Joint Committee on Printing

                                          CONTENTS

                 Biography.............................................
                                                                          v
                 Farewell Address......................................
                                                                         xi
                 Proceedings in the Senate:
                    Tributes by Senators:
                        Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee.................
                                                                         28
                        Ayotte, Kelly, of New Hampshire................
                                                                         35
                        Bennet, Michael F., of Colorado................
                                                                         17
                        Boxer, Barbara, of California..................
                                                                         42
                        Brown, Sherrod, of Ohio........................
                                                                         27
                        Cardin, Benjamin L., of Maryland...............
                                                                         26
                        Casey, Robert P., Jr., of Pennsylvania.........
                                                                         37
                        Collins, Susan M., of Maine....................
                                                                         18
                        Coons, Christopher A., of Delaware.............
                                                                         15
                        Durbin, Richard J., of Illinois................
                                                                         12
                        Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming...................
                                                                         16
                        Franken, Al, of Minnesota......................
                                                                         30
                        Graham, Lindsey, of South Carolina.............
                                                                         36
                        Harkin, Tom, of Iowa...........................
                                                                         29
                        Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah
                         ...............................................
                         ..........
                                                                  7, 34, 40
                        Hirono, Mazie K., of Hawaii....................
                                                                         41
                        Inhofe, James M., of Oklahoma
                         ............................................
                                                                 11, 29, 36
                        King, Angus S., Jr., of Maine..................
                                                                     31, 33
                        Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont..................
                                                                     17, 38
                        Levin, Carl, of Michigan
                         ...............................................
                         .........
                                                                 12, 33, 35
                        Manchin, Joe, III, of West Virginia............
                                                                         25
                        McCain, John, of Arizona.......................
                                                                          8
                        McCaskill, Claire, of Missouri.................
                                                                         22
                        Merkley, Jeff, of Oregon.......................
                                                                         28
                        Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
                                                                         24
                        Portman, Rob, of Ohio..........................
                                                                         33
                        Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island....................
                                                                      7, 12
                        Reid, Harry, of Nevada.........................
                                                                          3
                        Sanders, Bernard, of Vermont...................
                                                                         30
                        Schumer, Charles E., of New York...............
                                                                         33
                        Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama.....................
                                                                         23
                        Shaheen, Jeanne, of New Hampshire..............
                                                                         40
                        Stabenow, Debbie, of Michigan..................
                                                                         19
                        Wyden, Ron, of Oregon..........................
                                                                         36
                                          BIOGRAPHY

                   In an editorial about Carl Levin, the Detroit News
                 wrote, ``He has been above reproach personally and has
                 stuck to his principles, even when they were unpopular.
                 Principled leadership, no matter what political ideology
                 it comes from, is sorely needed in Washington.''
                   Time magazine named Carl Levin one of ``America's 10
                 Best Senators,'' noting that ``the Michigan Democrat has
                 gained respect from both parties for his attention to
                 detail and deep knowledge of policy.''
                   Carl Levin worked to strengthen Michigan's industrial
                 economy. Senator Levin proposed the American Manufacturing
                 Initiative to ensure that our government aggressively
                 fought for manufacturing in America so our manufacturers
                 and workers could compete globally on a level playing
                 field.
                   As a cochair of the Senate Auto Caucus and the Senate
                 Auto Parts Task Force, Senator Levin was one of the most
                 insistent voices in Washington calling for strong action
                 to open the world's markets to American goods. Senator
                 Levin was a longtime advocate of programs that provide for
                 joint government-industry partnerships in development of
                 advanced vehicle technologies. These efforts led to the
                 growth of the Army's National Automotive Center in Warren,
                 MI, which has played an important role in developing
                 advanced technologies for military use, often in
                 conjunction with the private sector.
                   As cochair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, Carl
                 Levin fought to protect the environmental treasures of
                 ``the Great Lakes State,'' an irreplaceable natural
                 resource for Michigan and the country. In 1990, Senator
                 Levin authored the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act to
                 create new standards of environmental protection for Great
                 Lakes waters. Senator Levin also helped win passage of the
                 Great Lakes Legacy Program in 2002 to clean up
                 contaminated sediments, and he worked to secure funding to
                 deal with foreign aquatic invasive species including zebra
                 mussels, milfoil and Asian carp. A strong advocate for the
                 creation of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary,
                 Carl Levin obtained significant funding for it and
                 introduced legislation in 2009 to expand the boundaries of
                 the sanctuary to more than eight times its current size.
                 The expansion would help preserve ``Shipwreck Alley'' for
                 divers and historians, where dozens of ships sank in the
                 waters of Lake Huron.
                   Carl Levin was the chairman of the Senate Armed Services
                 Committee, where he earned a reputation as a strong
                 supporter of our national defense, a tireless advocate on
                 behalf of our service men and women, and an effective
                 fighter against wasteful government spending.
                   Senator Levin championed efforts to reduce the threats
                 to our Nation and the world from the proliferation of
                 weapons of mass destruction and the threats posed by
                 terrorism. He supported the efforts of the military
                 services to transform their forces, technology, and
                 tactics to meet these threats. He was an active supporter
                 of improving U.S. security by cooperative threat
                 reduction, including arms control agreements that reduce
                 weapons of mass destruction, and fought for efforts
                 designed to reduce the threat of proliferation of nuclear,
                 chemical, and biological weapons.
                   Senator Levin opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003
                 and authored several bipartisan proposals aimed at
                 changing U.S. policy in Iraq. While Americans have
                 differing opinions about our policy in Iraq, there is
                 broad support of our brave men and women in uniform.
                 Senator Levin spearheaded the successful effort to pass
                 the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act, a
                 historic reform to improve the way we provide medical care
                 and ongoing support for our troops and our veterans,
                 enacted in early 2008.
                   In 2007, Senator Levin pushed to secure passage of the
                 Acquisition Improvement and Accountability Act, the most
                 far-reaching acquisition reform measure approved by
                 Congress in more than a decade. The act requires, for the
                 first time, that private security contractors working in a
                 war zone must comply with Defense Department regulations
                 and directives issued by our military commanders. The act
                 also establishes a new acquisition workforce fund to hire
                 the employees needed to manage defense contracts properly.
                 These provisions will go a long way toward addressing
                 contracting waste, fraud, and abuse.
                   In 2009, Senator Levin secured passage of the Levin-
                 McCain Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act, to fix major
                 problems with the way the Department of Defense buys major
                 weapons systems. The act establishes a new, independent
                 director of cost assessment to ensure that senior Pentagon
                 managers have unbiased data to analyze project costs and
                 cost projections. It also includes strengthening
                 assessments of technologies that are under development and
                 requiring the Department of Defense to conduct preliminary
                 design reviews in advance of approving new acquisition
                 programs.
                   The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute awarded
                 Senator Carl Levin its 2007 Four Freedoms Medal for his
                 bipartisan efforts to reassert the role of the U.S. Senate
                 in critical issues of foreign and military policy and for
                 his longtime service to the country. The award recognizes
                 Carl Levin as:

                   a leader dedicated to making government more effective,
                 who holds himself and his colleagues to high ethical
                 standards and insists that these same standards must apply
                 to all facets of our society, both public and private; a
                 leader whose efforts to strengthen America's armed forces
                 have helped make the United States Military the finest
                 fighting force in the world.

                   The National Guard Association of the United States
                 presented Senator Levin with its 2004 ``Harry S. Truman
                 Award'' for distinguished service in support of national
                 defense. The award cited Levin's ``long-standing, diligent
                 and impassioned commitment on the readiness, morale and
                 welfare of our military forces, their families and the
                 modernization of our armed forces'' that has had an
                 ``unparalleled and direct positive impact to the defense
                 capabilities of the National Guard.'' In January 2003, the
                 Secretary of the Navy cited Levin's ``exceptional service
                 to the Navy and Marine Corps'' in presenting him its
                 ``Distinguished Public Service Award,'' the highest award
                 given to a civilian.
                   In July 2007, the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski,
                 presented Senator Levin with the Commander's Cross with
                 the Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
                 Instituted by Parliament in 1974, the award is conferred
                 on foreigners and Polish residents abroad for service
                 rendered to Poland.
                   As chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on
                 Investigations, the premier investigating subcommittee in
                 the Senate, Senator Levin focused on issues that impact
                 the wallets of most Americans, including Wall Street and
                 the financial crisis, unfair credit card practices, and
                 sky-high oil and natural gas prices.
                   In April 2010, Senator Levin chaired four hearings
                 looking at the causes and consequences of the financial
                 crisis. The final hearing examined the role investment
                 banks, specifically Goldman Sachs, played in causing the
                 financial crisis. The hearings informed the debate on
                 financial reform legislation passed by Congress and signed
                 into law by the President.
                   Carl Levin chaired numerous hearings delving into
                 abusive credit card industry practices that help keep
                 families mired in debt. The effort culminated in the 2009
                 enactment of the Credit Card Accountability,
                 Responsibility and Disclosure Act or Credit CARD Act,
                 which bans unfair practices by credit card companies
                 including preventing credit card companies from
                 retroactively raising interest rates on people who play by
                 the rules, forcing banks to restore a lower interest rate
                 for late payers who make 6 months of ontime payments, and
                 prohibiting the charging of interest on debt that is paid
                 on time.
                   Another recent investigation found that excessive
                 speculation in oil and natural gas markets resulted in
                 higher prices for consumers. Senator Levin introduced the
                 ``Close the Enron Loophole Act'' to put a cop on the beat
                 to police prices in U.S. energy markets that, due to Enron
                 and others, are now largely unregulated. Senator Levin's
                 leadership enabled Senate passage of an amendment in late
                 2007 to close the Enron loophole and its enactment into
                 law in May 2008.
                   In 2002, Carl Levin led Congress' most indepth
                 examination into the collapse of Enron. His investigation
                 exposed how Enron used deceptive accounting and tax
                 transactions to report better financial results than the
                 company actually experienced. The subcommittee's
                 investigative work contributed to the accounting and
                 corporate reforms enacted in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in
                 July 2002. In 2002, Levin began a 3-year investigation
                 into the mass marketing of abusive tax shelters by KPMG
                 and other professional firms, which was cited by the
                 Washington Post as ``a path-breaking inquiry ... that
                 served as a road map for prosecutors.'' Carl Levin's
                 bipartisan bill to end the use of tax havens will end some
                 of the worst abuses of our tax laws by companies and
                 individuals who avoid paying their U.S. taxes by using
                 places such as the Cayman Islands to create sham
                 transactions and shell corporations.
                   Under Carl Levin's leadership, the Permanent
                 Subcommittee on Investigations conducted a comprehensive
                 money laundering investigation, which led to the enactment
                 of legislation to detect and stop money laundering and
                 terrorist financing.
                   Senator Levin was also a member of the Small Business
                 and Entrepreneurship Committee and an ex officio member of
                 the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
                   Carl Levin worked to expand educational opportunities
                 for all Americans so our Nation could remain strong and
                 productive. He fought for increased funding for the Head
                 Start Preschool Program, Title I for educationally
                 disadvantaged students, and Pell grants and loans for
                 college and vocational school students. Senator Levin was
                 a strong advocate for the effective use of technology in
                 K-12 schools and helped create the Consortium for
                 Outstanding Achievement in Teaching with Technology, a
                 groundbreaking Michigan partnership helping teachers
                 master technology skills. He was an enthusiastic supporter
                 of school to work programs, which have created a public-
                 private partnership to prepare students for the demands of
                 the modern workplace. He won critical Federal support for
                 the Focus: HOPE Center for Advanced Technology, a world-
                 class manufacturing training facility in Detroit.
                   Addiction to illegal drugs continues to plague our
                 society. Senator Levin authored a provision in the Drug
                 Abuse and Treatment Act of 2000 to enable qualified
                 physicians to prescribe and dispense from their private
                 offices--rather than centralized clinics--revolutionary,
                 new antiaddiction medications such as buprenorphine that
                 suppress the craving for heroin.
                   Carl Levin was born in 1934 in Detroit, where he
                 graduated from Central High School. In 1956, he graduated
                 with honors from Swarthmore College and graduated from
                 Harvard University Law School in 1959. He practiced and
                 taught law in Michigan until 1964 when he was appointed an
                 assistant attorney general of Michigan and the first
                 general counsel for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.
                 He then helped establish the Detroit Public Defender's
                 Office and led the appellate division of that office,
                 which has become the State Appellate Defender's Office.
                   He won election to the Detroit City Council in 1969,
                 becoming its president in 1973 by winning the most votes
                 citywide. In 1978, he won an upset victory over the number
                 two Republican in the U.S. Senate. He was reelected in
                 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008.
                   Carl Levin married Barbara Halpern in 1961. They have
                 three daughters: Kate, Laura, and Erica, and six
                 grandchildren. His brother Sander has served in the U.S.
                 House of Representatives since 1983.
                                   Farewell to the Senate
                                  Friday, December 12, 2014

