[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 134 (Friday, July 30, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SENATOR CARL M. LEVIN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ANDY LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 30, 2021

  Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Madam Speaker, throughout my adult life, 
wherever I went in Michigan, from Copper Harbor to Monroe, I would run 
into people who would say. `I don't always agree with Senator Levin, 
but I support him anyway because he is so genuine. he tells it straight 
and he follows through.'
  Carl Levin personified integrity and the notion of putting the public 
good above self-interest. As he walked about the Capitol in a rumpled 
suit, almost always with a plain white shirt and pedestrian tie, 
carrying bulging files with the occasional paper flying away, Carl was 
the very picture of sober purpose and rectitude. In truth, he wasn't 
unfun. In fact, he often pierced tense situations with self-deprecating 
humor, and he privately shared incisive observations about others with 
staff and colleagues.
  But Carl was all about the work, and the great honor the people of 
Michigan had bestowed upon him with their votes and their trust. He did 
not seek to divine their views to be popular, but rather to study the 
issues and advance the people's interest to the best of his ability. 
Uncle Carl met with more presidents, kings, queens and other important 
people than all but a few of us ever will. But he treated them all the 
same as he did a Detroit autoworker or a beet farmer in Michigan's 
Thumb--with a full measure of dignity but no airs, ever ready to 
puncture self-importance, posturing, mendacity and avarice.
  He was so well-prepared for every meeting, hearing, and conference 
that he challenged conventional boundaries between Senator and staff. 
He was one of the most challenging Senators to work for and one of the 
most rewarding. Challenging, because you had better know your business 
in detail, since he surely did. Rewarding, because he had authentic 
relationships with staff, treated them with deep respect, and was loyal 
to them.
  Uncle Carl was above all a family man. No matter the pressing 
business he faced as a Senator, he always centered Aunt Barbara, my 
cousins Kate, Laura and Erica and their families, devoted time to them 
and so obviously cherished them. And the way he loved and treated his 
family radiated out and served as a model for how he treated 
colleagues, staff, constituents, soldiers and the world.
  From my earliest memory to this moment, perhaps above all, he has 
defined with my dad how close two brothers, two siblings, two people 
can be. In the end, these two Jewish boys from Detroit, these grandsons 
of immigrants each served 36 years in Congress, 32 of them together, 
becoming by far the longest co-serving siblings in the 232-year history 
of this place. As heartbroken as we are in this moment, I feel so 
grateful to have experienced this love and legacy.

                          ____________________