[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 134 (Friday, July 30, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5208-S5211]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Remembering Carl Levin
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, today, I stand here with colleagues--my
partner, Senator Peters, and, of course, Senator Reed and other
colleagues--to pay tribute to an incredible leader and my dear friend
who dedicated his life to serving the people of his beloved State of
Michigan and this Nation--Senator Carl Levin.
Senator Carl Levin was many things: a crusader for truth and justice,
in the real sense of the word; a man of strong convictions; a mentor to
so many of us.
He was a Senator's Senator and a tireless advocate every day--every
day--for the people of Michigan.
He was also my friend, and it was truly an honor of a lifetime for me
to represent Michigan alongside Carl Levin for 14 years of his 36 years
that he served in the Senate.
Thirty-six years is a long time, but Senator Levin remained effective
and at the same time humble right up until the final day he served.
That is because integrity never goes out of style and Senator Carl
Levin never wavered in his dedication to do what was right--what was
right for the people of Michigan and our country.
Perhaps he will be remembered most--although there are so many
things--for his incredible leadership on the Armed Services Committee.
Patriotism was a lot more than a flag pin or a pledge to Carl Levin. He
understood more than anybody what it takes to defend our Nation.
Perhaps no one has done more to ensure that our men and women in
uniform are battle ready with the supplies and technology that they
need and the fair pay and benefits they have earned.
In fact, Senator Levin worked so hard on behalf of our military that
he received a Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public
Service. There is a suite of offices at the Pentagon named after him,
and there is a naval destroyer currently being built in Maine that will
probably bear his name: the USS Carl M. Levin. It was so inspiring to
be with him during the naming ceremony in Detroit back in 2016.
It is fitting that he should be honored in this way because Carl
Levin always believed that our government could be a force for good.
This belief was passed down to him from his parents, who saw firsthand
how the New Deal rescued families from desperate poverty.
A young Carl Levin admired Harry S. Truman, especially Senator
Truman, who drove cross-country investigating defense contractors who
were committing fraud and wasting billions of dollars. I think Truman
himself would have been incredibly impressed with Carl's leadership of
the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
A former civil rights attorney, Carl Levin relished the chance to
cross-examine those he suspected of ripping off taxpayers and the
public. His committee room was never a literal trial by fire, but he
certainly turned up the heat on unscrupulous executives, special
interests, or anybody who tried to get rich at the expense of everyday
Americans. Those executives were sweating because they knew that
Senator Levin had done his homework. He would dig so deep that he knew
more about what they were going to say than they would.
Carl Levin could topple a tycoon with nothing more than a stack of
subpoenaed documents. And we saw him do it. In 2007, he shined a light
on abusive practices by credit card companies, leading to laws that
required more transparency. Even today, your credit card statement
contains more disclosures and more information, thanks to Senator Carl
Levin.
His fellow Michiganders got to see a kinder, gentler side of Carl as
well, and I know we did as colleagues. And I will never forget how his
eyes sparkled when he smiled, with his glasses down on the end of his
nose.
His heart was always in Detroit, where he was born and raised and
lived his entire life. Meanwhile, his soul was nourished by the
tranquility he found in beautiful northern Michigan in the Upper
Peninsula, especially Isle Royale.
Carl helped Detroit make one of the most spectacular comebacks in
American history, and everywhere you look, you can see evidence of his
hard work. The Levin Center at Wayne State Law teaches future attorneys
and business leaders and lawmakers and public servants how legislative
oversight can be a tool for change and a force for good. He led the way
on getting Federal funding for Detroit's beautiful International
RiverWalk, which, today, features 3 miles of parks, nature areas, and
breathtaking waterfront views.
In the midst of the Great Recession, we worked together closely to
rescue our American auto industry, which for years had been battered by
the forces of globalization. Carl Levin understood that manufacturing
is the backbone of our State's economy and that our country needs to
make things in order to have them.
As a member of the Small Business Committee, Carl also understood the
importance of small business. In fact, in getting dressed today, I was
looking at what I could wear that would symbolize Detroit, and I picked
out a necklace that reminds me of what motivated Carl in Detroit with
small businesses.