                   Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, after 36 years as a Member of
                 the U.S. Senate, this is likely my last opportunity to
                 address its Members as colleagues, and to address the
                 people of my State as constituents, and to thank them for
                 placing their trust in me.
                   The highest honor any citizen of a democracy can receive
                 is to be elected to represent his or her fellow Americans
                 to be their fiduciary.
                   To the Senate staff, including the floor staff, the
                 Capitol Police, and those throughout the Capitol complex
                 who work so hard to keep things here moving, thank you for
                 your service and support for us through the long days and
                 nights.
                   To my staff, thank you for your strong loyalty to the
                 people of Michigan, to our Nation, and to me. Thank you
                 for believing in public service. I am immensely proud of
                 what the men and women who have worked on my staff for the
                 last 36 years have helped to accomplish.
                   My staff back in Michigan has helped make communities
                 across our State safer and more prosperous. Countless
                 times they have helped individual constituents resolve an
                 issue, making a real difference in thousands of lives.
                   The Armed Services Committee and Permanent Subcommittee
                 on Investigations--PSI--staffs have worked tirelessly
                 through long hours and complex issues, sacrificing nights
                 and weekends and vacations to help address the pressing
                 issues of our Nation.
                   My personal office staff has been instrumental in
                 addressing a breathtaking range of issues--from preserving
                 our American auto industry, to making our tax system
                 fairer, to protecting our irreplaceable Great Lakes, to
                 making medicine available to fight addiction, and much
                 more.
                   As to my mentor, my big brother Sandy, Congress is
                 keeping the better half of ``Team Levin,'' as I retire to
                 Michigan while Sandy remains in Congress.
                   To Barbara, my wife of 53 years, to our three daughters
                 Kate, Laura, and Erica; to their husbands Howard, Daniel,
                 and Rick; and to our six grandchildren, Bess and Samantha,
                 Mark, Noa, and Ben Levin, and Beatrice and Olivia
                 Fernandez--thank you for your love and support, which has
                 meant so much to me.
                   I have been asked many times if I am leaving the Senate
                 out of frustration with gridlock. The answer is: No. My
                 family and friends, and those of you with whom I serve,
                 know how much I love the Senate and that I will love my
                 work until the last day here, and that I will leave here
                 with unabashed confidence in the Senate's ability to
                 weather storms and to meet the Nation's needs.
                   I know first hand the challenges before this Senate. I
                 believe one of the greatest is the need to meet the
                 fundamental economic challenge of this era: the growing
                 gap in our society between a fortunate few and the vast
                 majority of Americans whose fortunes have stagnated or
                 fallen.
                   While I believe that the economists who tell us this
                 inequality is holding back economic growth are right, this
                 isn't just about economic data. It is about our Nation's
                 heart and soul. This growing gulf between a fortunate few
                 and a struggling many is a threat to the dream that has
                 animated this Nation since its founding, the dream that
                 hard work leads to a better life for us and for our
                 children.
                   To restore the connection between hard work and greater
                 opportunity, I hope the next Congress will act on many
                 fronts, strengthening education and worker training
                 programs, making greater investments in infrastructure and
                 research that foster growth. As I have said here many
                 times, it should pay for these needed investments by
                 closing egregious tax loopholes that serve no economic
                 purpose, but enrich some of the wealthiest among us and
                 our most profitable corporations.
                   Many foresee a continuation of polarization and
                 partisanship in the Senate and say it is naive to suggest
                 that the next Congress might come together, break out of
                 gridlock, and accomplish great things. But I know the
                 Senate can do better because I have seen it happen with my
                 own eyes.
                   The Senate has indeed demonstrated, even in our own era,
                 that bipartisanship is not extinct. The Senate Armed
                 Services Committee has upheld a more than 50-year
                 tradition of bipartisan cooperation to produce an annual
                 Defense Authorization Act that advances the security of
                 our Nation. I am grateful to the members of the U.S.
                 military and their families for their selfless sense of
                 duty. I am also grateful for the way they have inspired
                 us, year after year, to come together across lines of
                 party and ideology to support them. They not only protect
                 us, they unite us. Congress has come together over the
                 years to make improvements in pay, benefits, and health
                 care for the men and women of the military; to reform the
                 way in which we buy the weapons they use to carry out
                 their missions; to adopt policies to protect them from
                 sexual assault; and to provide improved education benefits
                 through a modern GI bill and reform the way in which we
                 care for our wounded warriors. We are training and
                 equipping the militaries of nations under assault by
                 extremists and religious fanatics so that those nations
                 can depend more on themselves for their own security and
                 less on America's sons and daughters.
                   We have passed a defense authorization bill to
                 accomplish these things each year for more than half a
                 century by laying aside partisan differences for the
                 common good. We have never allowed disagreements over
                 policy to interfere with our duty to our troops and their
                 families, and I am deeply grateful to the many ranking
                 Republican partners I have been fortunate to work with in
                 that endeavor: people such as John McCain and John Warner
                 and Jim Inhofe.
                   John McCain, my great friend, who has demonstrated
                 extraordinary courage in war and in this Senate, will take
                 the gavel of the Armed Services Committee, and my trusted
                 wingman and friend Jack Reed will become ranking member.
                 At a pivotal moment for the Senate and for this Nation,
                 the Armed Services Committee will be in strong hands.
                   I have seen first hand additional powerful evidence that
                 the Senate can work together to meet the Nation's needs,
                 and that is in the work of the Permanent Subcommittee on
                 Investigations--PSI--which I have been privileged to chair
                 for 10 years, working with Republican partners--and I use
                 the word partners advisedly--such as Tom Coburn, John
                 McCain, and Susan Collins. Our subcommittee has exposed
                 the tax avoidance schemes of some of the most powerful
                 corporations and wealthiest individuals. We have shined a
                 light on abusive credit card practices. We have
                 investigated wasteful and ineffective government programs.
                 We have confronted market manipulators and exposed
                 conflicts of interest, mortgage fraud, and reckless
                 schemes by some of the most powerful banks, schemes aided
                 by some of the largest accounting and law firms. We have
                 demonstrated how those activities helped bring our economy
                 to its knees, destroying jobs, reducing the value of our
                 homes, and damaging our neighborhoods. The work of PSI has
                 helped lead to reforms that have strengthened our
                 financial system and reduced credit card abuses.
                   The power of PSI lies in the indepth work of our staffs,
                 and in the willingness to confront powerful and entrenched
                 interests. Like the Senate Armed Services Committee, PSI
                 is strengthened by a dedication to bipartisanship and a
                 respect for the rights of the Senate minority. We have
                 recognized the danger of using investigative power for
                 partisan or political purposes, and we have ensured that
                 our great staffs, majority and minority, participate
                 together in every investigation.
                   Indeed it is protection of the minority that is the
                 singular hallmark of the Senate. The majority cannot
                 always have its way. The Senate is more than just a place
                 where the hot tea is cooled in the deliberative saucer
                 that President Washington famously spoke of. Protections
                 for the minority make the Senate more than just a place to
                 slow things down; those protections make it a place where
                 we work things out. It is those protections that force
                 compromise that is essential to unifying and governing our
                 country. Making progress in the Senate requires solutions
                 that while they may not provide everyone with everything
                 they want, are broadly accepted as in the common interest.
                 When compromise is thwarted by ideological rigidity or by
                 abuse of the rights that our rules afford us, the Senate
                 can become paralyzed, unable to achieve the lofty task
                 that the Founders set forth before us.
                   Polarization is exacerbated by forces outside this
                 Chamber. For instance, we seem to make news more often
                 these days by our responses in the corridors outside this
                 Chamber to reporters questioning us about the latest
                 breaking story or rumor than we do by debating or
                 legislating inside this Chamber. The viral nature of
                 information and disinformation and the expectation that
                 public officials will be immediately responsive to every
                 news flash with but a few seconds to think through the
                 implications or consequences or pros and cons has led too
                 often to less thoughtful discourse, and that has helped
                 drive rhetorical wedges between us.
                   The incoming Senate has an opportunity to restore a
                 greater measure of bipartisan compromise by revisiting one
                 of the most contentious issues we face, one that we
                 struggled with at the beginning of this Congress; that is,
                 the Senate rules.
                   I believe the excessive use of the filibuster to
                 obstruct confirmation of President Obama's nominees was
                 damaging to the Senate and to the Nation. Any President--
                 Democratic or Republican--should have the ability to
                 choose his or her team. But the Senate majority eliminated
                 obstructions to Presidential nominations through the use
                 of the nuclear option, effectively accomplishing a rules
                 change outside the rules, a method I could not support. In
                 doing so, a precedent was established that the majority
                 could effectively change the rules as it wished by
                 overruling the Chair and the Parliamentarian. That
                 precedent will not serve the country well in the future
                 because it leaves the minority with no protection,
                 diminishing the unique role of the Senate.
                   I hope the Senate next year considers reversing that
                 precedent while simultaneously--and I emphasize
                 simultaneously--amending the rules so as to assure the
                 President's ability to fulfill his or her constitutional
                 duties. Put simply, I believe the Senate should do the
                 right thing in the right way. It should amend the Senate
                 rules, as provided for in the rules, to adopt the
                 substance of the changes we made last year. I know my good
                 friend Senator Lamar Alexander, who was part of the
                 bipartisan Group of Eight who worked closely and
                 successfully together on this issue in 2012, has proposed
                 something similar. Such action by the Senate next year
                 would be a welcome victory for comity and for compromise,
                 and it would I hope represent a step back from a precedent
                 that leads to effective rules changes by simple majority.
                 It would be a step toward a better functioning Senate.
                   No leader alone, no single Senator, neither party by
                 itself, can determine the Senate's course, but together
                 the Members of this body can move the Senate forward and
                 in doing so help move forward the Nation we all love. I
                 will enjoy reading about the Senate's progress in the
                 years ahead as Barbara and I are sitting on a Lake
                 Michigan beach or showing the world to our grandchildren.
                   I thank the Chair, I thank my dear friends, the leaders
                 of this body, and I see my brother sitting here, and I am
                 not allowed to refer to my family in the gallery, so I
                 will not do that.
                   (Applause, Senators rising.)

