Senator from page 26

Leader's Values

Many of the best and brightest among young Americans
today are steering clear of politics, turned off by its mud-
slinging and malignity. Levin's principled demeanor sprang
from an era when a career in public service was aspired to,
not loathed.
From serving as unofficial campaign manager for his

older brother Sander's successful 1964 run for a Senate seat

in the Michigan Legislature, to two four-year terms on the
Detroit City Council, including a stint as president, Carl
Levin has led by example. He's smart, ethical and savvy. His
instincts for consensus and compromise are rooted in an
aversion to spiteful polarization and partisanship.
In twice chairing the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Levin saw firsthand how senators would cross the aisle to
produce what he called "an annual defense authorization
that advanced the security of our nation" — including
support for America's fighting forces and their families,
and also for training and equipping receptive nations con-
fronted by terror so our men and women in the military
wouldn't have to defend the world against extremism and
fanaticism. Levin singled out the bipartisan work of Sen.
John McCain, R-Ariz., "my great friend," who now leads the
Armed Services Committee.
Under Levin's helm, the committee
was instrumental in investigating not
only how detainees in U.S. military cus-
tody were treated but also the misdeeds
of security contractors in Afghanistan.
Ever meticulous, Levin opposed con-
gressional authorization for the 2003
invasion of Iraq, preferring to give U.N.
inspectors more time to actually find
John McCain
weapons of mass destruction. While
backing military intervention in Afghanistan to curtail Al
Qaeda, he pushed for Kabul to ultimately take responsibility
for Afghan security.
Levin ardently supported U.S.-Israel ties even as interna-
tional pressure grew against the Jewish state. He also helped
in the struggle of Soviet Jews to emigrate. More recently, he
kept pressure on President Barack Obama to staunch Iran's
nuclear arms bid.
In another example of bipartisanship, Levin pointed to
the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which he
chaired for 10 years as it sought to safeguard the integrity of
our financial system. The panel targeted tax evaders, credit
card abusers, market manipulators, mortgage fraud perpe-
trators, foreign money launderers and overseers of wasteful
government spending.

Pressing Onward

Levin talked longingly about how making Senate progress
hinges on solutions that, "while they may not provide any-
one with everything they want, are broadly accepted as in

Peters To Draw From Levin Legacy

A

s a U.S. senator,
Carl Levin was hard
to dislike. Even
Republican colleagues and
strategists didn't hesitate to
describe him as a person of
high honor.
Gary Peters, Levin's
Democratic successor in the
Senate, saw that reinforced on the
campaign trail among GOP-leaning
voters.
As I traveled around our great
state, I found that even folks who
disagreed with Carl admired his
integrity and thoughtful approach to

"I will go to work
every day to fight for
Michigan in the U.S.
Senate."

- Gary Peters

public policy," Peters, a Bloomfield
Township resident, told the JN.
Peters, 56, said Levin's character
will be his "touchstone" but vowed
to chart his own course – and "go to
work every day to fight for Michigan
in the U.S. Senate."
Peters, a Pontiac native, moves

the common interest.
"When compromise is thwarted by ideological rigidity or
by abuse of the rights that our rules afford us:' he said, "the
Senate can become paralyzed, unable to achieve the lofty
task the founders set before us."
Chances are Levin will continue to influence the Senate
through the advice and counsel his admiring colleagues are
bound to seek.
Meanwhile, his brother, a ranking member of the House
Ways and Means Committee, will keep the presence of
a Levin in Congress a little longer. They were Congress'
longest-serving siblings.
Sander and Carl Levin, both Detroit Central High and
Harvard Law School graduates, exemplify the nobility of lov-
ing family ties. Both wear Zionism on
their sleeves, as did their parents, Bess
and Saul. The brothers also inherited
their zest for politics and debate from
their doting parents; Saul served on the
Michigan Corrections Commission.
Sundays at the family's Detroit home,
first on LaSalle Boulevard and later
on Boston Boulevard, typically meant
Sander Levin
a lively dinner-hour discussion with
relatives — inspired by the national radio program Drew

Pearson Comments.
Both brothers remain engaged in Jewish life. In 1977,
Carl was a founding member of the Reconstructionist
Congregation Tchiyah, then in Detroit and now in Oak Park.
Sander is a lifelong member of Congregation Shaarey Zedek
in Southfield, where the brothers attended Sunday school.
Carl Levin didn't wander in his farewell address. He stuck
to what he learned toiling in the trenches of Capitol Hill, an
experience that ultimately brought to Michigan federal aid
for such landmark projects as Detroit's waterfront and the
M-1 rail along Woodward Avenue as well as Great Lakes and
wilderness protections.
Levin was humble, as always. And very encouraging.
"No leader alone, no single senator, neither party by itself'
he said, "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
Hinting at the next stage of his life, the grandpa to six
said, "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 grandkids." ❑

from six years of service in the U.S.
House. His resume includes stints on
the Rochester Hills City Council and
in the Michigan State Senate and
as Michigan State Lottery commis-
sioner. He's a current member of the
U.S. Navy Reserve. He and his wife,
Colleen, have three children.
Peters, a bipartisan player in his
own right, was sworn in Jan. 6 on
the Senate floor. His early focus
includes working to create jobs and
strengthen the economy.
A former investment adviser,
Peters said he'll use my knowledge
from my 22 years in the private sec-
tor to improve opportunities for all
Michiganders." ❑

Dry Bones

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If anyone knows the challenges before the Senate, it's
Levin. The fundamental economic challenge, he said, is "the
growing gap in our society between a fortunate few and the
vast majority of Americans whose fortunes have stagnated
or fallen."
Never a flashy dresser or in awe of his stature, Levin, a
native Detroiter who still lives in the city, connected with
ordinary Americans. His occasionally rumpled, reading-
glass-over-the-tip-of-the-nose look sent a resounding
message that the public life of this husband of more than
50 years and father of three married daughters was laser
focused on the wellbeing of the American people. The
rank-and-file jobs at stake — representing the thousands
of families dependent on an automaker paycheck — were
pivotal to his standing up to help quarterback the 2008-09
federal bailout of financially distressed General Motors and
Chrysler. He understood how significant manufacturing and
its potential are to Michigan and America.
"While I believe the economists who tell us this inequality
is holding back economic growth are right:' Levin said in his
address, "this isn't just about economic data. It's about our
nation's heart and soul. This growing gulf between a fortu-
nate 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."
That was a clarion call for congressional action, not a
weepy plea for a TV-news sound bite. For years Levin fought
for a strong heartbeat in the American heartland. Much like
his mentor, Philip Hart, the Michigan senator who served
from 1959 until his death in 1976, Levin had a way of not
letting the headlines of the day draw him away from the
more pressing matters of the times.
To better turn hard work into greater opportunity, Levin
boldly urged the next Congress to strengthen education and
worker training and to invest more in infrastructure and
research that fosters growth. Congress should pay for this
new investment, he said, "by closing egregious tax loopholes
that serve no economic purpose but enrich some of the
wealthiest among us and our most profitable corporations."

- Robert Sklar

JN

January 8 • 2015

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