Amy Peterson is a Detroit entrepreneur who wanted to empower women
who have employment barriers, and Senator Peters and I have both
visited her shop. So, in 2013, she created Rebel Nell jewelry out of
graffiti that had fallen off of walls on the sides of buildings. Today,
she is incredibly successful, and she is empowering and employing women
throughout the Detroit area.
Carl loved efforts like that. He championed small businesses, folks
who wanted to--one after the other, have an idea and get it going.
Carl also understood that our landscape, our soil, our water are part
of our Michigan way of life. That is why he pushed for years to have
land at Sleeping Bear Dunes protected as wilderness--our beautiful
dunes.
Senator Levin fought for the National Marine Sanctuary at Thunder Bay
in Alpena and for the creation of the Keweenaw National Historic Park.
It was an honor partnering with him in every single fight to protect
our Great Lakes.
I can stand here for hours listing Senator Carl Levin's
accomplishments, but they still only are a small testament to his
character, his compassion, his humor, his strength of conviction.
President Truman once said:
Make no little plans. [Make no little plans.] Make the
biggest one you can think of and spend the rest of your life
carrying it out.
Senator Carl Levin lived those words every day. He wanted to make our
State and our country the best it can be, and he spent his life doing
everything he could to make that happen.
I wish his beloved wife and life partner Barbara; his brother and
best friend Sandy; his nephew and our colleague Andy Levin; his
wonderful daughters Kate, Laura, and Erica; his grandchildren; and all
of the family my deepest condolences and profound gratitude for your
willingness to share this great man with all of us
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the memory of a true
lion of the U.S. Senate, Michigan Senator Carl Levin. Yesterday, he
passed away at the age of 87, surrounded by his loving family.
Carl was well known as a fierce advocate for Michigan and a force of
nature in the Senate, but the most important thing to him was his
family. He cherished his role as a brother, husband, father, uncle, and
grandfather. And I know his family and his loved ones are all reeling
from this enormous loss. I along with folks all across the State of
Michigan are praying for them during this very difficult time.
Over his 36 years of service to the Senate, the most ever for a
Michigan Senator, Carl made an immeasurable impact. He served as the
chairman of not just one, but two extremely powerful committees. He was
simultaneously a zealous progressive voice in the Senate and one of its
most bipartisan
[[Page S5209]]
Members, able to forge strong relationships with his Republican
colleagues and find pragmatic compromise to get results.
I remember when Carl was first elected to the U.S. Senate, making a
very impressive leap from the Detroit City Council to a statewide
office. I was in college at the time, and over the years, I closely
followed his service and his career in politics. He was someone who I
looked up to and came to know as both a role model and as a mentor.
He was always gracious with his time and his wisdom, and I cherish
the conversations that we had over the years, from my time years ago
serving in the Michigan State Senate to my time in the U.S. House of
Representatives. When Carl announced he would be retiring in 2014, I
sought out his guidance and his blessing to run to fill his seat. As
the campaign progressed, he gave me his endorsement and his full-
throated support. I was both honored and humbled.
When I was sworn into my first term in the Senate, Carl presented me
with an old map of Michigan and a handwritten note. It hangs in my
front office to this day, and every time that I walk through the door,
I am reminded of Carl, of his service, and his integrity.
Carl was a unique figure on Capitol Hill. He had no interest in the
trappings of power. He saw service as its own reward. And he could
certainly be a little disheveled in his appearance. He was very frugal.
He wore inexpensive suits, and his loving wife Barbara would routinely
sew up the holes in his pockets so he could get just a few more years
out of his suits. Legend has it he once noticed a mustard stain on his
shirt and he painted over it with Wite-Out so he could get back to
work. His glasses were always precariously perched on the end of his
nose, and he would fix you with a piercing gaze over those rims.
Despite his small stature, he was also an incredibly intimidating
figure, largely due to that gaze, his intellect, and his incredible
work ethic.
Nowhere were those traits more apparent than in his role leading the
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, also known as PSI. When Carl
held the gavel, getting a letter or a phone call from his investigative
staff struck fear into some of the most powerful and most corrupt
figures in America. In fact, folks in Washington would quip that under
Carl's leadership, the letters ``PSI'' had a completely different
meaning for people: They stood for ``pretty scary investigations.''
Carl used his chairmanship to stand up for everyday folks--the
Michiganders and Americans--who were working hard every day to pay
their bills and play by the rules. He was furious when there were
people who took advantage of hard-working Americans, and there were
companies who were making millions and even billions of dollars
cheating on their taxes and hurting average taxpayers.