                                          TRIBUTES

                                             TO

                                         CARL LEVIN
                                  Proceedings in the Senate
                                                   Monday, December 8, 2014
                   Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am very happy to be here
                 today to talk about a couple of my friends--I should say
                 the Senate's friends. I have received a lot of gifts while
                 I have been here. My colleagues, over the years, have
                 given me things here in the Senate, but one gift stands
                 out really strongly in my mind. On my desk, not far from
                 here, I have this big painting--it is a very famous
                 painting from the National Portrait Gallery of Mark Twain.
                   Mark Twain, I tell people, was born in Nevada, which is
                 really true. Samuel Clemens wasn't, but Mark Twain was.
                 Orion Clemens was chosen as the Territorial Secretary of
                 Nevada, and he told his younger brother Samuel: Come West
                 and I will find you a job. Samuel had been fighting, which
                 he didn't like, in the Civil War, so he came West to join
                 his brother. But his brother couldn't find him a job, so
                 Samuel Clemens bummed around for quite a while.
                   Without belaboring the story too long, the fact is, Mark
                 Twain finally went up to Virginia City, which was booming
                 at the time, and he went to the Territorial Enterprise
                 newspaper and got a job as a reporter. This was a
                 stunningly good and important start for his first writing
                 that he had done. That is where he started his fame.
                   He would have stayed in Nevada longer, but someone
                 challenged him to a duel for some of the things he wrote.
                 So being the smart man he was, he didn't want to duel so
                 he left town, went to California, where he wrote two best-
                 selling books, ``The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras
                 County'' and ``Roughing It,'' which was about his
                 experience in bumming around Nevada until he found a job.
                 These were bestsellers. These were great books.
                   The point of the story, though, is he went to Virginia
                 City as Samuel Clemens and took the name Mark Twain. That
                 is where the name came from.
                   This means a lot. It is a story I tell many times to
                 people who come to my office. So Carl Levin, the
                 wonderful, kind, thoughtful man that he is, said, ``Can I
                 come and see you?'' I said, ``Sure.'' He brought to me, I
                 guess it is, one of the rare double signatures of Samuel
                 Clemens. There may be others, I just have never heard of
                 one. This was done at a club in Hannibal, MO. The club's
                 name was Labinnah--Hannibal spelled backward--and Mark
                 Twain, in 1902, because of how famous he was, signed
                 Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain, and wrote through the whole--
                 he didn't want anybody else's name there. He wanted just
                 his. So that is the gift he gave me.
                   That was so fitting. It fits my office perfectly, and it
                 means a lot to me. Carl Levin brought with him this
                 handwritten note: ``I got this at an auction 10 yrs. ago
                 not knowing why. It just dawned on me! Best in the New
                 Year, Carl.''
                   That was so nice of him to do that, and it is so hard to
                 explain my appreciation, although I am trying to do that
                 here by outlining what a wonderful human being Carl Levin
                 is. What he did for me is an example of who Carl Levin is
                 and how he thinks of people. He remembered the story I
                 told him about Mark Twain, and he said, I am sure, to
                 himself: I have this thing I got 10 years ago; I will give
                 it to the Senator, my friend. So he gave me that plaque
                 just because that is who he is.
                   He has always been attentive to the interests of the
                 people of Michigan and our country. He is the longest
                 serving Senator in the history of the State of Michigan--
                 36 years. His legislative accomplishments are significant.
                 I would say they are unmatched by almost anyone.
                   Carl Levin has stood his ground on controversial issues,
                 and that is an understatement. He has fought to give
                 average Americans a fair shot at what is going on in the
                 world. He has always spoken with a clear voice, speaking
                 for justice, equality, and fairness.
                   (Mr. MURPHY assumed the Chair.)
                   The Presiding Officer is a lawyer, I am a lawyer, but I
                 am not sure I would be the best person, if you gave me a
                 document, to look it over and make sure there was
                 everything in that document you wanted in it, but Carl
                 Levin is the person you want. I call him my nitpicker. He
                 is so good at making sure everything is right; that every
                 i is dotted, every t is crossed. Bring in Carl Levin if
                 you have something and you really need someone to look at
                 it and think it through.
                   Carl was a prominent lawyer, as was his dad, in
                 Michigan. His dad served as a member of the Michigan
                 Corrections Commission. After graduating from high school,
                 his father worked as an assemblyline worker. Carl Levin
                 also knew how to work with his hands, but he followed in
                 his father's footsteps by being an extremely hard worker.
                 He attended college at Swarthmore and received a bachelor
                 of arts degree there. Then he attended Harvard Law School
                 and received his juris doctorate from Harvard.
                   He practiced in the private sector for awhile. He began
                 his public career as the first general counsel for the
                 Michigan Civil Rights Commission. He was elected in 1968
                 to the Detroit City Council, and he served there until
                 1977. He was elected to the Senate in 1978. Carl has
                 functioned in this body as a levelheaded mediator who is
                 guided by the protection of people in Michigan and our
                 country.
                   In the past 36 years, Carl has cast over 12,000 votes.
                 Some of those votes were hard, and not always popular, but
                 they were Carl Levin votes. He did what he thought was
                 right. When General Motors and Chrysler, in the last few
                 years, faced a potential collapse, he recognized their
                 bankruptcy would devastate the people of Michigan and have
                 a detrimental effect--and that is a gross understatement--
                 on this country. He pressed the incoming Obama
                 administration to support the companies with loans. There
                 was a hue and cry from people who opposed that, saying
                 that is the wrong thing to do, Levin is wrong, Obama is
                 wrong. But they were right. Look what it has done to
                 energize, revitalize the State of Michigan, the whole
                 Detroit metropolitan area and our country, with tens of
                 thousands of new jobs as a result of his advocacy. As I
                 said, it wasn't a popular position at the time, but Carl
                 knew what was good for Michigan and good for our country,
                 and he has been vindicated a hundred times over.
                   Carl has been chairman of the Senate Permanent
                 Subcommittee on Investigations for 10 years. During that
                 period of time, he has done some unusually important
                 things for our country through this committee. Corporate
                 money laundering--1999. He delved into that very deeply.
                   Carl Levin is not a headline hunter. Carl Levin is a
                 substantive legislator. He could have held a lot more
                 hearings, but he held them about every 6 months because he
                 wanted his hearings to be Carl Levin hearings where, I
                 repeat, every i was dotted, every t was crossed, and they
                 were very powerful hearings.
                   Gasoline price manipulation, the Enron scandal--he
                 delved into that very deeply.
                   Misconduct in the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program, tax haven
                 banks, and offshore corporate tax evasion--he has talked
                 about that and talked about that. Very notable legislation
                 as a result of the work he has done: Wall Street reform,
                 the Consumer Protection Act, the Credit Card Act, the
                 PATRIOT Act.
                   Carl Levin is a very fine legislator. He fought for Wall
                 Street reform when others were afraid to do so, and he
                 helped restore the broken financial system that held
                 powerful institutions accountable for their actions.
                 Carl's persistence earned him a slot in Time magazine's
                 list of ``America's 10 Best Senators.'' They called him
                 the ``Bird-Dogger.''
                   Well, that is what he is. Put him on an issue and he
                 will come back with the prey. He is very good. He never
                 stops. He is a sharp-eyed overseer of U.S. defense policy.
                 He has spent his entire career promoting defense policy
                 that protects America's interests at home and abroad while
                 safeguarding the men and women who serve.
                   Carl is the chair of the Senate Defense Committee.
                 During the Nation's most trying of diplomatic times he has
                 done a remarkable job to make sure the military is
                 protected.
                   Even though he was chair of this big powerful
                 committee--the Defense Committee--he felt so strongly and
                 he foresaw what a lot of us didn't see. He saw the
                 disaster that would accompany an invasion of Iraq.
                 Accordingly, he talked about how bad it would be and voted
                 against it. Carl Levin was right and a lot of us were
                 wrong. I have said before on the Senate floor, of all the
                 votes I have cast during the time I have been in
                 government, the worst was voting for the Iraq war. But I
                 did. Carl Levin did not.
                   But for all of his accomplishments in Congress, his
                 greatest achievements reside in his home. Carl and his
                 wife of over 50 years, Barbara, have three beautiful
                 daughters: Kate, Laura, and Erica. Landra and Barbara are
                 good friends. They are part of a book club. They have had
                 a wonderful relationship over these many years. So as Carl
                 retires from the Senate, I know he is going to cherish the
                 time he is going to spend with his family.
                   But also Carl and I have had a long ongoing
                 conversation. He and his brother Sander own about 100
                 acres. They have had it for a long time. Carl Levin is not
                 a man of wealth, but he and his brother bought this 100
                 acres that has nothing on it but trees. He calls it his
                 tree farm. He has shown me pictures of it. I have not seen
                 it lately, but I have had for 15 or 20 years a hat he gave
                 me--a green baseball-type cap--that says ``tree farm'' on
                 it. I used to tell him I still have that cap. I still have
                 that cap, Carl.
                   He will be missed here in Washington. He will be missed
                 in the Senate by all of us. But he will be missed more by
                 his older brother Sandy, who is the ranking member on the
                 Ways and Means Committee in the House. They have served
                 together in Congress for 32 years.
                   I have said this on the floor before, and I will say it
                 again. I will remember Carl Levin for a lot of things, but
                 when I was in the House, I came over to visit with him. I
                 was thinking about running for the Senate. I said, ``Carl,
                 I came to the House with your brother Sandy.'' He looked
                 up at me and said, ``Sandy is not only my brother, he is
                 my best friend.'' That speaks well of the person who Carl
                 Levin is.
                   It has really been a privilege and an honor to serve
                 with Carl. I will miss him so very much. I will miss
                 having somebody to take the difficult issues to, to get
                 his view as to what we should do, how we should handle it.
                   His voice will be missed here in the Senate. I
                 congratulate him on his incomparable career in the Senate,
                 and I wish him the very best.

                   Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I have only heard two of the
                 comments of the majority leader--one for the distinguished
                 Senator from Michigan [Mr. Levin] and one for the
                 distinguished Senator from West Virginia [Mr.
                 Rockefeller]. I have to say that both of those Senators
                 deserve a lot of commendation for the service they have
                 given to the Senate. They are both friends of mine.
                   Senator Levin has been a terrific, solid performer for
                 the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, and he is an honest--
                 totally honest--decent, honorable man. ...
                   I will miss both of these brethren and wish them the
                 very best in their lives as they go through the remaining
                 years of their lives, and hopefully they and their
                 families will have a wonderful time together.
                                                  Tuesday, December 9, 2014
                   Mr. REED. Mr. President, I would like to take a few
                 minutes to salute my colleagues who are departing the
                 Senate at the end of this year with the conclusion of the
                 113th Congress: Mark Begich of Alaska, Saxby Chambliss of
                 Georgia, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Kay Hagan of North
                 Carolina, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Mike Johanns of Nebraska,
                 Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana,
                 Carl Levin of Michigan, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jay
                 Rockefeller of West Virginia, Mark Udall of Colorado, and
                 John Walsh of Montana.
                   They have all worked hard, ceaselessly giving their
                 energy and considerable time and service to their
                 constituents, to their home States and to our country. I
                 want to thank them for their service and for their
                 kindness to me over many years in so many cases. In
                 particular, I want to say a few words about these
                 colleagues. ...
                   But let me say, especially, a few words about my dear
                 friend Carl Levin. For 18 years, Carl Levin has either
                 been chairman or ranking member of the Armed Services
                 Committee. The U.S. military, the most powerful and
                 professional force in the world, has in countless ways
                 been shaped because Carl Levin repeatedly helped form a
                 new common ground to move us forward as a nation for the
                 benefit of our men and women in uniform and for the
                 benefit of us all.
                   Carl and I have traveled many times together--Bosnia,
                 Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, Syria,
                 Colombia. We were there to visit with commanders and local
                 leaders, but especially to see our troops and to thank
                 them. In the faces of those troops I saw the trust and
                 respect they felt--some to their own surprise--when they
                 met the chairman--the powerful chairman of the Armed
                 Services Committee. He was there. He had traveled across
                 the globe to listen to them, to work for them, and to
                 thank them.
                   It was profoundly moving to me to see this--inspiring
                 indeed. As the chairman of one of the other major
                 committees, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations,
                 he has pursued the powerful on behalf of the powerless, on
                 behalf of the people. He has not only uncovered abuse, but
                 he has sent a powerful message to an increasingly
                 discouraged America that there is someone who will fight
                 for them, who understands that everyone deserves a fair
                 chance at a better future.
                   Carl Levin has been a friend, a role model. I will miss
                 working with him.
                   Along with all of my other colleagues who are leaving us
                 at the conclusion of the 113th Congress, let me thank them
                 for their service, their dedication to improving the lives
                 of Americans, and on a very personal level for their
                 friendship. I wish them all well.

                   Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I wish to offer a few words
                 of tribute to my departing colleague, Senator Carl Levin--
                 a model of serious purpose, firm principle, and personal
                 decency, and 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.
                   Carl and I have served together on the Senate Armed
                 Services Committee for the better part of three decades.
                 He is my senior in this body by 8 years and has been my
                 chairman for more than 10 years in total. It has been a
                 privilege to serve under his very able, honorable, and
                 fair leadership.
                   Carl and I sit on opposite sides of the aisle. The
                 difference is quite obvious on any number of issues, but I
                 hope it is also obvious how much I admire and respect my
                 friend from Michigan.
                   We have had our moments on the committee. Debate there
                 can get a little passionate from time to time, perhaps a
                 little more passionate on my part than Carl's, but that,
                 as all my colleagues would surely attest, is my problem,
                 not Carl's. We are, however, both proud of the committee's
                 tradition of bipartisan cooperation which Carl has worked
                 diligently to preserve and strengthen. We both know how
                 important that tradition is to faithfully discharging our
                 responsibilities to help maintain the defense of this
                 country and do right by the men and women of the U.S.
                 Armed Forces. We both feel their example of selfless
                 sacrifice would shame us if we let the committee descend
                 into the partisan posturing that often makes it hard to
                 get important work done in Congress.
                   When Members disagree in committee--often heatedly--it
                 is because we feel passionately about whatever issue is in
                 dispute. Even then we try to behave civilly and
                 respectfully to each other, and we do not let our
                 disagreements prevent us from completing the committee's
                 business. Carl won't let us. That we have managed to keep
                 that reputation in these contentious times is a tribute to
                 Carl Levin. He has kept the committee focused on its
                 duties and not on the next election or the latest rush-to-
                 the-barricades partisan quarrel. He does so in a calm,
                 measured, patient, and thoughtful manner. He seems, in
                 fact, to be calmer and more patient the more heated our
                 disagreements are. As members' emotions and temperatures
                 rise, Carl's unperturbed composure and focus bring our
                 attention back to the business at hand. You could safely
                 say he and I have slightly different leadership styles. I
                 am gentler and less confrontational. But Carl's style
                 seems to work for him. It works well for the committee
                 too, for the armed services, and for the country.
                   The committee has a heavy workload every year, and Carl
                 manages to keep us all in harness and working together at
                 a good pace and with a constructive, results-oriented
                 approach that is the envy of the dozen or so lesser
                 committees of the Senate. Our principal responsibility is
                 to produce the defense authorization bill--one of the most
                 important and comprehensive pieces of legislation the
                 Senate considers on an annual basis. The committee has
                 never failed to report the bill, and the Senate has never
                 failed to pass it. That is not an accomplishment that some
                 of the lesser committees I just referred to can claim
                 every year, and no one deserves more of the credit than
                 Carl Levin.
                   When Carl Levin first joined the committee, he explained
                 his reason for seeking the assignment this way:

                   I had never served, and I thought there was a big gap in
                 terms of my background and, frankly, felt it was a way of
                 providing service.

                   He might never have served in the military, but he has
                 surely served the military well, and he has served the
                 national interests our Armed Forces protect in an
                 exemplary manner that the rest of us would be wise to
                 emulate.
                   More recently, I have had the honor and privilege of
                 serving alongside Carl on the Permanent Subcommittee on
                 Investigations. His tireless efforts and steadfast
                 dedication to exposing misconduct and abuse by financial
                 institutions and government regulators have set a new
                 standard for thoughtful and thorough congressional
                 investigations.
                   Whether the topic was the 2008 financial crisis, Swiss
                 banking secrecy, or JPMorgan's ``London Whale'' debacle,
                 professionals in the industry and the public at large knew
                 they could count on Carl Levin to get to the bottom of it
                 with authoritative reports and hearings. Carl's tenacity
                 in uncovering wrongdoing sparked significant changes in
                 the financial sector.
                   I also commend Carl Levin on zealously and effectively
                 pursuing his investigations in a way that has furthered
                 the subcommittee's long-standing tradition of
                 bipartisanship. While Carl Levin and I may have had our
                 disagreements, we never let them get in the way of finding
                 common ground where we could.
                   While Carl's retirement may come as a relief to some of
                 those on Wall Street, his patience, thoughtfulness, and
                 commitment to bipartisanship will be deeply missed on the
                 subcommittee and in the Senate.
                   Indeed, from Carl Levin's long and distinguished service
                 in the Senate, he has obtained the respect of his
                 colleagues on both sides of the aisle. We all listen to
                 him, and we listen closest to him on the occasions when we
                 disagree with him. That, in my view, is a great compliment
                 from one Senator to another. It is a tribute paid to only
                 the most respected Members.
                   Of course, the greatest compliment one Senator can pay
                 another is to credit him or her as a person who keeps his
                 or her word. That has become too rare in Washington but
                 not so in my experiences with Carl Levin. He has never
                 broken his word to me. He has never backed out of a deal,
                 even when doing so would have been personally and
                 politically advantageous. When we are in agreement on an
                 issue, Carl usually argues more effectively than I can,
                 and when we disagree, we usually find a way to settle our
                 dispute without abandoning our responsibilities. Carl
                 Levin deserves most of the credit for that too.
                   One of the great satisfactions in life is to fight for a
                 common cause with someone you haven't always agreed with,
                 someone whose background, views, and personality are
                 different from yours. Yet you discover that despite your
                 differences, you have always been on the same side on the
                 big things.
                   Thank you, Carl, for the privilege and for your
                 friendship and example. The committee is going to miss
                 you, the Senate is going to miss you, the men and women of
                 the U.S. Armed Forces are going to miss you, and I will
                 miss you a lot.
                                               Wednesday, December 10, 2014
                   Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, first, I have to say what a
                 joy it is to work with Senator Levin. I know the public
                 thinks that no Republicans like any Democrats and vice
                 versa--at least those are the flames they try to fan--and
                 that is not true.
                   I can only think of two issues on which Senator Levin
                 and I disagreed with each other. He has been through 16 of
                 the NDAAs as either chairman or ranking member. I am sure
                 that is some kind of a record. But to work with someone
                 who you know will be totally honest with you even when you
                 have a difference of opinion is really a joy. I hope we
                 can be an example for some of the other committees that
                 don't have that much joy when they are working on an
                 issue.
                   The long history he has had here and the integrity he
                 has expressed will be sorely missed, I have to say to my
                 good friend Senator Levin. ...

                   The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from
                 Michigan.

                   Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, first let me thank Senator
                 Inhofe for his friendship, most importantly, but also for
                 the great partnership we have enjoyed. It has been a real
                 pleasure working with the Senator from Oklahoma. I should
                 perhaps also say we are confident our successors will
                 carry on this tradition as well. Senator McCain will be
                 the new chairman, and Senator Jack Reed the new ranking
                 member. They will be carrying on this tradition that we
                 have done everything we know how to do to maintain.

                   Mr. REED. Madam President, I rise today in support of
                 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
                 2015. I commend the work of my colleagues on the Armed
                 Services Committee--especially the chairman, Senator Carl
                 Levin of Michigan--on reaching an agreement with the House
                 to complete this important legislation.
                   It is also appropriate that this legislation be named in
                 honor of both Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Buck
                 McKeon, the chairmen of their respective committees who
                 this year are retiring after extraordinary service and
                 dedication to the Nation and particularly to the men and
                 women of the armed services. It is another reason why this
                 bill is particularly special--because it represents the
                 culmination of the work of these two extraordinary
                 gentlemen. ...

                   Mr. DURBIN. I have some tributes here for my colleagues
                 who are retiring, leaving the Senate. It is a lengthy list
                 of tributes. ...
                   Last night it was my honor to salute Carl Levin of
                 Michigan for his 36 years of service in the U.S. Senate.
                 He has done so many things so well. As chairman of the
                 Armed Services Committee, he has produced this contentious
                 and challenging bill year after year, both as ranking
                 member and as chairman. As chairman of the Permanent
                 Subcommittee on Investigations, he really raised that
                 subcommittee to a new level. He tackled some of the most
                 complex issues of our day, particularly when it came to
                 corporate abuse. He spent the time to get the facts right.
                 When he had a hearing, he made an extraordinary
                 contribution to the public dialog about reforming our law
                 and making this a better nation.
                   When I was first elected to the Senate, people back home
                 said to me, ``Well, now that you have been in the Senate a
                 year or two, which Senators do you respect the most?''
                   I said then, and I will repeat it today, if I had a
                 tough, important decision, one I was wrestling over, an
                 issue or a vote, and I could only reach out to a couple of
                 Senators at the time, one would be Paul Sarbanes of
                 Maryland, now retired, and the other is Carl Levin. That
                 is still a fact.
                   Long before Carl Levin was elected to the U.S. Senate it
                 was clear that he had a gift for politics. Picture this--
                 true story: At Central High School in Detroit, Carl Levin
                 was elected class president. He won that race after, as he
                 tells it, ``running around with a piece of matzoh telling
                 other students: `This is what happens to bread without
                 Levin.''' How's that for a slogan?
                   As much as I hate to think about it, soon we will have a
                 U.S. Senate without Levin--for the first time in 36 years.
                 Our only consolation is that Carl Levin leaves a legacy of
                 good and important laws. He also leaves a powerful example
                 of what can be achieved when we choose integrity over
                 ideology, and our common good over confrontation.
                   A Jewish publication in Detroit wrote awhile back that
                 Carl Levin and his brother, Congressman Sandy Levin, both
                 deserve ``Honorable Menschen Awards''--with the accent on
                 ``mensch''--for their historic service to our Nation. I
                 agree wholeheartedly. Senator Levin's keen intellect,
                 honesty, and fair-mindedness--his decency and unfailing
                 civility--have earned him the respect of Senators on both
                 sides of the aisle.
                   Many years ago I was an intern for a great Senator,
                 Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois. Every year now, the
                 University of Illinois presents a ``Paul Douglas Ethics in
                 Government Award'' to an elected leader who shares Senator
                 Douglas' deep commitment to social and economic justice
                 and efficient government. The recipient of the ``Paul
                 Douglas Ethics in Government Award'' in 2006 was Senator
                 Carl Levin. Paul Douglas would have approved that choice
                 heartily.
                   As was Paul Douglas, Carl Levin has been a foot soldier
                 for justice. Paul Douglas was a leader in the effort to
                 pass a strong Federal Civil Rights Act. In 1964, the year
                 that law finally passed, Carl Levin was appointed the
                 first general counsel for the Michigan Civil Rights
                 Commission.
                   Paul Douglas believed in government and he hated
                 government waste. He used to say: ``You don't have to be a
                 wastrel to be a liberal.'' Carl Levin reminds us that:
                 ``There are some things that only government can do, so we
                 need government. But we don't need an inefficient,
                 wasteful, arrogant government.''
                   Carl Levin was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978.
                 Before that, he was active for 15 years in Detroit and
                 Michigan State politics. He taught law before he entered
                 politics. He also held some other interesting jobs--
                 including driving a cab in Detroit and working on a DeSoto
                 assemblyline.
                   He showed up in Washington in 1979 driving a 1974 Dodge
                 Dart with a hole in the floorboard. He was still driving
                 that same car to the Capitol 10 years later. That tells us
                 something about Carl Levin's devotion to the U.S. auto
                 industry, its workers, and unions.
                   When General Motors and Chrysler faced potential
                 collapse in 2008, he pressed Congress and a new President
                 to support the companies with billions of dollars in
                 loans.
                   Those loans have since been repaid and Chrysler and GM
                 are not only solvent, they are making a profit. The U.S.
                 auto industry is in the midst of its fastest expansion
                 since 1950.
                   Carl Levin is a champion as well of America's military,
                 military families, and veterans. He has served on the
                 Armed Services Committee since coming to the Senate 36
                 years ago. He is one of Congress' most respected voices on
                 national security and military issues.
                   Some years back he used his power on the Armed Services
                 Committee to question the procurement practices of the
                 military. He asked: Why was the Pentagon spending
                 thousands of dollars apiece for things like toilet seats
                 and hammers? He said: We need more money for soldiers and
                 less wasteful spending for contractors. With the world
                 growing more volatile and complex and increasing pressure
                 to reduce defense budgets, those are questions we must all
                 be willing to ask.
                   As a ranking member and then chair of the Senate's
                 Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Senator Levin's
                 piercing intellect and his patient mastery of complex
                 issues helped, over and over, to expose and correct
                 serious wrongdoing.
                   As PSI chairman in 2002, he led a probe of the
                 activities of Enron Corporation; the investigation
                 resulted in legislation to improve the accuracy and
                 reliability of corporate disclosures.
                   From white collar crime, to money laundering, abusive
                 tax shelters, and gasoline and crude oil price gouging, he
                 has pursued the subjects of every investigation with
                 nonpartisan vigor, seeking results, not spotlights.
                   The list of laws bearing his imprint is long and
                 historic: The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984;
                 Social Security Disability Benefits Reform, 1984; the
                 Anti-Kickback Enforcement Act, 1986; the Whistleblower
                 Protection Act, 1989; the Ethics Reform Act in 1989; the
                 Lobbying Disclosure Act in 1995--the first major lobbying
                 reform in 50 years.
                   The list goes on. Senator Levin voted: To repeal ``don't
                 ask, don't tell''; to protect voting rights; and to limit
                 the influence of private-interest money in elections.
                   He has voted to support American manufacturing--and stop
                 giving tax breaks to corporations to ship American jobs
                 overseas.
                   He supported my efforts to change bankruptcy laws to
                 allow deserving homeowners to save their homes in
                 foreclosures.
                   He voted to regulate tobacco as a drug--another issue
                 that is personal for me.
                   I will always remember Senator Levin's vote on the Iraq
                 war resolution. For years before 9/11, he warned anyone
                 who would listen that America was threatened by terrorism.
                 When the horrific attacks came, he supported pursuing the
                 attackers in Afghanistan.
                   A year later, he and I were among just 23 Senators to
                 vote against the Iraq war. He voted no, even though he was
                 then chair of the Armed Services Committee. That took
                 extraordinary moral and political courage, and history has
                 shown he was right.
                   Carl Levin is the longest serving Senator in Michigan
                 history, surpassing another Senate legend, Arthur
                 Vandenberg. As he proved long ago when he was elected
                 president of his high school council, he is a natural-born
                 politician. But like Senator Vandenberg, he is more than a
                 politician; he is a statesman.
                   I will miss his presence in this Senate and I wish him,
                 and his wife Barbara, all the best in the future.

                   Mr. COONS. ... As I close, I would also like to thank
                 those of our colleagues who will be leaving the Senate
                 after the New Year.
                   It is an incredible privilege to work in this Chamber
                 and to represent the people. Every day I am awed by the
                 dedication and talent of many of my colleagues, public
                 servants who come to work to fight for their States and
                 their government.
                   To those who are ending their service in the Senate,
                 know that I value your friendship and partnership. It has
                 been an honor to work with you, and I thank you for all
                 you have done for our Nation.

