Heroism, doubts, disbelief and patriotism on that date that will live in infamy. Lord, continue to guide this land we love on its labyrinthine path to greatness. Protect it from dangers seen and unseen as you unite for the common good. Use our senators for your glory as our nation seeks to bring deliverance to captives and to let the oppressed go free. We pray in your great name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Reid mr. President . The president pro tempore the majority leader. Mr. Reid following my remarks and those of the republican leader the senate will be in a period of morning business until 5 30 this afternoon. At 5 30 the senate will proceed to three roll call votes on the confirmation of baran baran to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory commission; Lauren Mcgarity mcferran to be a member of the National LaborRelations Board and ellen Dudley Williams to be a member of the department of energy. Im happy to be here today to talk about a couple of my friends, i should say the senates friends. I have received a lot of friends, gifts while i have been here. My colleagues over the years have given me things while i have been here in the senate, but one gift stands out really strongly in my mind. Into my desk not far from in my desk not far from here, i have a big painting. Its a very famous from the National Portrait gallery of mark twain. Mark twain, i tell people, was born in nevada, which was true. Samuel clemmens wasnt. He was choans chosen as secretary of nevada and he told his younger brother samuel sorry, mr. President. He told his younger brother, come west and ill find you a job. He had been fighting, which he didnt like, in the civil war. So he came west with his brother. But his brother couldnt find him a job, so he bummed around for quite awhile. And without belaboring the story too long, the fact is, mr. President , that mark twain finally went up to Virginia City, which was booming at the time, went to the territorial enterprise newspaper and got a job as a reporter. And that was his first writing that he had done. And thats where he started his fame. He would have stayed in nevada longer but someone challenged him to a dual for some of the things he wrote. Being the smart man he was, he didnt want the dual, so he left to town, went to california where he wrote two books, his experiences bumming around nevada until he found a job. These were bestsellers. These were great books. So, the point of the story, though, he went to Virginia City as Samuel Clemmons and took the name mark twain. Thats where the name came from. So this means a lot. Its a story that i tell many times. People come to my office. So carl levin, the wonderful, kind, thoughtful man that he is, said can i come and see you . I said sure. And he brought with me, i guess its the most one of the rare double signatures of Samuel Clemmons. There may be others, i never heard of one. This was at a club in hannibal, missouri. Mark twain in 1902 knew how famous he was so he signed Samuel Clemmons, mark twain. He didnt want anybody elses name there. He wanted his. So thats the gift that he gave me. And that was so fitting. It fits my office perfectly and it means a lot to me. Carl levin brought a handwritten note. I got this at an auction ten years ago not knowing why. It just dawned on me. Best new year, carl. That was so nice of him to do that. I just its hard for me to explain my appreciation but im trying to do that by outlining here what a wonderful human being carl levin is. What he did for me is an example of who carl levin is, how he thinks of people. He remembered the story that i told him about mark twain, and he said, im sure to himself, i got this thing i got ten years ago. Ill just give it to the senator as a friend. So he gave me that plaque just because thats how he is. Hes always been attentive to the interests of the people of michigan and our country. Hes the longestserving senator in the history of the state of michigan. 36 years. His legislative accomplishments are significant. I would say theyre unmatched by almost anyone he stood his glownd on controversial issues, and that is an understatement. He fought to give americans, average americans a fair shot at whats going on in the world. Hes always spoken with a clear voice, speaking for justice, equality and fairness. Mr. President , if you want something done that is foolproof, the presiding officer is a lawyer, im a lawyer, but im not sure i would be the best person if you gave me a document to look it over to make sure that there were in that document, in that was what you wanted in it, but carl levin, thats who youd want. I call him my nitpicker. He is so good at making sure everything is right, every i is dotted, every t is crossed. Bring in carl levin if you have something that you really need someone to look at and think it through. He was a prominent lawyer as was his dad in michigan. His dad served as a member of the michigan corrections commission. After graduating from high school, his father worked in new york. Carl levin knew how to work with his hands but followed in his fathers footsteps. He attended college at swargt more, got a bachelor of arts degree there and attended Harvard Law School and received his juris doctorate at harvard. He practiced in the private sector for awhile. He began his public career as the first general counsel for the michigan civil rights commission. He