Over the course of his tenure as chair, he took on the corrupt, the
wrongdoers, and the bullies who no one wanted to stand up to, including
major banks, the mob, and even ruthless dictators.
He brought a studious focus to his work, reviewing thousands, and
sometimes even tens of thousands, of pages of documents so that he
would know every single detail in that investigation. His investigative
staff recounted that when he was preparing for a flight to Hong Kong,
he asked for a binder full of documents related to the latest
investigation to review on the plane. His staff put together 1,500
pages of documents for him to read on that flight. When he landed in
Hong Kong, he called and asked his staff to send the next batch. He had
already made his way through those 1,500 pages, and he wanted to see
more.
In every investigation he was tough but scrupulously fair. He was
disciplined and laser-focused on addressing injustices. And he was
dedicated to seeing a fight through to the end, even if it took years.
Over the years, he tackled money laundering, abusive offshore tax
shelters, and executives and bankers who cooked the books, dodged
taxes, and cost workers their savings, their pensions, and healthcare.
One of his greatest legacies at PSI was his work to hold bad actors in
the Federal sector accountable for their abuses.
In fact, after seeing unfair charges on his own credit card and
hearing similar stories from his constituents, he launched an
investigation into predatory credit practices, including charging
interest on debt that was already paid, hiking interest rates even when
bills were paid on time, and manipulating charges to try to secure
additional fees.
After a series of tough oversight hearings and a legislative process
that spanned years, Carl's work became a central part of the Credit
CARD Act of 2009, which prohibited abuse of credit card practices and
helped more than 100 million Americans. He even cast his 11,000th vote
during the process of getting that bill passed.
Whether he was taking on Enron or Goldman Sachs or exposing the
corruption of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Carl was focused on
holding the bad guys accountable and protecting the American people
from their misconduct.
And despite serving at a time when Congress was growing increasingly
partisan, he managed to bridge the divide. His staunchest conservative
colleagues knew that if Carl gave them his word, they could count on it
100 percent. Whether he was working with Senator Coburn or Senator
Collins, Carl was able to cooperatively work with his Republican
colleagues, setting an iconic example for how to conduct bipartisan
oversight that my own committee staff today still strives to follow.
Carl carried that same partisan principle to his role as chairman of
the Armed Services Committee, a role that he served in for 18 years.
Whether he was working alongside the late Senator John Warner or the
late Senator John McCain, Carl found bipartisan, commonsense ways to
support our Nation's servicemembers and combat waste and fraud within
the Department of Defense, and he worked tirelessly to strengthen
national security and to keep our Nation safe.
Even though Carl took on such high profile, nationally important
roles, he never forgot his roots and the lessons he learned about
listening to your community during his time as a Detroit city
councilman. He was a powerful advocate for all of Michigan, but
especially for his hometown of Detroit.
I distinctly remember his determination as our Michigan congressional
delegation fought to rescue Michigan's auto industry when it was on the
brink of total collapse. As our senior Senator at the time, Carl led
our delegation with quiet but steady resolve. At a time when so much
was on the line for Michigan, Carl helped fight for General Motors and
Chrysler, which was headquartered in my district, and to save the jobs
of Michigan autoworkers and everyone who depended on them.
Carl was a champion for Michigan's auto industry and a true believer
in the Motor City's ability to lead in vehicle innovation. He was such
a believer in the future of Detroit's auto industry that he even bought
one of Chevrolet's first electric vehicles, the Chevy Volt.
As a former taxi driver in his youth, Carl loved driving himself
around, even if his erratic and aggressive driving style startled and
sometimes scared his staff. And although Carl was ready to put his own
money behind the future of Detroit, Capitol Hill wasn't quite so ready
for electric vehicles. Without readily accessible charging stations on
the Hill, Carl actually ran an extension cord out of his window of his
Russell Office Building to recharge his car's battery.
He also fought relentlessly to build public transportation in
Detroit. He had a vision of light rail that would transport people
through downtown Detroit, and when he believed in something, he
wouldn't take no for an answer, even when the administration of his own
party rejected requests to fund the Detroit rail project.