                   Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, once again, as is our tradition
                 here in the Senate, we take a moment to express our
                 appreciation for the service of those Members who will be
                 retiring at the end of the year. We will miss them, their
                 good ideas and thoughtful suggestions, and their concern
                 and active involvement in the challenges facing our Nation
                 in a number of areas.
                   It is hard to mention the word ``service'' and not have
                 Carl Levin come to mind. As a former local official
                 myself, I have a great deal of respect and regard for all
                 those who have worked their way up from the local level to
                 the Senate.
                   For Carl the great adventure of his political life began
                 with his service on the Detroit City Council. During his 8
                 years on the council Carl probably had enough run-ins with
                 the Federal bureaucracy that he decided he had to do
                 something about it. For him that meant a run for the
                 Senate.
                   Carl's election and his subsequent service in the Senate
                 have shown him to be quite an effective legislator and a
                 force for the positions he has taken on a long list of
                 issues. He has been a Member of the Senate since 1979 and
                 he has hit a number of milestones since then that reflect
                 the length and production of his service.
                   It is important to emphasize that Carl's service in the
                 Senate has never been about longevity, it has been about
                 results. That is why he has been a part of so many issues
                 that needed someone with his talents, skills, and
                 abilities to help move them through. Such an issue has
                 been his great support for our Nation's military and our
                 veterans.
                   Carl has been working for the benefit of those who have
                 served in our Armed Forces since he first walked in the
                 door of the Senate. Determined that they reap the benefits
                 they have earned with their service, Carl joined the Armed
                 Services Committee to ensure our military and our veterans
                 were getting what they deserved and required both during
                 and after their service.
                   That is one of the main reasons why he is currently
                 serving as the chairman of our Armed Services Committee.
                 He wanted to make a difference for those who were
                 sacrificing so much to serve in our Nation's military. I
                 don't think our service men and women--and our Nation's
                 veterans--have ever had a better friend than Carl Levin.
                   Now he is closing the chapter of this great adventure of
                 his life. With his service he has made a difference in
                 more ways than I could ever hope to mention in my brief
                 remarks. In the process Carl has touched more lives for
                 the better than we will ever know with his commitment to
                 the day-to-day issues that affect us all--like education,
                 the environment, and health care. He has had an impact on
                 his home State and our Nation that will be felt for a long
                 time to come.
                   Thank you, Carl, for your service in the Senate. I know
                 I join with the people of Michigan in expressing our
                 appreciation to you for dedicating so much of your life to
                 making our Nation a better place for us all to live. That
                 is why your constituents have always been there to express
                 their appreciation of your work here in the Senate with
                 their votes. That is also why no other Senator has ever
                 represented Michigan as long as you have.
                   Diana joins in sending our best wishes to you for all
                 you have accomplished and for your close and personal
                 attention to the needs of our Armed Forces and the
                 concerns of our veterans. Thanks, too, for your
                 friendship. We will miss you, but I am certain we will be
                 in touch.
                            ORDER FOR PRINTING OF SENATE DOCUMENT
                   Mr. BENNET. I ask unanimous consent that the tributes to
                 retiring Senators be printed as a Senate document and that
                 Senators be permitted to submit tributes until December
                 23, 2014.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so
                 ordered.
                                                Thursday, December 11, 2014
                   Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, once again, the Senate has
                 an opportunity to consider the National Defense
                 Authorization Act. This bill is named for the two retiring
                 chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services
                 Committees, Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Buck
                 McKeon. Carl Levin has been a fierce defender of Michigan,
                 strong advocate for the men and women of our armed
                 services, and a friend. When the Senate passes this bill,
                 and the President signs it into law, it will be a fitting
                 tribute to Senator Levin's storied legacy of public
                 service. ...
                                                  Friday, December 12, 2014
                   Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, during his 36 years
                 representing Michigan in the Senate, Senator Carl Levin's
                 character and expertise have been described in many ways.
                 He has been named by Time magazine as one of ``America's
                 10 Best Senators.'' He has been hailed by our military as
                 a leader on national security. He is recognized by
                 families in Michigan and throughout our country as a
                 dedicated champion for economic opportunity and fairness.
                   But perhaps the best description of Senator Levin's
                 philosophy of public service is a word he himself used in
                 an interview for the George Mitchell Oral History Project
                 at Bowdoin College in Maine. That word is ``fiduciary.''
                   It is the word that embraces the concepts of trust and
                 confidence, of ethics and responsibility. In that
                 interview Senator Levin elaborated on what the word means
                 to him as a public servant. He said it meant to be
                 accessible and open, to listen to other points of view,
                 and to be well informed. Then when it is time to decide,
                 to use his best judgment and vote for what is best for his
                 State and his country, even though it may not be the
                 popular choice at the time.
                   ``Fiduciary'' may indeed be the best word to describe
                 our colleague Senator Levin; but to me, based upon decades
                 of firsthand experience, there is another phrase that also
                 comes to mind. He is truly a Senator's Senator. My
                 colleagues may be surprised to learn that I have known
                 Senator Levin far longer than most of the Members of this
                 Chamber. You see, when he was first elected to the Senate
                 in 1978, the same year as Maine Senator Bill Cohen, for
                 whom I was working at the time, both of them served on
                 what was then known as a Senate Governmental Affairs
                 Committee and also on the same subcommittee, Oversight of
                 Government Management, for which I was first the minority
                 staff director and then the majority staff director. So I
                 have known and worked with Senator Levin for the entire
                 time he has been a Member of this Chamber. From the very
                 start, Senator Levin's diligence as a watchdog for the
                 American people impressed me.
                   Ten years after I left the committee, I returned as
                 Senator Cohen's successor and sought a seat on the
                 Governmental Affairs Committee precisely because, thanks
                 to the example of Senator Levin and Senator Cohen, I saw
                 the importance of accountability in government and
                 business practices. As the chairman of the Permanent
                 Subcommittee on Investigations, it was my honor to begin
                 my Senate service with Senator Levin as our ranking
                 member, who was a far more experienced Senator than I was
                 at the time.
                   So I have seen first hand how deeply Senator Levin cares
                 about the Senate as an institution and its unique place in
                 our Constitution and in its role in our system of
                 government. He is a person of extraordinary integrity and
                 has a sense of purpose that sets a high standard for all
                 of us in public service.
                   He works well with Senators across the aisle because he
                 works hard. From the very first time I saw Senator Levin
                 in action back in 1978, I saw the importance that he
                 placed on extensive, exhaustive preparation for our
                 committee investigations and hearings. As many evasive or
                 ill-prepared witnesses learned to their chagrin, the eyes
                 behind those trademark reading glasses focused like a
                 laser because he has always done his homework.
                   If Senator Levin were to be remembered for his
                 contributions to just one area of policy, it would be our
                 Nation's defense. He has been a member of the Armed
                 Services Committee throughout his time in the Senate,
                 including 10 years as both the chairman and the ranking
                 member. During our work together on that committee, I saw
                 his mastery of such complex matters as emerging global
                 threats and advanced weapons systems. Above all, his focus
                 has always been on the men and women in uniform and their
                 families, from improving their standard of living to
                 better caring for our wounded warriors.
                   As a fiduciary of the principles that are our Nation's
                 foundation, Carl Levin has been a faithful trustee and
                 truly a Senator's Senator. I cannot imagine this body
                 without him, without his wisdom, his integrity, his
                 insight. So I thank him for his years of extraordinary
                 service, and I wish him all the best in the years to come.
                   Thank you, Mr. President.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.

                   Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, Senator Carl Levin has been
                 my Senator for 36 years, and it has been one of the great
                 honors of my life to serve for the last 14 years as his
                 partner, as well as his friend, representing Michigan.
                   The year he was elected, ``Grease'' was the year's
                 highest grossing movie and ``Staying Alive'' was music's
                 biggest hit, and you should see Senator Levin dance. So
                 Senator Levin has outlasted disco, the Soviet Union, and
                 all six of the people who challenged him in elections,
                 including an astronaut. That is because integrity never
                 goes out of style.
                   Senator Levin has never wavered in his devotion to
                 Michigan and to his country. As we heard today and as we
                 each know, he has brought that patriotism to the Armed
                 Services Committee. No one has done more to ensure that
                 our men and women in uniform are battle-ready, with the
                 supplies and technology they need to be the best military
                 in the world, than Senator Carl Levin, or to make sure
                 they receive fair pay and full health benefits. Carl Levin
                 puts his coalition together year after year to make that
                 happen.
                   He has never lost faith in government's capacity to be a
                 force for good, and we heard that again in his comments
                 today. This was passed down to him from his parents, who
                 saw how the New Deal rescued families from desperate
                 poverty.
                   A young Carl Levin admired President Harry Truman--
                 especially Truman, the Senator who drove cross country,
                 stopping in cities where defense contractors were
                 committing fraud and waste at the expense of America's
                 wartime economy.
                   Truman himself would be very proud to see Senator Levin
                 leading the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. As a
                 former civil rights attorney, Senator Levin relished the
                 chance to cross-examine those he suspected of dishonesty
                 toward taxpayers and the American people. It is not
                 literally a trial by fire, but that committee room has
                 definitely become a sweat lodge for unscrupulous
                 executives or anyone who has tried to get rich by getting
                 one over on average Americans. They sweat because they
                 know Senator Levin has done his homework--boy, has he done
                 his homework. He digs so deep, he knows more about what
                 they are going to say than they do.
                   David used a slingshot to bring down Goliath, but Carl
                 Levin can topple a tycoon with nothing but a binder full
                 of subpoenaed documents, and we have all seen him do it.
                 In 2007 he shined a light on abusive practices of credit
                 card companies, leading to laws that have brought about
                 more transparency. Thanks to Senator Carl Levin, your
                 credit card statement contains more disclosures so you
                 know what is going on.
                   Those of us in Michigan also see a softer, gentler side.
                 His heart is in Detroit, where he was born and raised and
                 now lives with his wife Barbara. His soul is nourished by
                 the tranquility he finds in northern Michigan in the Upper
                 Peninsula--Isle Royale, a place to which he has made many
                 trips.
                   If you have been to Detroit recently, you know the city
                 is in the midst of a spectacular comeback. I believe it is
                 the most spectacular comeback in modern history.
                 Everywhere you look, you see evidence of Senator Carl
                 Levin's hard work. He led the way on getting Federal
                 funding for Detroit's International Riverfront, which is
                 spectacular. He worked with me and others in leading the
                 effort to secure critical funding for the M-1 Rail
                 Project, championing that every step of the way--a
                 streetcar that will inject even more vibrancy to the
                 historic Woodward Avenue, which is already attracting
                 scores of entrepreneurs and small businesses.
                   Five years ago I was proud to stand with Senator Levin
                 as we passionately worked to rescue our American
                 automobile industry and give them a chance to grow and
                 move forward, and I saw his commitment and fiery passion
                 for making sure we did not let them down, the men and
                 women who worked so hard in Michigan and across the
                 country. That revival has done so much to lift the economy
                 of greater Detroit and all of Michigan.
                   Senator Levin knows that manufacturing is the backbone
                 of our State's economy, but he also knows that the
                 landscapes, the soil, and the water are all part of who we
                 are, including our Great Lakes. It is in our DNA, and I
                 know it is in his. That is why he has pushed for years to
                 help Sleeping Bear Dunes be recognized as a national
                 lakeshore, and we are seeing the outcome of his work as we
                 look at this beautiful national resource. He fought for
                 the Federal sanctuary at Thunder Bay and for the creation
                 of the Keweenaw National Historic Park. It has been an
                 honor for me to stand with him as he chaired our Great
                 Lakes Task Force, our bipartisan task force, and fight for
                 funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which
                 has had a miraculous effect on the quality of freshwater
                 that is vital for Michigan and the Nation.
                   I could stand here for hours talking about his
                 accomplishments, the footprints and handprints and marks
                 he has made on Michigan and, most importantly, the people
                 and communities of Michigan. But, as we heard this morning
                 from colleagues and will continue to hear, they are small
                 in comparison to the testament of his character, his
                 compassion, his humor, and the unassailable strength of
                 his convictions.
                   Senator Levin, you will be missed in Michigan and
                 certainly by me and the Senate. I know you and Barbara and
                 your daughters and grandchildren, including your one
                 grandson--who is kind of outnumbered--will be grateful to
                 have you so you can show them the world from your
                 perspective and show them the continued beauty of
                 Michigan. You have given so much, and we are grateful.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.

                   Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, I wish to talk about
                 Senator Levin from a different perspective than my
                 colleagues have. There is a seduction that goes on around
                 here. You can get lulled into a false sense of security by
                 excellent staff. Carl Levin is fortunate that he has
                 excellent staff, but what many of us are tempted to do at
                 times is to allow staff to do the arcane and tedious work
                 of checking statutory language.
                   I have been blessed to have a front row seat to watch
                 Carl Levin work. From my seat on the Armed Services
                 Committee and on the Permanent Subcommittee on
                 Investigations, I have not only watched his excellent
                 staff, I have watched Carl Levin. This is a man who
                 understands every nook and cranny of statutory
                 construction. He would never be lulled into a false sense
                 of security that he understood the bill just because of
                 what he was told.
                   I will think of Carl Levin fondly in one way: his
                 shoulders slightly stooped, his hand grasping a piece of
                 paper, not an electronic device, him walking quickly
                 toward me with his head down, peering over those
                 ubiquitous glasses, saying, ``Claire, have you read the
                 language? Claire, have you read the language? Read the
                 language. Read the language.''
                   He understands the hazards of a misplaced comma. He
                 understands the danger of using an ``and'' instead of an
                 ``or.'' He understands that the essence of our work is to
                 make sure we craft language that lives up to our purpose
                 and ideals.
                   Carl Levin is a Senator's Senator. There are no sharp
                 elbows, no heated rhetoric, and, frankly, there is no star
                 power on cable television. No one is dying to get Carl in
                 front of a camera because he will say something incendiary
                 or pick a fight, which all of our friends are anxious for
                 us to do--if we would only pick a fight.
                   Carl is methodically doing the grind-it-out work of
                 legislating. He has the tools of a great Senator:
                 intellect, integrity, good manners, and an unsurpassed
                 work ethic. I will always call him my most important
                 mentor in the Senate. He has taught me more than I can
                 ever say. I will try desperately to live up to the ideal
                 he has set for all of us.
                   I thank the Presiding Officer.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.