was elected in 1968, the detroit city council, and he served there until 1977. He was elected to the senate in 1978. He has functioned in this body as a levelheaded mediator whos guided the protection of the people of michigan and our country. In the past 36 years carl has cast over 12,000 votes. Some of those votes were hard and not always popular, but they were carl levin votes. He did what he thought was right. When General Motors and chrysler in the last few years faced potential collapse, he recognized that their bankruptcies would devastate the people of michigan and have a detrimental effect and that is a gross understatement to this country. He pressed the incoming Obama Administration to support the companies with loans. The hew and cry of people that opposed that, saying that is the wrong thing to do, levin is wrong, obama is wrong, but, mr. President , they were right. Look what it has done to energize, revitalize the state of michigan. The whole detroit metropolitan area and our country. Tens of thousands of new jobs as a result of his advocacy. As i said, it wasnt a popular position at the time, but carl knew what was good for michigan and good for our country, and hes been vindicated 100 times over. Carls been chairman of the Senate Permanent subcommittee on investigations for ten years. During that period of time, hes done some unusually important things for our country through this committee. Corporate money laundering, 1999. He delved into that very deeply. Carl levin is not a headline hunter. Carl levin is a substantive legislator. He could have held a lot more hearings but he held them about every six months because he wanted his hearings to be carl levin hearings whereas i repeat, every i was dotted, every t was crossed, they were very, very powerful hearings. Gasoline price manipulation, enron scandal, he delved into that very deeply. Misconduct in the United Nations oil program, tax haven banks and offshore Corporate Tax evasion. Hes talked about that and talked about that. Notable legislation as a result of the work hes done wall street reform, Consumer Protection act, credit card act, patriot act. Carl levin is really a very fine legislator. He fought for wall street reform when others were afraid to do so and helped restore the broken Financial System and held powerful institutions accountable for their actions. Carls persistence earned him a slot in time magazines best legislators, best United States senators. They called him the bird doger. Mr. President , thats what he is. Put him on an issue, and he will come back with the prey. He is very good. He never stops. Hes a sharp overseer of the United States defense policy. He has spent his entire career promoting defense policy that protects americas interests home and abroad while safeguarding the men and women who serve. Hes the chair of the Senate Defense committee, and during the nations most trying diplomatic times, he has done a remarkable job to make sure that the military is protected. But even though he was chair of this big, powerful committee, defense committee, he felt so strongly and he foresaw what aferlt us didnt see, mr. President what a lot of us didnt see, mr. President. He saw the disaster that would accompany an invasion in iraq. Accordingly he talked about how bad it would be and voted against it. Carl levin was right and a lot of us were wrong. I said before on this senate floor, of all the votes that i cast during the time that ive been in government, the worst was voting for that iraq war. But i did. Carl levin didnt. For all of his accomplishments in congress, his greatest achievements reside in his home. Carl and his wife of over 50 years, barbara, have three beautiful drawrts, daughters kate, laura and erica. As carl retires from the senate, i know hes going to cherish the time hes going to spend with his family. But also carl and i have had a long, long ongoing conversation. He and his brother sandy own about 100 acres. They have had it for a long, long time. Carl levin is not a man of wealth but he and his brother bought this 100 acres. It has nothing on it but trees. He calls it his tree farm, and hes shown me pictures of this. I have had i havent seen it lately, but i have had for 20 years 15, 20 years, a hat he gave me, green, baseball type cap that says tree farm on it. I used to tell him i still have that cap, and i have still got that cap, carl. Hell be missed here in washington. Hell be missed in the senate. By all of us, but hell be missed more by his older brother sandy, who is a Ranking Member on the ways and Means Committee in the house. They have served together in congress for 32 years. Ive said this on the floor before, ill say it again i remember carl levin for a lot of things. I was in the house. I came over to visit with him. I was thinking about running for the senate. I said carl, you know, i came to the house with your brother sandy. He looked up at me. He said sandy, you know, is not only my brother, hes my best friend. That speaks well of the person that carl levin is. Its really been a privilege and honor to serve with carl. Ill miss him so very, very much. Ill miss having somebody to take the difficult issues to him to get his view as to what we should do, how we should handle it. His voice will be missed here in the senate. I congratulate him on his comparable career in the Senate Senate incomparable career in the senate. I wish him the very best. Mr. President , id like to say a few other words here. I know there are others who want to speak, but i want to make sure that there is a separate place in the record for what im going to say now. I ask consent that be the case. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Reid mr. President , its said that you dont choose your family, and thats true. We are born into our family. We have no way to determine the family we are born into. Yet, as a 27yearold, Jay Rockefeller chose to make the people of West Virginia his family. How did that happen . How did Jay Rockefeller, born in new york to one of the most famous american families, one of the great dynasties in the history of this country, end up in West Virginia . He was a student at harvard, undergraduate. And he decided that he didnt like some of the things harvard was doing, and so he left. He dropped out of school and went to japan. He spent three years in japan. He became an interpreter. He knows japanese the japanese language extremely well. He loves the japanese people today. He started out at harvard, came back, as i indicated. After his junior year, he left for japan. He was there three years. He came home, returned to harvard, finished his degree. Jay rockefeller as a 27yearold could have done anything, gone anyplace, gotten any education, started any business, or he could have sat around at a home on one of the beaches around the world and just done nothing, but that is not Jay Rockefeller. He wanted to do something. He didnt know what he wanted to do. This rockefeller wanted to do something that was different. A friend of his published here for many years a magazine called the washington monthly, a guy named pete peters. He was a man about town. Everybody liked him very, very much. But he was very close to Jay Rockefeller. So jay talked to him one day, trying to find what he should do in life. Here he was, one of the wealthiest men in america, a harvard degree. What should i do . And pete peters told him what you should do is go someplace and work with poor people. Where should i go . Why not West Virginia . West virginia . West virginia. So he joined americorps as a vista volunteer. He moved to a small Mining Community of emmons, West Virginia. That was in 1964. This man of means, this man of stature, this man of notoriety went to this small little town in West Virginia. It wasnt easy for Jay Rockefeller to suddenly find himself in a setting that he had never imagined. The First Six Months he was there, he could hardly get anyone to talk to him. He is kind of an intimidating man. His name is rockefeller, and he is 67. But eventually, his goodness came through. The people in emmons, West Virginia, started talking to him, and they really liked the man. But from 1964 when he moved there, he knew that he wanted to identify with poor people, and thats what hes done since 1964. In 1966, he was elected to the West Virginia house of delegates assembly. In 1968, he was chosen to serve as secretary of state for the state of West Virginia. He then became president of a university in West Virginia, westland college. Served there for three years. He then was twice elected governor of the state of West Virginia. He served from 19761984. Governor rockefeller became senator rockefeller in 1985. From the time he first stepped into onto the senate floor, he made it clear he was here for one reason to fight for the people of West Virginia. Senator rockefeller fought to provide his constituents with health care. He was an architect of chip, child health program. Its an Insurance Program that is so important. Childrens health Insurance Program, one of the most Important Health initiatives in American History for kids. He fought for medicaid for half a million West Virginians but millions and millions of americans. A Senior Member of the committee on finance and chairman of the commerce committee, chair of the intelligence committee. I mean, what a remarkable career hes had. He has fought very hard to protect the American People from president bushs efforts to privatize social security. Hes protected retirement disability benefits by doing that for millions and millions of americans. His efforts to help West Virginia havent been confined to this building. As the senior senator from West Virginia, this big man of, i repeat, 67, with a very long reach, has used that reach to bring jobs to his home state, as governor and as senator. Because of his recruiting, there are thousands and thousands of jobs in West Virginia employed at the toyota factory, and the kureha plant in a town called bell. Thousands and thousands of jobs. Die monday electric, nipon thermostat, n. G. K. Spark plugs, all companies senator rockefeller helped bring to West Virginia. The people of West Virginia have been blessed, mr. President , to have senator Jay Rockefeller as a Family Member for the last 50 years. They have been blessed to to haa person of his integrity and tenacity looking out for them in the senate. My respect for Jay Rockefeller is unlimited. He has been my colleague for the entire time i have been in the congress, 32 years. Now as his time in the senate comes to an end, he will be sorely missed. Im sure jays looking forward to spending more time with sharon, this wonderful, wonderful woman. By the way, whose father was a United States senator. His children, john, valerie, charles and justin. He has six grandchildren. I so