I recall vividly a meeting between Carl, the Detroit representatives,
and then-Transportation Secretary LaHood, and in classic Carl Levin
style, he peered over the rims of his glasses, held a fistful of
papers, and shook them at the Secretary's direction as he railed about
how we had angels in Detroit who were willing to invest in this
project, but we need the public sector to support it to get across the
finish line.
His arguments were persuasive, and, today, you can ride the QLINE
down Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit because Carl Levin was so
determined to make it a reality.
[[Page S5210]]
President Barack Obama captured Carl's legacy perfectly when he said,
upon Carl's retirement, that ``if you've ever worn the uniform, worked
a shift on an assembly line or sacrificed to make ends meet, then you
had a voice and a vote in Sen. Carl Levin.''
But perhaps Carl's greatest legacy is the example he set for all of
us. Carl's colleagues, his staff, and his constituents all agree that
one of his most powerful traits was his integrity. He had strong values
and a moral compass that always pointed north. Even years after he
retired, as I traveled around Michigan, folks still tell me how much
they respected Carl. They knew that even if they didn't agree with him,
he was thoughtful and he was considerate. And they would tell me that
while they may not always agree with Carl's votes, they respected his
decision making, and they trusted what he was doing and thought was
best for Michigan and the country.
Those same principles inspired such strong loyalty in his staff that
he became known for having staff members who worked for him for
decades. Carl's fearlessness, thoughtfulness, and independence marked
the epitome of what it means to be a public servant. He followed his
conscience, and he always fought to do what was best for his home State
and for his country
Carl's principled leadership, his dedication for finding common
ground, his relentless pursuit of the truth, and his constant focus on
ensuring that our country works for every American should serve as a
model for all of us.
I am forever grateful to Carl for his leadership, his mentorship, and
for his example. I will always remember the advice he gave me on
election night, after I was declared the winner. He pulled me aside and
said: Just remember, Gary, in the Senate there will be people who will
try to pull you in all sorts of directions, but never forget where you
came from, never forget who you are, and always work to bring people
together, despite the partisanship and polarization around you.
We live in tough times, but he reminded me that people back home in
Michigan are expecting me to get things done and deliver results. It is
advice that guides me every day.
Carl truly represented the best of public service. He did his
homework and knew the issues inside and out. He focused on doing what
was right for Michigan and for our country. He never had an alternative
agenda. He didn't chase front-page headlines or the cameras. He had no
desire to be a political celebrity. He just wanted to get things done.
Carl's light in this world will be sorely missed, but the best thing
we can do to honor his memory is to live by the same principles,
integrity, and kindness that drove his leadership and public service
for five decades. Carl loved doing his job, and he did it with
boundless energy. Whether it was greeting his constituents on the
street or taking on some of the toughest issues in Washington, everyone
was always trying to keep up with Carl.
If we could all bring just a fraction of his dedication, his
integrity, and his intellect to our own worlds, Washington would surely
be a much better place. May his memory be a blessing.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. REED. Madam President, first let me thank Senator Stabenow and
Senator Peters for bringing us together to recognize an extraordinary
gentleman, an extraordinary friend, and, for me, an extraordinary
mentor, Senator Carl Levin.
I want to begin by offering my deepest sympathies to Carl's family,
his wife Barbara, their wonderful daughters and grandchildren, his
brother Sandy, and his nephew Congressman Andy Levin. Those who knew
him knew that Carl was, above all else, a loving father, a devoted
husband, and a profoundly compassionate man. Today, we mourn with the
entire Levin family.
I would like to take just a few minutes to reflect on his remarkable
life and legacy. Carl served 36 years in the U.S. Senate and made every
single day count. He was a gentleman and a statesman, a true champion
for Michigan, for working families, for justice, and especially for the
men and women of the U.S. military Throughout his long and wide-ranging
career, he carried with him a constant, enduring commitment to service.
From his earliest days growing up in Detroit, Carl understood what
service meant. He worked his way up as an auto factory worker and taxi
driver to get to law school and then to the Michigan Civil Rights
Commission, where he dedicated his early career to service as a public
defender. From there, he committed himself even further to the people
of Detroit, serving 8 years on the city council and fighting constantly
to advance the civil rights of his constituents.
