July 30, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5211 At this moment, my mind is awash this, I put out an email to all of the threatens the American economy be- with memories and images; for exam- Senators and said: Here is the chal- cause it no longer operates as it did, ple, in 1997, standing with Carl before a lenge that is presented, and here is well, we have Senator Carl Levin to crowd of 50,000 pro-democratic Serbians what we need to do to protect the fu- thank for that. in Belgrade, calling for a democracy to ture economy. Would anyone join me There is so much more he did here. replace the dictator, Milosevic. It was in undertaking to establish this Colleagues have been speaking to other a moving moment. In 2003, visiting our Volcker rule to shut down the Wall chapters of his work, but this was the troops in Iraq—one of the first codels Street casino? chapter I was involved in. I think it to enter Iraq—to find out for ourselves The next day, I came to the floor of said so much about who he was. His what was happening; what the troops the Senate, and Carl Levin comes up to policy expertise, his humble approach needed; what we could do to protect me. And he says: About your email to the fight, his willingness to take on them and give them the tools to do from yesterday, about your email, I powerful actors, that is truly what it is their job; and in 2009, crowded to- want to join you in that project. to be a public servant. gether, sitting on the floor on carpets He knew a lot about this issue, and I wish Carl were here so we could with Afghan leaders in a small village, he had staff members who knew a lot have him hear these stories from us di- trying to determine a path forward. about this issue. Then he went on to rectly. I am thinking now about his Carl always led by example and with say: And you may think because you colleagues representing Michigan who decency and integrity. are new and I have been here for a have followed in his footsteps. They are Later this summer, it will be the while that I am going to sweep in and here: DEBBIE STABENOW, GARY PETERS. honor of my life to speak at the com- take this over. He said: But I want to I know they are inspired by the exam- missioning of the U.S. Navy’s newest tell you, I am not going to do that. I ple he set. warship, the USS Carl M. Levin. It is a don’t want to do that. I want to work A couple of years ago, I had a chance great and formidable ship, bearing the in full partnership with you, together. to debate in Michigan and called up name of a great and formidable man. I And that is what it became, this full Carl so we could get together for din- wish more than anything that Carl partnership: our team members work- ner, together with his wife Barbara. could be there to witness the tremen- ing closely together, Carl and I work- And, boy, he was just interested in dous honor for his namesake ship’s ing closely together, no one leading, if every aspect of what we were doing commissioning. But Carl always did you will, or, to put it differently, lead- here and how we were, hopefully, mak- prefer to avoid the spotlight and the ing together. And it had many, many ing the Senate work better. fanfare, and, I think, perhaps he will be chapters in this effort. And just not so long ago, he wrote an smiling even wider as he looks from It was not an easy path to say the big op-ed about how to make the Senate above at the christening of that ship. banks needed to change how they oper- work better by enabling the minority Carl’s life was defined by service, and ate. But what struck me in how he con- to slow things down, to have leverage we should all be grateful to be part of ducted himself was he expressed not but keep this body from being para- the legacy that he created in this very egoism but altruism. He didn’t focus on lyzed. So he continued to think and to Chamber. His loss is immeasurable, but what he should do to advance himself engage right up to his final days. I am grateful for his lifetime of con- politically; he wanted to know what we So, Barbara, we are thinking about tributions to the people of Michigan can do to serve the best interests of you. We are holding you and your fam- and the people of our Nation. this Nation, not grandstanding but ily in the light, and we are doing so We can best honor Senator Levin by problem-solving to make the United with such appreciation of the life and carrying out his ideals and example in States of America work better for ev- work of Carl Levin. what we do here and what we do for the eryone. And so we proceeded. Thank you. Nation, and, particularly, what we do During the debate on Dodd-Frank, we The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- for the brave young men and women had an opportunity to put forward an ator from Minnesota. who serve this Nation. amendment to establish the Volcker Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I yield the floor. rule. Colleagues across the aisle were I, of course, join my colleagues in their The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- none too happy about that, and it shut fond words for Carl Levin. ator from Oregon. down the Senate for a full day. So Carl He was a mentor to me, like so many. Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I and I kept working during that day to And I am looking forward to speaking rise today to add my voice to my col- say: No, this should be debated. This about him as well as my good friend leagues in remembering and paying our should be voted on. But eventually, our Senator Enzi, whom we also tragically respects to our dear friend and former second-degree amendment died when lost this past week, in the coming colleague Senator Carl Levin, whom we the first-degree amendment was taken days. sadly lost last night. down. But our team members had But, today, I am focused on another My colleagues have been sharing worked through the night to make it a topic, and that is the Olympics. their stories and their experiences of germane amendment so it would have TRIBUTE TO SUNISA LEE this incredible human being, this amaz- survived had that not taken place. Madam President, I rise today to ing Senator, and I want to share one of So then we went, in partnership, over congratulate and honor Minnesota’s my own, a story of how he made an im- to speak with Mr. Frank, Congressman own Sunisa Lee, who won the gold pact on my life and my approach to Frank on the House side. And Con- medal in the women’s all-around gym- being a Senator. gressman Frank joined in the battle. nastics event at the 2020 Olympics in It was back in 2009, when we had an And we kept pushing, and eventually, Tokyo. enormous collapse of our economic sys- in conference, the Volcker rule was I got up, like many Minnesotans, at 5 tem. I came here as a freshman Sen- brought to life. in the morning to watch this live, and ator, and we were working to say what And then we started partnering and it was a sight to behold. happened and how can we prevent this trying to prevent the rulemaking from Suni hails from St. Paul. The young- from happening again. A lot of what tearing it down. And Carl would call est member of the U.S. women’s gym- happened was enormously leveraged me up and say: Here is what is hap- nastics team at just 18, she has been bets made in the Wall Street casino. A pening. What are we going to do? And competing on the national and inter- staff member of mine kept saying, you we would write a letter and we would national stages since 2015. She is now have got to read this essay by Chair- call the regulators and we would rally officially the best women’s gymnast in man Volcker about how we take and our fellow Senators. He just kept at it. the world. shut down this Wall Street casino and Like a dog with a bone, he was not Suni Lee’s journey is a remarkable how it puts our entire economy at risk going to let go. He was tenacious, say- one. She faced incredible challenges to and will do so again in the future again ing: This matters. Every piece of it compete on the world’s stage, including if we don’t act. matters. We are going to get this done. training through the coronavirus pan- After two or three times that my So when we think about the fact that demic, breaking her foot, and sadly ex- team member had approached me on that Wall Street casino no longer periencing tragedies within her family VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:21 Jul 31, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G30JY6.027 S30JYPT1 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE S5212 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 30, 2021 when she lost two relatives to COVID I yield the floor.