                   Mr. SESSIONS. I thank Senator McCaskill for her
                 comments. We are talking about a Senator's Senator, a man
                 who reads the language of the legislation and knows how to
                 legislate.
                   I came here 18 years ago and have served on the Armed
                 Services Committee that entire time, and my admiration and
                 respect for Carl Levin has grown every year. It has grown
                 because it is deserved. He is a remarkable leader. He
                 never showboats and always wants to do the right thing. He
                 serves his country first, and he runs a committee that is,
                 in my mind, the best run committee--according to the
                 ideals of the Republic of which we are a part--that exists
                 in either Chamber today. It just works the way it is
                 supposed to.
                   His subcommittees work. We have amendments in
                 subcommittees that are disputed. If you don't like the
                 result, you bring it to the full committee, and the full
                 committee meets, and if it takes 2 full days, it takes 2
                 full days; everybody gets to bring up their amendments.
                   Senator Levin is always brilliantly able to solve
                 differences through proper wording of the committee's
                 legislation. As Claire suggested, he has an extraordinary
                 lawyer's ability to get the right words and make the bill
                 say what the committee wants it to say. I think that is
                 special, and I am pleased to have been a part of it.
                   The Armed Services Committee authorizes one-half of the
                 discretionary budget of the United States. It impacts the
                 lives of men and women in harm's way right now. We need to
                 get it right. It involves a lot of money and a lot of
                 responsibility. It is a well run committee that sets an
                 example for what we ought to see more of in the Senate.
                   There is a fairness about his work. Somehow we have
                 always passed an authorization bill, and somehow it is
                 almost always unanimous or very close to unanimous. There
                 may be one or two issues that maybe should not have been
                 tacked on to the bill that causes someone not to vote for
                 it, but when it is over, normally every Member--Republican
                 and Democrat--is satisfied with the ability to have their
                 voice heard and their ideas put into the bill, if
                 possible. But if you lose in subcommittee and you lose on
                 the floor and you have had your say in both places, it
                 kind of makes you feel like, what more can I do? If the
                 rest of the bill is OK, I will try to support it. These
                 markups take time because we are dealing with a large
                 portion of Federal funding.
                   Finally, I would like to say how much I appreciated the
                 wisdom he shared with us as we dealt with the nuclear
                 option--the so-called nuclear option that changed the
                 rules of the Senate. Senator Levin, who is a lawyer's
                 lawyer, said something that was very profound, and it was
                 reflected again in his remarks today, and that is, if a
                 majority can change the rules, there are no rules. If a
                 majority can change the rules of the Senate at a given
                 moment to overcome objections from the minority, then
                 there are virtually no minority rights--you have a pure
                 majoritarian body. I think that is what Carl was sharing
                 with us in his brilliant speech that all of us ought to
                 read.
                   I thank our chairman for the leadership he has given and
                 for the courtesy he has shown to me and all our Members. I
                 wish him great success in his future endeavors, and I hope
                 he will continue to contribute his wisdom to the body
                 politic.
                   I yield the floor.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.

                   Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, it has been summed up here,
                 and I want the Senator from Michigan to hear what has been
                 summarized so meaningfully by all of our colleagues,
                 because this is the best of this institution in terms of
                 how it performs. It has been embodied here in the public
                 service of Carl Levin for 36 years. What we have heard
                 from testimonies on both sides of the aisle is that
                 because of how he has conducted himself as an individual
                 and how he has conducted himself as a public servant and
                 how he has conducted himself as a leader in this Senate is
                 an example of exactly how this institution is supposed to
                 function.
                   Isn't it rather symbolic that on the last couple of days
                 of the session, the bill that will be passed is the bill
                 Senator Levin has ushered through the Senate? He never
                 broke tradition. He made sure the defense authorization
                 bill was going to be passed by hammering out the
                 differences with the House and shepherding it through the
                 parliamentary process. It has happened every year because
                 of his extraordinary leadership.
                   I will close simply by saying that because he is all of
                 the things we have heard--the consummate gentleman, the
                 humble public servant, his razor-sharp mind, and the best
                 lawyer, by the way, in the entire Senate--because he is
                 all of those things, he also is the embodiment of a
                 Senator because when he gives someone his word, that is
                 it. A person does not have to worry anymore.
                   The future Senate should take a lesson from the life and
                 the leadership of Carl Levin from Michigan.
                   I yield the floor.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.

                   Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise with honor and
                 pleasure to be able to say thank you to my dear friend. I
                 am the most junior Member, besides the Presiding Officer,
                 in this body today. When I first came to the Senate, I
                 asked to be on the Armed Services Committee. West Virginia
                 has a proud heritage of an awful lot of people--
                 percentagewise probably more than most States--having
                 served in all of the branches of the military. So that is
                 very near and dear to me, and our National Guard is very
                 near and dear to our State. So there were many reasons why
                 I wanted to be on the Armed Services Committee.
                   When I got here, it was one of the most toxic times of
                 the political arena, if you will. It was not what I
                 expected, to say the least. Seeing the toxic atmosphere
                 that I came into, people would say it didn't used to be
                 this way; it used to work. The process worked. The whole
                 aura of the Senate was there, and we are losing that. That
                 was their excuse for telling me that is why it is not
                 working today, but it used to work.
                   Then I became part of this committee called the Armed
                 Services Committee with this unbelievable chairman whose
                 name is Carl Levin. I watched and observed. I didn't say a
                 whole lot at first because freshmen aren't supposed to,
                 but I watched and I learned and I saw the system the way I
                 imagined it probably was 20, 30, 40 years ago when it did
                 work. I saw the Senate, and I was thinking, Why can't the
                 rest of the Senate work the way the Armed Services
                 Committee works? There is one reason. We don't have enough
                 Carl Levins. We just don't have enough Carl Levins.
                   Carl Levin is practical, reasonable, and sensible. It
                 made sense to me what he would say.
                   Just recently I have had difficulties on a piece of
                 legislation that is very important. Carl spoke to me in
                 terms that my father would have spoken to me, and I
                 understood very well: State your opposition, record your
                 opposition, and look at the whole situation as the
                 betterment and the good of the bill, which is better than
                 basically this piece that you oppose. He said I could
                 explain my opposition.
                   Carl Levin would say this, too. He would say: ``Listen,
                 I can't tell you what to do. Really, you have to do what
                 you think is right, but let me give you some points to
                 think about.'' He has been an unbelievable mentor who will
                 give us the ability to kind of process this whole system
                 we are in.
                   Let me say this, Carl. I am sorry that I didn't have the
                 honor and the opportunity and the pleasure to serve with
                 you for many more years. I really am. Or I am sorry I
                 didn't get here soon enough, whatever the case may be. But
                 the Senator from Michigan has left an impression on me as
                 to how this place should work.
                   Robert C. Byrd, my predecessor, felt as passionately as
                 you do. There is a process here and there is a reason for
                 the process, which is to make us talk to each other, to
                 make this place work. There should never be a situation we
                 would get into that is important to the American citizen
                 or this country where we can't work it out and can't get
                 at least 60 votes. There should never be a time that we
                 cannot get 60 votes. If we do that, then basically just
                 changing a rule is not going to change the attitude and
                 the atmosphere we create. I believe very strongly in that.
                 I appreciate the Senator's fight.
                   In the hills of West Virginia, we have a saying: ``They
                 are good people.'' You meet somebody and someone says,
                 ``They are good people.''
                   Carl, you are good people. Thank you.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

                   Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, one of the great honors of
                 serving in the U.S. Senate--and it is a great honor to
                 serve in this body--is the fact that I have had the
                 opportunity to serve with Carl Levin. I think Senator
                 Levin represents the very best of our political system,
                 the very best of the U.S. Senate, and why I am so proud to
                 be a part of this institution.
                   I must tell my colleagues I came from the House of
                 Representatives and I had the great pleasure to have as
                 one of my closest friends in the House of Representatives
                 Carl's brother, Sandy. Sandy is an incredibly talented
                 person who believes in public service, as does his brother
                 Carl. The two of them have devoted their family reputation
                 to public service, and they have given so much back.
                   Carl, what you have done for our national security, for
                 our national defense, the type of attention you have paid
                 to make sure this country is as well prepared as it needs
                 to be, you have done that in an exemplary way. I can tell
                 you what you have done for the people in Michigan, the
                 type of Senator you have been. You have been a great U.S.
                 Senator for your State, as well as a great U.S. Senator
                 for the United States. That is not always an easy balance,
                 but you have been able to do it.
                   As so many colleagues have said, when we seek advice,
                 when we need a Senator to help us understand something, we
                 go to Carl Levin. Some of my constituents have a hard time
                 believing that we read the bills around here. Carl Levin
                 reads the bills around here. He has found typographical
                 errors in some of my legislation. He has found ways to
                 correct us when we didn't express ourselves the way we
                 should have. He writes me notes all the time. I thank him
                 for that dedication.
                   As several of our colleagues have pointed out, there is
                 no one here who has a greater love for the traditions--the
                 best traditions--of the U.S. Senate, a Senate that debates
                 and respects each other. One of the great opportunities I
                 had was to sit in a room with Lamar Alexander and Carl
                 Levin and others and talk about that, and how we could
                 restore the best traditions of the U.S. Senate.
                   So, Senator Levin, I want you to know, I will always be
                 indebted to serving in this body with you, learning from
                 you, and recognizing just what one person can do to carry
                 out the honor and dignity of public service. You really
                 define public service. For that, I am very grateful, the
                 people of Michigan are grateful, and the people of America
                 are grateful. Congratulations on your great service.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.

                   Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, it is no surprise to any of us
                 that the first thing Carl Levin did when he spoke today
                 was thank his staff. He thanked them, and then he thanked
                 the police force and the groundskeepers and the food
                 service people and the people who too many in this world
                 ignore. That was the first thing he did.
                   The second thing Carl did in his address was to talk
                 about the gulf between the fortunate few and the
                 struggling many. That has been what I most admire about
                 Carl Levin--that he is always aware of that and always
                 fighting the fight for people who have a lot less
                 privilege than those of us do who dress like this and get
                 really great titles. No one, frankly--no one in this
                 body--has stood up against special interests for the most
                 powerful interests in this town more effectively and more
                 energetically than Carl Levin. For that, I am grateful,
                 and I know so many in this country are grateful as well.
                   Thank you, Senator.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

                   Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, when I came here in 2009, we
                 were in the middle of an enormous meltdown due to high-
                 risk trading inside our major banks. I wondered whether we
                 as an institution were capable of undertaking this
                 challenge of changing the circumstances around that in
                 order to not have another 2007, 2008 meltdown that would
                 do so much damage to families across this country. So I
                 put out an email to everyone that said, Is anyone
                 interested in taking on this issue for the future
                 stability of our financial system? The next day I came to
                 the floor and Senator Levin said, ``the email you sent
                 out, I want to talk to you about that. I want to partner
                 in taking this on.'' Immediately, he basically said: ``We
                 will work together. I am not the senior Senator who wants
                 to take over this effort,'' although I would have been
                 glad for that to happen. There was not the ego in it;
                 there was the intellect and the passion and the
                 determination to fix a problem. To me, the Senate should
                 be about people coming together to fix problems to make
                 this Nation work better.
                   That event is deeply burned into my mind. The result,
                 because of Senator Levin's efforts, was the Volcker rule
                 that said high-risk trading should not be done on the
                 banks' books, proprietary trading, and high-risk
                 instruments. It will make a significant difference in the
                 years to come.
                   But what I want to thank my colleague for is the
                 attitude of coming together to solve the important
                 problems for America, even if that means taking on very
                 powerful special interests. I hope we will see a lot more
                 of that from this Senate in the years to come, but it will
                 be a much bigger challenge without the Senator here. We
                 will miss him greatly.
                   Thank you so much, Senator, for your service to our
                 Nation.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.

                   Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, the Senate at its best has
                 been said to be the one authentic piece of genius in the
                 American political system. Carl Levin is the Senate at its
                 best. I thank him for his courtesy, his decency, his
                 scholarship, and his sense of public service. I thank him
                 for his reminder that if we are going to have the trust of
                 the American people to write rules for them, we should
                 follow our own rules.
                   It has been a privilege to serve with Senator Levin.
                   Thank you, Mr. President.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

                   Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I too want to spend a couple
                 of moments reflecting upon my long friendship and
                 association with Senator Carl Levin from Michigan.
                   Much has been said this morning about Carl the person
                 and the Senator. Let me say this: I don't know of anyone
                 in this body who has exhibited more of an intellectual
                 honesty, a calm demeanor, and a sense of fierce loyalty
                 and perseverance. I don't know who exhibits those
                 qualities more than Carl Levin.
                   Carl embodies the best of what I think it means to be
                 both a citizen and a U.S. Senator. Barbara and Carl, Ruth
                 and I have enjoyed many meals together over the years,
                 having great conversations about everything. I want to say
                 to my friend Carl, I hope that Michigan and Iowa are not
                 so far apart, and that we can continue to get together in
                 the future.
                   I will say, Carl, right now I hope you don't hold it
                 against me for all of the times the Hawkeyes will beat the
                 Wolverines in the future. Don't let that be a stumbling
                 block.
                   I yield the floor.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brown). The Senator from
                 Oklahoma.

                   Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I will be very brief because
                 I know we have some other things coming up before going on
                 to the NDAA, and I will be standing here with my good
                 friend and brother Carl at that time. I recall when I was
                 first elected to the House of Representatives--it is hard
                 for me to believe that was 28 years ago--and I became good
                 friends with a guy named Levin. It was not Carl. It was
                 his brother. There was a real sincere, lovable attitude
                 about him. I can remember sitting by him during some of
                 the debate on very partisan things. I thought this guy is
                 really neat. It is the kind of thing where you can't
                 dislike him. Then I came over here 20 years ago. I have
                 two major committees, Environment and Public Works and the
                 Senate Armed Services Committee. I thought this is
                 remarkable because while on occasion we will differ--I am
                 talking about the chairman and me--and I am the ranking
                 member of that committee--occasionally we will come up on
                 an issue where we don't agree. On two occasions, last year
                 and this year, we had to go into this process of the ``big
                 four.'' That is where it gets contentious because at that
                 point you have to come up with a bill. There was never a
                 time that, yes, we have to give in. I don't know whether
                 he gave in more than I gave in. But whatever it was, it
                 all had to happen and it did happen and it happened
                 because of Carl more than me.
                   Chairman Levin and I can both say the same thing, and
                 people will hate me and they love him. I always wonder how
                 you get by with doing that, but you do. He is a lovable
                 guy whom I will sincerely miss as well as our
                 relationship, and I hope you will be back often so you can
                 be here to remind other people what a real statesman is.
                   I yield the floor.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

                   Mr. SANDERS. I want to take a moment to thank Carl Levin
                 for his friendship. It has been previously noted that Carl
                 is recognized as having perhaps the greatest intellect in
                 the Senate. Carl has been, for so many years, a forceful
                 fighter against waste in the military, and in recent years
                 he has led the Senate in telling us it is absurd that
                 large multinational corporations are able to avoid
                 hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes by storing their
                 money in offshore tax savings.
                   He has been a leader on that and for those of us who are
                 concerned about the needs of our kids and elderly and
                 infrastructure, all of the terrible problems facing this
                 country, these are issues we have to focus on.
                   I think Senator Carl Levin has been a Senator's Senator.
                 He has been a model of what a good Senator should be, and
                 it is not surprising that people from all political
                 persuasions will come to the floor to thank him for his
                 service.
                   Senator Levin, thank you very much for your time.
                   I yield the floor.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.