His 3\1/2\ decades in the Senate truly defined his commitment to
service, and his accomplishments are monumental. While Carl is
particularly associated with national defense, as the chairman of the
Armed Services Committee, he was one of the most productive, effective
congressional investigators and legislators of his era--or any era.
Wielding his gavel on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations with great clout and distinction, he was relentless in
going after waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption whenever and wherever
he saw it.
He didn't shy from tough issues. He worked tirelessly to expose major
corporate tax avoidance and evasion, knowing that it was unfair for
working men and women to pay their share while corporations found
loopholes to pay nothing.
Carl changed the very way our government worked, using his
legislative powers, his backbone, and his brain to take on the most
powerful institutions in America on behalf of not just the little guy
but a healthier republic.
Serving alongside Carl Levin on the Armed Services Committee was one
of the greatest privileges of my life. We liked to joke that we were
friends and we traveled together so much because I made Carl feel tall
and he made me feel like the most elegant dresser in the United States
of America.
I was always intrigued during our 11 trips overseas together--mostly
to battlegrounds--when I would try to pack light, my experience in the
military having suggested that. Carl would show up with a little bag--
just a little black bag. And I would think, ``How could he get through
these 5, 6, 7 days of trips with just that?'' Then I discovered the
answer. We would have a meeting with a Prime Minister, for example, and
he would have his coat and his tie and his white shirt on and his
slacks. And then he would get ready to go to the field. He would just
take his coat off or undo his tie, roll up his sleeves, and head out to
the field. Then we would come back to have another meeting, and he
would put his tie back on. It was the Carl Levin method. And as much as
I tried to emulate it, I could not.
He was one of the most incredibly genuine and kind individuals you
would ever meet.
When he took on his duties on the Armed Services Committee, he
understood that national security is not a partisan issue, and he
maintained a spirit of bipartisanship that continues to motivate all of
us.
He also understood that national security requires more than just
defense. So he was an active supporter of diplomacy and international
organizations.
Throughout his life, Senator Levin was a steadying force in turbulent
times in global affairs. He was a staunch advocate for NATO,
recognizing that our national power is enhanced by strong alliances
with other democracies. He also lent crucial support to the START
Treaty between the United States and Russia, limiting and reducing the
number of nuclear weapons on this planet. And he later supported the
Nunn-Lugar legislation that removed many unsecured nuclear weapons
after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But, most profoundly, Carl always recognized that the dedication and
sacrifice of our servicemembers is fundamental to our military
security. I feel that in every critical decision he made, he viewed it
through the eyes of those young soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines
on the ground--what would his decisions mean to them? That is why he
traveled to countless outposts and ships to see for himself the needs
of our men and women in uniform and to thank our troops personally for
their service. And I was privileged to travel with him many, many times
and to witness his concern for those who served.
[[Page S5211]]
At this moment, my mind is awash with memories and images; for
example, in 1997, standing with Carl before a crowd of 50,000 pro-
democratic Serbians in Belgrade, calling for a democracy to replace the
dictator, Milosevic. It was a moving moment. In 2003, visiting our
troops in Iraq--one of the first codels to enter Iraq--to find out for
ourselves what was happening; what the troops needed; what we could do
to protect them and give them the tools to do their job; and in 2009,
crowded together, sitting on the floor on carpets with Afghan leaders
in a small village, trying to determine a path forward. Carl always led
by example and with decency and integrity.
Later this summer, it will be the honor of my life to speak at the
commissioning of the U.S. Navy's newest warship, the USS Carl M. Levin.
It is a great and formidable ship, bearing the name of a great and
formidable man. I wish more than anything that Carl could be there to
witness the tremendous honor for his namesake ship's commissioning. But
Carl always did prefer to avoid the spotlight and the fanfare, and, I
think, perhaps he will be smiling even wider as he looks from above at
the christening of that ship.
Carl's life was defined by service, and we should all be grateful to
be part of the legacy that he created in this very Chamber. His loss is
immeasurable, but I am grateful for his lifetime of contributions to
the people of Michigan and the people of our Nation.
We can best honor Senator Levin by carrying out his ideals and
example in what we do here and what we do for the Nation, and,
particularly, what we do for the brave young men and women who serve
this Nation.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I rise today to add my voice to my
colleagues in remembering and paying our respects to our dear friend
and former colleague Senator Carl Levin, whom we sadly lost last night.
