[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              BOB LEVINSON

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I came to speak on a different 
subject. A retired FBI agent named Bob Levinson, over 4 years ago, 
disappeared when he checked out of his hotel in the Iranian tourist 
attraction of Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. He disappeared. It is 
only recently that his family--and he leaves behind a family of a wife 
and seven children--only recently have they had the belief that he is 
alive.
  We have brought this to all levels of our government. This Senator, 
who represents the State Christine Levinson lives in, went to the 
Iranian Ambassador at the United Nations years ago trying to intervene. 
Our Secretary of State has, in fact, pushed this very hard.
  Why am I saying all this? Because on the occasion of the release of 
the hikers by the Iranian Government, for whatever compassion they have 
shown--the government bringing together disparate parties that had 
their own little power centers in Iran--whatever success they had in 
bringing that together and releasing those hikers back to their loved 
ones, we pray that same decisionmaking apparatus in Tehran would now 
activate the process to bring Bob Levinson home to his wife and seven 
children.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, first of all, I say to my good friend 
from Florida, I thank him so much for the compassion he has. I 
appreciate very much him bringing this issue to our light and to the 
attention of all of us, and maybe we can help. I thank the Senator.
  To my good friend, the Senator from Louisiana, I think what she 
speaks about is us identifying who we are as Americans and the way we 
have taken care of each other. I do not know of any State that has not 
had to depend on FEMA for help--and not just the States she showed 
where ``hurricane alley'' is and where the tornadoes and hurricanes 
have hit, but basically all of us have had to depend on FEMA for 
assistance. So I think what she brings to light is the fairness we 
identify with as Americans and to do what we have always done: to take 
care of each other. I, for one, have said we need to rebuild America; 
we need to take care of Americans first.

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