                   Mr. FRANKEN. I want to echo what everyone has said. I
                 had the honor of traveling on a codel with Chairman Levin
                 to Pakistan, Afghanistan, when I had been here just a few
                 weeks. So I was traveling with the chairman of the Armed
                 Services Committee. The respect he got from everyone--from
                 the generals down to the privates, especially in
                 Afghanistan--was remarkable. Carl fought to increase the
                 ratio of our troops to contractors. When we took the
                 majority back in 2006, Carl started doing the kind of
                 oversight of the contracting that had led to a lot of
                 waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq. He has used PSI in the
                 way it was intended by Harry Truman. I thank him
                 especially for the work he did on the credit rating
                 agencies, Wall Street credit rating agencies. Right now
                 Standard & Poor's is being prosecuted by--or sued by the
                 DOJ for about $5 billion. Part of what they are using are
                 emails the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
                 obtained, in which basically the credit rating agencies
                 internally were saying we better give this a AAA rating;
                 otherwise, we are going to lose our business. That in no
                 small way led to the meltdown we had because all this junk
                 was getting AAAs and those were bets on bets on bets on
                 bets and that is what led to the meltdown.
                   Carl always seems to go to where that kind of top-down
                 fraud or malfeasance is going. When Sherrod talked about
                 the disparities and how this is rigged very often from the
                 top down, he was talking about the offshoring and the work
                 the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations did--that is,
                 on tax havens on inversions--and I hope to take that up as
                 Carl leaves.
                   Carl leaves a lot of unfinished business. Everything
                 that has been said is who Carl is. Everyone should know
                 that. One thing that has not been said is hamisha. Carl,
                 you are one of the most hamish men I have ever known.
                 Thank you.
                   I yield the floor.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine is
                 recognized.

                   Mr. KING. I wanted to speak very briefly, because as
                 Senator Manchin pointed out, I am the most junior person
                 in the place.
                   I want to say a couple of things about Carl Levin. As
                 has been said here repeatedly, Carl is a man of immense
                 intellect and character, and I wanted to explain how that
                 came to be. I thought that would be important to lay on
                 the Record.
                   It came to be because Carl Levin and his brother spent
                 their boyhood summers in the State of Maine. That imparts
                 character to anyone who is lucky enough to have that
                 experience.
                   Also, I want to mention--because it has been mentioned
                 several times--about the travel. I had the great good
                 fortune to travel after having been here about 6 months.
                 Carl and I--as members of the Armed Services Committee--
                 went to Turkey and Jordan to try to get some insight into
                 the situation in Syria. My only advice to anyone in this
                 body is if you are ever invited to travel with Carl Levin,
                 spend the prior 2 or 3 months in the gym. I have never
                 been so exhausted in my life, and we would be at 10 p.m.,
                 after all-day meetings and touring of refugee sites, and
                 Carl would say, ``Can't we have another meeting? Isn't
                 there someone else we can talk to?'' His absolute passion
                 for information and data upon which to make decisions is I
                 think exemplary.
                   The final thing I want to note is--and it has been
                 talked about how he is a Senator's Senator, which is
                 certainly true. My observation and in fact my experience
                 this year in the markup of the National Defense
                 Authorization Act is the highlight of my experience in
                 this body. The reason it is, is because it worked like it
                 is supposed to work. We had 2 days of markup. They were
                 about 10-hour days, as I recall. There were over 200
                 amendments. Through Carl's leadership, most of those
                 amendments were compromised and worked out between the
                 parties and between the individuals who were moving the
                 amendments, but we ended up with about 20 we couldn't
                 resolve in that way. I was so struck by this. I went back
                 and looked at the record of that markup. Of the 20
                 amendments that were voted on in the committee, not a
                 single one of those amendments was decided on a party-line
                 vote. There were votes of 13 to 12 or 16 to 4 or whatever
                 the vote was but not a single party-line vote. I think
                 that in itself is an extraordinary achievement in a body
                 that is often driven by partisan divisions. I think it is
                 attributable in large measure to Carl Levin's leadership.
                   Everybody had their say. Everybody had their opportunity
                 to put their thoughts forward. Everybody had an
                 opportunity to get a vote if they felt that was necessary.
                 Of course, in the end, the bill came out of the
                 committee--I think it was 25 to 1--and that is what
                 legislating is supposed to be all about. That is a lesson
                 for us because people felt they got their amendments, they
                 got their discussion, they got their ideas out. Even if
                 they weren't successful, at the end, they voted for the
                 bill because they were invested in the process. That is
                 what I learned from this man who I think has been an
                 inspiration for those of us who are coming along behind.
                 Again, I am so honored. One of the great joys of my life
                 has been to serve with you for 2 years. One of the great
                 sadnesses of my life is it is only 2 years, but I deeply
                 appreciate what you have done for this body and for the
                 United States of America.

                   Mr. LEVIN. Thank you.

                   Mr. KING. Bless you.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from New York.

                   Mr. SCHUMER. My good friend from Iowa is waiting
                 patiently, so I will curtail my remarks. I would like to
                 say to my dear friend Carl--whom we will all miss--if we
                 had to put a headline on what is happening today, it is:
                 ``Mr. Integrity Retires from the Senate.''
                   There is no one in this body on either side of the aisle
                 whose integrity is more respected than yours. At these
                 times in America, where people have such distrust of
                 government and elected officials, to have somebody who is
                 so widely trusted by his constituency and by the Members
                 of this body who have worked with him closely over the
                 years on both sides of the aisle is a real tribute. You
                 are Mr. Integrity. That is one of many reasons we will
                 miss you.
                   Again, I have more to say, but in deference to my dear
                 friend from Iowa, who I see is ready to roll, I will yield
                 the floor.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.

                   Mr. PORTMAN. I will be brief as well and say that I am
                 going to miss my colleague, and I told him that
                 personally. I want to share a couple of reasons. One, as a
                 new Member on the other side of the aisle, when I first
                 got here, Carl--whom I had gotten to know a little bit
                 through his brother, whom I see is on the floor today,
                 whom has fought many fights with him on the squash court,
                 but they remain dear friends. He came to me and said,
                 ``You ought to join the Auto Caucus.'' I am not a big
                 caucus guy. Most caucuses don't do much in this place, and
                 then I saw what he was doing with the Auto Caucus and he
                 agreed to allow me come on as cochair. We had an
                 opportunity to help fight for the autoworkers in Michigan
                 and Ohio and around the country and make sure that the
                 renaissance of the auto industry is sustained. As I am
                 sure has been said by many here today, he went out of his
                 way to make it not just bipartisan but nonpartisan. He
                 does his homework.
                   We share some committee assignments. We don't always
                 agree. Sometimes we disagree on fundamental issues. He is
                 always prepared and does his homework and has the best of
                 intentions. That says a lot for him and the reason he is
                 viewed as such a leader of the Senate. When I got here, I
                 was honored to serve on the Armed Services Committee.
                 There we were able to work together on a number of
                 projects, including ones that frankly he may not have
                 normally thought were priorities but because I was a new
                 Member and interested in helping my State and on specific
                 projects, he stood up for me. I will not forget that. We
                 have done legislation together and had the opportunity to
                 work together on important projects that have to do with
                 the Great Lakes, including Great Lakes restoration, where
                 he has been a nonpartisan partner. I join my colleagues on
                 both sides of the aisle and say this is one of those
                 giants of the Senate who will be missed.
                   Although I have only been here for 4 of his many years
                 of service, I was privileged to serve with him.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to the
                 senior Senator from Michigan, Carl Levin. I have known
                 Carl for many years and am grateful for his friendship.
                 Throughout his career, Carl has always put the needs of
                 Michigan and this Nation above his own.
                   Senator Levin was born in Detroit in 1934 and has called
                 Michigan his home nearly his entire life. As a young man,
                 he left only briefly to attend Swarthmore College and
                 later Harvard Law School. After passing the Michigan Bar,
                 Carl worked for 5 years in private practice in Detroit
                 before beginning his career in public service. He first
                 served as general counsel for the Michigan Civil Rights
                 Commission from 1964 to 1967. Carl then entered elected
                 office, serving on the Detroit City Council from 1969 to
                 1977.
                   In 1978, Senator Levin successfully ran for a U.S.
                 Senate seat and has never looked back. He has since won
                 five more elections to become the longest serving Senator
                 in Michigan history. Carl chaired the Armed Services
                 Committee from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2007 to the
                 present. Whether it was pushing for higher pay or ensuring
                 that our veterans received proper medical treatment, Carl
                 has always made sure that our soldiers and their families
                 were well taken care of.
                   Senator Levin has also served as chairman of the Senate
                 Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He has never had
                 any patience for corruption or abuse, and so has been
                 perfectly suited for this job. As chairman, Carl launched
                 numerous investigations into high-profile issues,
                 including the Enron scandal and abusive credit card
                 practices. The findings of these investigations were
                 crucial in helping us draft legislation to prevent future
                 abuses.
                   Mr. President, Senator Levin has dedicated his life to
                 public service, and his retirement is well deserved. He is
                 an honest man who has served his country well. I wish him,
                 his wife Barbara, and their family the very best.

                   The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). The Senator from
                 Michigan.

                   Mr. LEVIN. I know that Senator Harkin is waiting to
                 speak. Senator Harkin is truly one of the greatest
                 Senators I have ever served with and Senator Harkin is one
                 of the greatest people I have ever known. He, Ruth, Barb,
                 and I have spent quality time, which is not always true
                 for many of us in the Senate to have that opportunity.
                   I thank everyone. The words have meant so much to me and
                 my family today.
                   I am going to join my family now. I know Tom will
                 forgive me for not listening, but I will be reading what
                 you say. You, Ruth, Barb, and I will have some more
                 quality time together--perhaps not as much fun as being in
                 the Senate, but we will make the best of it.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Ms. AYOTTE. ... I also want to take the opportunity to
                 thank Senator Levin, who is retiring this year, for being
                 an incredible chairman of the Senate Armed Services
                 Committee. I have to say this has been one of the best
                 experiences I have had since I have gotten to the Senate.
                 I have been here for 4 years, and Senator Levin has
                 conducted this committee and treated everyone with
                 respect. He has gotten us all to work together, where
                 almost every year we passed out the defense authorization
                 almost unanimously--how often does that happen--and most
                 times unanimously in a divided Congress.
                   I wish Senator Levin the best, because he has been so
                 knowledgeable and so committed to ensuring that our Nation
                 is safe and committed to our men and women in uniform.
                   On a personal note, he has been so respectful to me and
                 has been someone who has run the committee so very well
                 and has served our country with such dignity and such
                 dedication. I wish he and his wife Barbara the best in the
                 future.
                   He is someone whom this body will miss. Certainly as the
                 chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he has treated
                 everyone on both sides of the aisle with incredible
                 respect and given us opportunities to raise issues that
                 are important to us. I think he is a model of how we
                 should conduct ourselves. We can disagree with each other
                 but still find common ground where we can work together to
                 get things done for the American people. ...

                   Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I want to take a few minutes
                 today to speak on the National Defense Authorization Act,
                 the annual policy bill for the Department of Defense. Let
                 me start by noting that Senator Carl Levin, who is
                 chairman of the committee that puts this agreement
                 together, will be retiring after this year. This bill
                 carries Senator Levin's name on it in what I think will be
                 a fitting tribute to his legacy here. I have appreciated
                 his wisdom on so many issues over the years, and I know I
                 am in good company when I say to Senator Levin that his
                 leadership will be missed in the U.S. Senate. ...

                   Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, it is just about time for
                 the vote. I want to mention something which hasn't been
                 mentioned.
                   We have two really great Americans, one serving in the
                 House and one serving in the Senate. We have been talking
                 about Chairman Levin and how fair and open he has been. I
                 think there is not a person of the 100 Members of the
                 Senate who doesn't agree with that.
                   At the same time, we have Buck McKeon over in the House
                 of Representatives. He is the chairman of the House
                 committee that is equivalent to the committee Carl Levin
                 chairs here. He also is retiring, and he has served for
                 quite some time--not as long as Senator Levin.
                   Against their objections, we have named this bill the
                 Carl Levin-Buck McKeon bill, so I want to make sure
                 everyone recognizes that proper tribute has been made to
                 the long hours and years and the hard work they have
                 contributed.
                   This guy over here to my left has been through 16 of
                 these. He has been working about 36 years, and I want to
                 say he is deserving of that recognition. ...