My colleagues have been sharing their stories and their experiences
of this incredible human being, this amazing Senator, and I want to
share one of my own, a story of how he made an impact on my life and my
approach to being a Senator.
It was back in 2009, when we had an enormous collapse of our economic
system. I came here as a freshman Senator, and we were working to say
what happened and how can we prevent this from happening again. A lot
of what happened was enormously leveraged bets made in the Wall Street
casino. A staff member of mine kept saying, you have got to read this
essay by Chairman Volcker about how we take and shut down this Wall
Street casino and how it puts our entire economy at risk and will do so
again in the future again if we don't act
After two or three times that my team member had approached me on
this, I put out an email to all of the Senators and said: Here is the
challenge that is presented, and here is what we need to do to protect
the future economy. Would anyone join me in undertaking to establish
this Volcker rule to shut down the Wall Street casino?
The next day, I came to the floor of the Senate, and Carl Levin comes
up to me. And he says: About your email from yesterday, about your
email, I want to join you in that project.
He knew a lot about this issue, and he had staff members who knew a
lot about this issue. Then he went on to say: And you may think because
you are new and I have been here for a while that I am going to sweep
in and take this over. He said: But I want to tell you, I am not going
to do that. I don't want to do that. I want to work in full partnership
with you, together.
And that is what it became, this full partnership: our team members
working closely together, Carl and I working closely together, no one
leading, if you will, or, to put it differently, leading together. And
it had many, many chapters in this effort.
It was not an easy path to say the big banks needed to change how
they operate. But what struck me in how he conducted himself was he
expressed not egoism but altruism. He didn't focus on what he should do
to advance himself politically; he wanted to know what we can do to
serve the best interests of this Nation, not grandstanding but problem-
solving to make the United States of America work better for everyone.
And so we proceeded.
During the debate on Dodd-Frank, we had an opportunity to put forward
an amendment to establish the Volcker rule. Colleagues across the aisle
were none too happy about that, and it shut down the Senate for a full
day. So Carl and I kept working during that day to say: No, this should
be debated. This should be voted on. But eventually, our second-degree
amendment died when the first-degree amendment was taken down. But our
team members had worked through the night to make it a germane
amendment so it would have survived had that not taken place.
So then we went, in partnership, over to speak with Mr. Frank,
Congressman Frank on the House side. And Congressman Frank joined in
the battle. And we kept pushing, and eventually, in conference, the
Volcker rule was brought to life.
And then we started partnering and trying to prevent the rulemaking
from tearing it down. And Carl would call me up and say: Here is what
is happening. What are we going to do? And we would write a letter and
we would call the regulators and we would rally our fellow Senators. He
just kept at it. Like a dog with a bone, he was not going to let go. He
was tenacious, saying: This matters. Every piece of it matters. We are
going to get this done.
So when we think about the fact that that Wall Street casino no
longer threatens the American economy because it no longer operates as
it did, well, we have Senator Carl Levin to thank for that.
There is so much more he did here. Colleagues have been speaking to
other chapters of his work, but this was the chapter I was involved in.
I think it said so much about who he was. His policy expertise, his
humble approach to the fight, his willingness to take on powerful
actors, that is truly what it is to be a public servant.
I wish Carl were here so we could have him hear these stories from us
directly. I am thinking now about his colleagues representing Michigan
who have followed in his footsteps. They are here: Debbie Stabenow,
Gary Peters. I know they are inspired by the example he set.
A couple of years ago, I had a chance to debate in Michigan and
called up Carl so we could get together for dinner, together with his
wife Barbara. And, boy, he was just interested in every aspect of what
we were doing here and how we were, hopefully, making the Senate work
better.
And just not so long ago, he wrote an op-ed about how to make the
Senate work better by enabling the minority to slow things down, to
have leverage but keep this body from being paralyzed. So he continued
to think and to engage right up to his final days.
So, Barbara, we are thinking about you. We are holding you and your
family in the light, and we are doing so with such appreciation of the
life and work of Carl Levin.
Thank you.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I, of course, join my colleagues in
their fond words for Carl Levin.
He was a mentor to me, like so many. And I am looking forward to
speaking about him as well as my good friend Senator Enzi, whom we also
tragically lost this past week, in the coming days.
But, today, I am focused on another topic, and that is the Olympics.