Norton Comments on Senator Carl Levin Retirement

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released the following statement on Senator Carl Levin's (D-MI) decision to retire in 2014.

"Senator Levin's long career in the Senate is full of milestones that the nation and the District of Columbia will long remember. I am grateful for the close working relationship Carl and I have, and that he has been an especially good and committed friend to the District. The residents of this city could always count on him, whether on voting rights, home rule or other issues of equal treatment. Among his most recent efforts on behalf of District residents, Senator Levin, as chair of the Armed Services Committee, worked with me to secure equal treatment for D.C. service members and veterans by getting a provision included in the fiscal year 2013 Defense Authorization bill, which was signed into law, that requires the armed services to display the D.C. flag and the flags of the territories whenever the flags of the 50 states are displayed. His partnership with us ensured that D.C. service members and veterans will never again suffer the indignity of returning from or going to war or to service while watching the state flags of their fellow soldiers displayed at military ceremonies, but not their own. The Senate also removed a non-binding provision from the House-passed version of the Defense Authorization bill that expressed the sense of the House that active duty military personnel should be exempt from the gun laws of the District, but not the gun laws of any other state or locality. Carl Levin has long been one of the most respected members of the Senate and has left his stamp on the nation, but D.C. residents in particular gained immensely from his brilliant service."

Published: March 7, 2013