                   Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I will now speak very briefly
                 about my retiring colleagues and then turn it over to the
                 Senator from Florida [Mr. Nelson]. I promise I will be
                 brief.
                   Everybody will face retirement, voluntarily or
                 involuntarily. There will be a last vote to cast and a
                 last speech to make. Only God knows when that day comes
                 because we are all just one car wreck away from ending our
                 careers.
                   To the retiring Members, I have had the pleasure of
                 serving with you, and I know you all. You did what you
                 thought was best for our country and your State, and what
                 more could anyone ask? My good friend Mark Pryor, who
                 tried to find common ground at a time when it is hard to
                 find. Mary Landrieu, who would drill under the Capitol if
                 she thought it would help American energy independence. We
                 have good friends on the other side, and I will miss you,
                 and I wish you well. But I would like very briefly to
                 speak about four. ...
                   The last person is Carl Levin. If I had to describe to
                 somebody from a foreign country what a good Senator was
                 like, I would pick Carl. Carl understands the details of
                 the government--very studious. He was the chairman of the
                 Armed Services Committee and ran it very evenhandedly. He
                 had a disposition that I don't know how he held on to in
                 these fractious times, but he was a gentleman.
                   I can promise you, working with Carl Levin, we both
                 resisted the temptation to go down some very dangerous
                 roads on this detainee contentious issue. All I can tell
                 the men and women in uniform and the people of Michigan is
                 that you never had a better friend.
                   To all of you, Godspeed. I wish you nothing but the
                 best.
                   I am fortunate enough to go into my third term. To my
                 colleagues, as we go into the next Congress, let's try to
                 do better. I know we can. If we do, all boats will rise.
                   I yield the floor.

                   Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I wanted to speak today
                 about Senator Carl Levin and his years of service to the
                 Senate and the people of Michigan. Senator Levin has
                 served 36 years and is Michigan's longest serving Senator.
                   John F. Kennedy once said that ``leadership and learning
                 are indispensable to each other.'' Senator Levin's time
                 here has been an illustration of that statement, and I
                 have experienced this first hand ever since I arrived in
                 the Senate in 2007 and sought his guidance on difficult
                 issues like the war in Iraq. He is one of the best
                 informed and knowledgeable Members of the Senate.
                   Carl Levin has been a leader for years on the Senate
                 Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on
                 Investigations. Senator Levin has served as the Democratic
                 leader of the Armed Services Committee since 1997, a term
                 that overlapped with several defining events for U.S.
                 national security, including the terrorist attacks on
                 September 11, 2001, the beginnings of the wars in
                 Afghanistan and Iraq, the operation against Osama bin
                 Laden and the current conflict against the terrorist group
                 ISIS. Chairman Levin has guided our caucus through the
                 National Defense Authorization Act process every year,
                 working to ensure Members have an opportunity to include
                 their priority issues in the bill. I am grateful for
                 Senator Levin's support of my efforts to ensure Afghan
                 women and girls remain at the forefront of our Afghanistan
                 policy through this transition period. One of Senator
                 Levin's most important legacies will be his thoughtful and
                 principled opposition to shifting attention away from the
                 fight against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan to Iraq. Our caucus
                 will miss Carl Levin's steady hand guiding us through
                 these important matters.
                   At the helm of the Permanent Subcommittee on
                 Investigations, Senator Levin has led the charge against
                 some of the worst abuse and corruption occurring in our
                 country. Under Senator Levin's leadership the subcommittee
                 conducted an 18-month investigation into the causes of the
                 financial crisis that culminated in four hearings in April
                 2010. The hearings brought forth information that helped
                 craft the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
                 of 2010. He also led an investigation into abusive and
                 unfair practices of the credit card industry, which would
                 lead to the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and
                 Disclosure Act, along with investigations into tax
                 shelters, offshore tax havens and Federal contractor tax
                 delinquency, among other issues. In 2012, the National
                 Journal wrote that ``the Permanent Subcommittee on
                 Investigations is one of the few institutions in Congress
                 that's still working. Carl Levin is a big reason why.''
                   Carl Levin's legacy can be summed up in one word:
                 integrity. His commitment to our security and our
                 servicemembers is incomparable. We wish him well as he
                 returns to Michigan and moves on to new challenges and I
                 thank him for his service.
                                                  Monday, December 15, 2014
                   Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, on first glance, one might
                 not think that Michigan and Vermont share much in common.
                 But to delve deeper is to see that both States have deep
                 roots in their rural populations, strong agricultural
                 bases, and stunning natural landscapes. Senator Carl Levin
                 has represented the people of Michigan in the U.S. Senate
                 since 1979. He is one of this Chamber's most senior
                 Members and one of the longest serving Senators in
                 history. He has cast more than 12,500 votes on behalf of
                 his constituents.
                   Senator Levin has worked to ensure that the lakes of
                 Michigan will be clean and safe for generations of
                 Michigan residents to come. He has sponsored legislation
                 to protect and restore the Great Lakes and their abundant
                 wildlife habitats, secured millions to bring Michigan's
                 lakes back to their natural pristine glory, and backed the
                 Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which has supported the
                 Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, and international waterways.
                   As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
                 Senator Levin has been a powerful force in crafting our
                 Nation's defense policy, particularly in the post-9/11
                 era. The battlefield has been vast, and his support of our
                 troops has never wavered. He has consistently worked to
                 ensure that the brave men and women serving in uniform
                 have the support they need to keep our Nation and our
                 allies safe. He and I shared reservations about launching
                 a war in Iraq, reservations that have proven sound.
                   I was particularly moved by Senator Levin's strong
                 support--and steadfast leadership--in advancing the
                 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention
                 Act. That measure ultimately became law in 2009, in large
                 part to Senator Levin's commitment to ensuring its
                 inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act. This
                 Federal hate crimes law took years to achieve. At a time
                 when it may have been easier to push a final vote down the
                 road, Senator Levin worked with me to ensure that it was
                 considered by the Senate and then upheld through a
                 conference committee. This alone would be a remarkable
                 achievement, but Senator Levin's Senate career boasts many
                 achievements.
                   I have also been honored to work with Senator Levin to
                 reaffirm our Nation's commitments to those citizens of the
                 world who, persecuted, oppressed, and stateless, look to
                 our country for protection. He has been a voice on behalf
                 of displaced Iraqis and Syrians, and a dependable
                 cosponsor of my Refugee Protection Act.
                   From protecting America's waters to crafting America's
                 actions abroad, Senator Levin has been a powerful and
                 invaluable presence in the Senate. He heads now into
                 retirement, where I know he and Barbara will enjoy
                 spending time with their three wonderful daughters and
                 beautiful grandchildren. Marcelle and I wish him and
                 Barbara the very best in this new chapter. I will miss
                 him.
                                                 Tuesday, December 16, 2014
                   Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, as we wind down the final days
                 of the 113th Congress, it is a good time both to reflect
                 on the past and to look toward the future. I have been
                 very moved as I listened to the farewell speeches of our
                 departing Senators, and I wish I had time to pay tribute
                 to each one of them. They have all been wonderful
                 colleagues, and I enjoyed working with and getting to know
                 every one of them. I wish them all the very best in all
                 their future endeavors. They will most certainly be
                 missed. ...

                   Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I wish to honor Senator
                 Carl Levin as he prepares to retire after 36 years of
                 dedicated service in the Senate.
                   As the longest serving Senator in Michigan's history,
                 Senator Levin has been a stalwart advocate for the people
                 of his State. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial
                 crisis, Senator Levin played a critical role in drafting
                 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to ensure it
                 would bolster the Midwestern manufacturers that would
                 prove integral to our national economic recovery. As
                 cochair of the Great Lakes Task Force, Senator Levin has
                 worked throughout his career to protect the vast waterways
                 that are critical to Michigan's economy and those of the
                 other Great Lakes States.
                   I have had the honor of serving on the Senate Armed
                 Services Committee under the leadership of Chairman Levin,
                 and his concern for the people of Michigan is perhaps only
                 matched by his concern for the soldiers, sailors, marines,
                 and airmen who defend our Nation, as well as the families
                 who support them. Under his steady leadership the Senate
                 has kept faith with our military by passing the annual
                 National Defense Authorization Act, and this year's
                 defense bill bears Senator Levin's name as tribute to his
                 lengthy service on the committee. As chair of the Armed
                 Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support,
                 I have always appreciated Senator Levin's commitment to a
                 strong bipartisan spirit in the work of the committee, and
                 I know it will endure thanks to his example.
                   A sharp legal mind, Senator Levin also worked in a
                 bipartisan fashion as chairman of the Senate Permanent
                 Subcommittee on Investigations to hold powerful public and
                 private institutions accountable. Born from the highly
                 successful Truman committee formed in the lead up to World
                 War II, Senator Levin's subcommittee investigated critical
                 issues such as the 2008 financial crisis, systemic credit
                 card fraud, as well as corporate abuse of offshore tax
                 havens--bringing light to complex and obscure issues to
                 the benefit of the American people.
                   Senator Levin has been a source of reasoned counsel for
                 many in the Senate, and I know his presence will be
                 missed. However, I also know he is looking forward to
                 spending some well-earned time back in Michigan with his
                 children, grandchildren, and wife Barbara.

                   Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to
                 pay tribute to Senator Levin as his distinguished Senate
                 career comes to a close at the end of the 113th Congress.
                 Senator Levin has proudly represented the people of
                 Michigan in the Senate for 36 years.
                   The desire to help others has been in Senator Levin's
                 makeup long before coming to Washington. In fact, one
                 might say it is in his DNA. He comes from a family with a
                 distinguished record of public service. I served with his
                 brother Sander in the House of Representatives, another
                 truly distinguished Member of Congress. Their father
                 served on the Michigan Corrections Commission. His uncle
                 served as a chief judge on the U.S. District Court for the
                 Eastern District of Michigan, and his cousin was a
                 Michigan Supreme Court judge.
                   Given this public service pedigree, it is no surprise
                 that he got started in politics at an early age. He was
                 elected class president at Detroit's Central High School.
                 After Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School, he served
                 as an assistant attorney general and general counsel of
                 the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. In 1969 he was
                 elected to the Detroit City Council and in 1979 joined the
                 Senate.
                   Senator Levin has served on the Armed Services Committee
                 for as long as he has been in the Senate. His Armed
                 Services Committee tenure has provided him the opportunity
                 to work with 11 Secretaries of Defense, helping to ensure
                 that our Armed Forces were ready and able to meet the
                 national security challenges facing our Nation. He has
                 long been a champion of the men and women of our military
                 and their families. From visiting deployed troops far from
                 home, to ensuring much needed training, equipment, and pay
                 increases, and improving the delivery of benefits and
                 services they have earned, Carl Levin has been there for
                 our troops.
                   Senator Levin is also a problem-solver. In order to
                 improve the way the Pentagon buys its weapons and to get
                 the most out of the taxpayer dollars the government is
                 entrusted to spend, he has worked hard to improve
                 acquisition practices throughout his career. In this
                 arena, he led the way in passing the Competition in
                 Contracting Act and the Weapons System Acquisition Reform
                 Act.
                   I was fortunate to serve on the Armed Services Committee
                 during my first 2 years in the Senate. I have been able to
                 observe Chairman Levin first hand as he led the committee
                 with a steady hand in a very bipartisan manner. I have
                 been proud to be part of two National Defense
                 Authorization Acts--including the one this body passed
                 last week, which bears his name--which preserve our
                 readiness and provides for the well-being of our men and
                 women of the armed services and their families.
                   Senator Levin also chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on
                 Investigations, where he has led investigations in many
                 critical areas, including the 2008 financial crisis,
                 energy and food market speculation, abusive offshore tax
                 havens, and unfair practices within the credit card
                 industry. His investigations have led to many reforms and
                 laws to fix these problems. In 2012, the National Journal
                 wrote that ``the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
                 is one of the few institutions in Congress that's still
                 working. Carl Levin is a big reason why.''
                   The Senate is losing one of its giants--a voice of
                 reason, integrity, and fairness. Michigan's working
                 families are losing a lifelong advocate for their best
                 interests who has really made a difference. Carl, thank
                 you for your service to our country. I wish you, Barbara,
                 and your entire family all the best as you move to the
                 next chapter of your journey.
                   Aloha Carl, a hui hou, ``until we meet again.''

                   Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I wish to celebrate and thank
                 the 13 outgoing Senators who have worked tirelessly to
                 represent their home States in the Senate: Senator Mark
                 Begich, Senator Saxby Chambliss, Senator Tom Coburn,
                 Senator Kay Hagan, Senator Tom Harkin, Senator Mike
                 Johanns, Senator Tim Johnson, Senator Mary Landrieu,
                 Senator Carl Levin, Senator Mark Pryor, Senator Jay
                 Rockefeller, Senator Mark Udall, and Senator John Walsh.
                   I have worked side by side with these men and women for
                 years--some for decades--and witnessed first hand their
                 extraordinary commitment to public service and to the
                 people they so proudly represent.
                   Even when we didn't see eye to eye on every issue, I
                 always deeply respected and admired their service to our
                 Nation and their dedication to fight for what they believe
                 in.
                   It has been a privilege to serve alongside each and
                 every one of these extraordinary colleagues. I will miss
                 their leadership and their friendship, and I wish them all
                 the best as they embark on the next chapter.