releases: https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-statements?ContentRecord_id=94f7d251-3e35-469c-8343-86fb019500ee
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-statements?ContentRecord_id=94f7d251-3e35-469c-8343-86fb019500ee | FLOOR STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON RETIRING SENATOR CARL LEVIN | 2014-12-09 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Republican | House | AZ | John McCain | M000303 | www.mccain.senate.gov | legacy | Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) delivered the following statement on the floor of the U.S. Senate today thanking Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) for his distinguished public service, including his work as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and wishing him success as he retires from office after this term: “Mr. President, I want to offer a few words of tribute to my departing colleague, Senator Carl Levin—a model of serious purpose, firm principle and personal decency, and whose example ought to inspire the service of new and returning Senators. We could not aspire to better service than what he has given our country. “Carl and I have served together on the Senate Armed Services Committee for the better part of three decades. He is my senior in this body by eight years, and has been my chairman for more than ten years in total. It has been a privilege to serve under his very able, honorable and fair leadership. “Carl and I sit on opposite sides of the aisle. The difference is quite obvious on any number of issues. But I hope it is also obvious how much I admire and respect my friend from Michigan. “We have had our moments on the committee. Debate there can get a little passionate from time to time, perhaps a little more passionate on my part than Carl’s. But that, as all my colleagues would surely attest, is my problem, not Carl’s. We are, however, both very proud of the committee’s tradition of bipartisan cooperation, which Carl has worked diligently to preserve and strengthen. “We both know how important that tradition is to faithfully discharging our responsibilities to help maintain the defense of this country and do right by the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. We both feel their example of selfless sacrifice would shame us if we let the committee descend into the partisan posturing that often makes it hard to get important work done in Congress. “When members disagree in committee, even heatedly, it’s because we feel passionately about whatever issue is in dispute. Even then, we try to behave civilly and respectfully to each other. And we do not let our disagreements prevent us from completing the committee’s business. Carl won’t let us. “That we have managed to keep that reputation in these contentious times is a tribute to Carl. He has kept the committee focused on its duties and not on the next election or the latest rush-to-the-barricades partisan quarrel. He does so in a calm, measured, patient and thoughtful manner. “He seems, in fact, to become calmer and more patient the more heated our disagreements are. As members’ emotions and temperatures rise, Carl’s unperturbed composure and focus is a calming influence that brings our attention back to the business at hand. You could safely say, he and I have slightly different leadership styles. I’m gentler and less confrontational. But Carl’s style seems to work for him. It works well for the committee, too for the armed services and for the country. “The committee has a heavy workload every year, and Carl manages to keep us all in harness and working together at a good pace and with a constructive, results-oriented approach that is the envy of the dozen or so lesser committees of the Senate. Our principal responsibility is to produce the defense authorization bill, one of the most important and comprehensive pieces of legislation the Senate considers on an annual basis. The committee has never failed to report the bill, and the Senate has never failed to pass it. That's not an accomplishment that some of those lesser committees I just referred to can claim every year. And no one deserves more of the credit for it than Carl Levin. “When Carl first joined the committee, he explained his reason for seeking the assignment this way: ‘I had never served, and I thought there was a big gap in terms of my background and, frankly, felt it was a way of providing service.’ He might have never served in the military, but he has surely served our military well. And he has served the national interests our armed forces protect in an exemplary manner that the rest of us would be wise to emulate. “Most recently, I have had the honor and privilege of serving alongside Carl on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. His tireless efforts and steadfast dedication to exposing misconduct and abuse by financial institutions and government regulators have set a new standard for thoughtful and thorough Congressional investigations. “Whether the topic was the 2008 financial crisis, Swiss banking secrecy, or JPMorgan’s ‘London Whale’ debacle, professionals in the industry and the public at-large knew that they could count on Carl to get to the bottom of it with authoritative reports and hearings. Carl’s tenacity in uncovering wrongdoing sparked significant changes in the financial sector. “I also commend Carl on zealously and effectively pursuing his investigations in a way that has furthered the Subcommittee’s long-standing tradition of bipartisanship. While Carl and I may have had our disagreements, we never let them get in the way of finding common ground where we could. While Carl’s retirement may come as a relief to some of those on Wall Street, his patience, thoughtfulness, and commitment to bipartisanship will be deeply missed on the Subcommittee and in the Senate. “Indeed, from Carl’s long and distinguished service in the Senate, Carl has obtained the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. We all listen to him, and we listen closest to him on the occasions when we disagree with him. That, in my view, is a great compliment from one Senator to another. It is a tribute paid to only the most respected members. “Of course, the greatest compliment one Senator can pay another is to credit him or her as a person who keeps his or her word. That's become too rare in Washington, but not so in my experiences with Carl. He has never broken his word to me. He has never backed out of a deal, even when doing so would have been personally and politically advantageous. When we are in agreement on an issue, Carl usually argues more effectively than I can. And when we disagree, we usually find a way to settle the dispute without abandoning our responsibilities. Carl deserves most of the credit for that, too. “One of the great satisfactions in life is to fight for a common cause with someone you haven't always agreed with—someone whose background, views and personality are different than yours, and yet you discover that despite your differences, you have always been on the same side on the big things. “Thank you, Carl, for that privilege, and for your friendship and example. The Committee is going to miss you. The Senate is going to miss you. The men and women of the United States Armed Forces are going to miss you. And I will miss you. A lot.” ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |