Carl Levin
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Carl Milton Levin (born June 28, 1934) is a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan. He has been in the Senate since 1979 and Michigan's senior senator since 1995.
Levin was born to a Jewish family in Detroit. He attended Detroit public schools and graduated from Swarthmore College in 1956 and from Harvard Law School in 1959. Soon after earning his law degree, he was admitted to the Michigan bar and opened a practice in Detroit, where he still lives. He received honorary degrees from Michigan State University in 2004 and Wayne State University in 2005.
He was state assistant attorney general and general counsel for the Michigan civil rights commission from 1964-67. He was special assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan and chief appellate defender for the city of Detroit from 1968-69. He was a member of the Detroit City Council 1969-77, the last four years as council president.
United States Senate
Elections
He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, defeating Senate Minority Whip Robert P. Griffin. Griffin did not call Levin to concede until the day after the election, because he was stuck in an elevator and did not find out that he lost until late that night. Levin was subsequently reelected in 1984, 1990, 1996, and 2002. He is the longest-serving Senator in Michigan history.Policy and Bills
Education
In his early years in the Senate, Levin was a strong supporter of the creation of The Department of Education. Over the years, Levin has introduced legislation and amendments to improve education, including an amendment that greatly reduced class sizes so that teachers could better focus on the needs of each specific child. Levin was a hesitant sponsor of the No Child Left Behind Act, and still believes that congress should monitor the affects of the of the Act. Levin was also disappointed with the final draft of the No Child Left Behind Act because it cut much of the funding for children with disabilities that was initialy promised.Energy
Senator Levin has directed the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to investigate whether the Department of Energy policies have caused a raise in the price in crude oil. And, in 2001, led an investigation as to why gasoline prices spiked that summer.Environment
Carl Levin is working hard to stop Canada from dumping its waste into Michigan (Canada currently dumps Approx. 160 truck-loads a day of trash in Michigan alone).He wrote legislation in the National Defence Authorization act of 2003, creating a program for the reasearch an construction of Fuel cell vehicles.
Ethics
Senator Levin is perhaps best known for his working of improving the ethics of the federal government. He authored the Competition in Contracting Act, which has led to significant reductions in federal procurement costs. He also authored Whistleblower Protection Act, which protected federal empoloyees who expose wasteful and unneccesary practices. He helped author the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, which limits IRS harassment, and the Ethics reform of 1989.Heath Care
Levin has worked hard with others in the Senate to make heath care affordable to all citizens. He supported the Patients' Bill of Rights, which made it so that doctors, nurses, and medical professionals could make medical decisions. The Patients' Bill of Rights and the Houses version of the bill could not compromise, so it did not become a law. Levin still hopes congress will eventualy pass the bill.Levin is an advocate for stem-cell research as means to cure diseases like Alzheimer's, diabetes, and Parkinson's.
National Security
Levin has said that he believes that in order to improve the military we need to shut down more installations and get rid of access infrastructure. Under his leadership, the Committee of Armed Forces passed the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act, which closed additional military bases.Miscellaneous
He has served as the senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee since January 7, 1997. Levin chaired the committee when the Democrats were the majority party in the Senate, January 3-20, 2001 and June 6, 2001 - January 6, 2003. He has pushed for less secrecy in government, working to declassify many documents, particularly where claims of ties between Iraq and Al-Qaeda are concerned. He is also a critic of the New Hampshire presidential primary's first-in-the-nation status, saying a more diverse state (such as his own Michigan) should hold their contest first.In April 2006, Levin was selected by Time as one of "America's 10 Best Senators."[link] On a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being very liberal and 100 very conservative, the American Conservatives Union rates Levin a 7. The American Civil Liberties Union gave him a 78% on civil liberties issues from 2005-2005.
He is almost always seen wearing his glasses at the end of his nose, which has drawn much humorous attention. In response, he lightheartedly joked that the late Senator Strom Thurmond (while he was in office) would have never worn his glasses because they "make him look old."[link] Daily Show host Jon Stewart once referred to him jokingly as the "kindly old shoemaker."
Family
Levin's family has long been active in Michigan politics. His older brother, Sander "Sandy" Levin, has served in the House since 1983. His uncle, Theodore Levin, was a federal judge. His first cousin, Charles Levin, was a Michigan Supreme Court judge. His first cousin, Joseph Levin, was a candidate for the House. He is married to Barbara Halpern-Levin.External links
- [Senator Carl Levin's website]
- [Campaign website]
- [Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]
- [Michigan Democratic Party]
- [Michigan Liberal's Senior Senator section]
- [record maintained by the Washington Post]
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