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u.s. news Diasabra 31 Juli 2021

Ex-Sen. Levin, Michigan’s longest-serving senator, has died

(AP) — Former Sen. Carl President George W. Bush’s he said cost the U.S. govern-
Levin, a powerful voice on administration had “written ment at least $100 billion a
military issues in Wash- the book on how to misman- year in lost taxes. He also was
ington and a staunch sup- age a war.” He gave a cautious an advocate for stem cell re-
porter of the auto indus- endorsement to President search and gun control.
try back home in Michi- Barack Obama’s 2009 build-
gan during his record ten- up of troops in Afghanistan, Closer to home, Levin pro-
ure in the U.S. Senate, has but later warned of “the be- moted policies benefiting
died. He was 87. ginnings of fraying” of Dem- the auto industry and sup-
ocratic support. ported giving $25 billion in
The Harvard-educated civil loan guarantees to General
rights attorney and former He was also critical of Presi- Motors and Chrysler. He ar-
taxi driver, who for decades dent Ronald Reagan’s build- gued that a vibrant domestic
carried his faded 1953 auto up of nuclear weapons, say- auto industry was crucial to
union membership card in ing it came at the expense rebuilding the economy after
his wallet, died Thursday, his of conventional weapons the Great Recession. He also
family and the Levin Center needed to maintain military was a member of a task force
at Wayne State University’s readiness. supporting efforts to fight
law school announced in an pollution and other environ-
evening statement. But, colleagues said, he al- mental problems affecting
most always engendered a the Great Lakes.
“We are all devastated by feeling of respect.
his loss. But we are filled Carl Milton Levin was born
with gratitude for all of the President Joe Biden, who in Detroit on June 28, 1934,
support that Carl received served with Levin in the Sen- and he stayed in the Motor
throughout his extraordinary ate for 30 years, said Friday City for most of his life. After
life and career, enabling him “he was one of the most hon- high school, he spent time as 1969, and he served as its the Heart of the Matter: My
to touch so many people and orable and decent people I a taxi driver and worked on president before ousting a 36 Years in the Senate,” was
accomplish so much good,” have ever known.” Levin, he auto assembly plant lines to Republican to win the 1978 published in March. The
the statement said. said, was “brilliant, humble help put himself through Senate race. He won the seat Navy named a destroyer for
and principled” — embody- school. five more times but decided him to honor his years of
First elected to the Senate ing “the best of who we are as against running for a seventh public service.
in 1978, Levin represented Americans.” Always proud of having term in 2014.
Michigan longer than any helped build the DeSoto His nephew, Andy Levin,
other senator, targeting tax Famous for wearing his eye- and Ford trucks at a plant in Democratic Gov. Gretch- was reelected in 2020 to his
shelters, supporting manu- glasses down on his nose, Highland Park, he held onto en Whitmer called Levin a father’s 9th Congressional
facturing jobs and pushing Levin seemed to be the same his United Auto Workers “champion for Michigan.” District seat that represents
for military funding. His ten- candid, hardworking guy union membership card for parts of suburban Detroit.
ure was a testament to voters’ wherever he went, whether decades. That ended when “He saw what we were ca-
approval of the slightly rum- he was in front of cameras his wallet was stolen. pable of when we came to “Carl Levin personified in-
pled, down-to-earth Detroit on Capitol Hill, on an over- the table as Michiganders, tegrity and the notion of put-
native whom Time magazine seas fact-finding mission or He earned a bachelor’s de- as Americans, to get things ting the public good above
ranked among the nation’s 10 lost in the crowd of a college gree in political science from done,” she said. “Carl devot- self-interest,” Andy Levin
best senators in 2006. football stadium on game day. Swarthmore College in 1956, ed his life to public service, said, calling him “the very
and a law degree from Har- and it us up to us to follow picture of sober purpose and
“He’s just a very decent per- “No one would accuse Carl vard in 1959. He married his his example.” rectitude. In truth, he wasn’t
son,” Democratic Sen. Jack Levin of looking like Holly- wife, Barbara, two years later, unfun. In fact, he often
Reed of Rhode Island, a fel- wood’s version of a U.S. Sen- and together they raised three After his retirement, the pierced tense situations with
low Senate Armed Services ator. He’s pudgy, balding and daughters. Levin Center at Wayne Law self-deprecating humor, and
Committee member, said in occasionally rumpled, and he was established to promote he privately shared incisive
2008. “He’s unpretentious, constantly wears his glasses Levin fell in line with his fact-based, bipartisan over- observations about others
unassuming. He never for- at the very tip of his nose,” family’s strong sense of civic sight by Congress and state with staff and colleagues.”
gets that what we’re doing is Time magazine said in its duty in 1964, when he was legislatures and to encour-
enmeshed with the lives of 2006 article ranking the sena- named an assistant state at- age civil dialogue on pub- Carl Levin is survived by his
the people he represents.” tor among the country’s best. torney general and the first lic policy issues. He chaired wife, their three adult daugh-
“Still, the Michigan Demo- general counsel for the the center and co-taught law ters, Kate, Laura and Erica,
A Washington insider and crat has gained respect from Michigan Civil Rights Com- courses. He also was a part- and several grandchildren.
former prosecutor known both parties for his attention mission. His older brother, ner and distinguished coun- There will be a private funer-
for his professorial bear- to detail and deep knowledge former longtime U.S. Rep. sel at the Honigman law firm al. Information about a pub-
ing, Levin took a civil but of policy, especially in his role Sander “Sandy” Levin, had a in Detroit. lic memorial will be forth-
straightforward approach as a vigilant monitor of busi- liberal voting record on many coming.
that allowed him to work ef- nesses and federal agencies.” social issues, while their fa- His memoir, “Getting to
fectively with Republicans ther served on the Michigan
and fellow Democrats. He A foe of fraud and waste, Corrections Commission, a
was especially astute on de- Levin led an investigation citizens’ group that oversaw
fense matters thanks to his in 2002 into Enron Corp., prison operations, and their
years as the top Democrat on which had declared bank- mother volunteered for a
the Senate Armed Services ruptcy the previous year Jewish organization.
Committee. amid financial scandals. The
probe contributed to a new Carl Levin was Michigan’s
And he didn’t fear speaking federal law that requires ex- only Jewish senator. He once
his mind. ecutives to sign off on finan- said that public service was in
cial statements so they could his DNA, and politics often
He was in the minority — be criminally liable for post- was discussed at the dinner
even among his Democratic ing phony numbers. table when he was a boy.
Senate colleagues — when
he voted against sending Levin pushed legislation de- He dove into public office
U.S. troops to Iraq in 2002, signed to crack down on when Detroit voters elected
and two years later he said offshore tax havens, which him to the City Council in