Carl Levin

October 2, 2009 -- President Obama recently announced that he has accepted the unanimous recommendation of his civilian and military advisors to restructure our plan for missile defense in Europe. This plan will better protect our security and that of our allies.

The plan the president has outlined replaces one established during the previous administration. That plan would have established an anti-missile radar and an interceptor launch site in Eastern Europe. It would have taken years to deploy. Instead, the new system, with a combination of ship- and land-based missiles, will deploy faster and is better designed to counter Iranian missiles, which are the primary threat in that part of the world.    » read more »

September 30, 2009 -- "Mr. President, currently the nation’s unemployment rate is higher than it has been since 1983. In my home state of Michigan, the unemployment rate is 15.2 percent – 5.5 percent higher than the nation’s unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. Translated into real people, this means that 14.9 million Americans are unemployed, of which, more than 735,000 are living in my home state.

Michigan provides a little more than 450,000 individuals with unemployment benefits. As of September 18, more than 26,000 Michiganders have exhausted much needed unemployment benefits and by the end of this year, this number will rise to more than 100,000 folks. Since the beginning of this year, Michigan has been losing on average 27,000 jobs per month. Our people need help.    » read more »

More Than 13,000 Workers in 27 Counties Will Benefit

September 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — More than 13,000 laid-off workers across Michigan will be assisted by three grants totaling $38,033,600, U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both D-Mich., announced today. The National Emergency Grants from the U.S. Department of Labor will go to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth for use in 27 counties.

“These grants will play a critical role in assisting the thousands of laid-off workers in Michigan, and I will continue to fight for more funding to support our workforce,” Levin said. “The retraining services these grants will provide will help lead to a diversified work force which can better adapt to new industries.”    » read more »

September 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said the following today regarding President Obama’s European missile defense announcement:

President Obama has made a sound choice that will improve our security. The President’s decision focuses on fielding effective capabilities to defend our forward deployed force and allies in Europe against the real and existing missile threat from Iran, which consists of short- and medium-range missiles, rather than only against a potential future long-range threat.    » read more »

September 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The United States should encourage its G20 partners to sanction offshore banks and jurisdictions that fail to cooperate with international tax enforcements efforts, Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said today in a letter to President Obama urging U.S. leadership on tax haven issues at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh next week. Levin will call for additional action to combat offshore tax abuse in a speech he will give tomorrow at an international conference on increasing transparency in global finance.

“We have the means to end offshore tax abuse if we have the political will to act,” Levin says in remarks prepared for his keynote address Wednesday evening to the conference, sponsored by the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development.    » read more »

June 19, 2009 -- Washington, DC – All 17 Members of the Michigan Congressional Delegation – 15 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and two United States Senators – sent the following letter to Ron Bloom and Steven Rattner, members of President Obama’s Auto Task Force, asking them to consider a modification to the existing Auto Supplier Support Program for some short-term relief to their cash crunch. Below is the letter from the members:

June 18, 2009

Mr. Ron Bloom
Counselor to the Secretary
Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20220

Mr. Steven Rattner
Counselor to the Secretary
Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20220

Dear Mr. Bloom and Mr. Rattner,    » read more »

Funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which passed earlier this year

June 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced today that Michigan has been awarded $69,427,524 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the Department of Labor (DOL) to provide unemployment benefits and administer unemployment assistance programs. The funding provides for an increase in benefits to reflect the recent earnings of workers, as well as an expansion of unemployment eligibility to individuals working part-time in the absence of full-time employment opportunities.    » read more »

Funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which passed earlier this year

June 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced today that Michigan has received $1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the U.S. Department of Education’s State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF).

This funding will help reform our schools and keep teachers in the classroom. The funding was made available following Michigan’s successful completion of the first round of the SFSF application, which was made available on April 1.    » read more »

Levin, Grassley, Specter Release GAO Report on SEC Actions to Curb Stock Failures to Deliver and Manipulative Naked Short Selling

June 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Ranking Member of the Finance Committee; and Senator Arlen Specter, D-Penn., Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report analyzing recent actions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to curb failures to deliver securities and manipulative naked short selling.    » read more »

June 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced today that the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Wayne State University, Michigan State University, Calvin College, Van Andel Research Institute, and Oakland University received a total of $2,722,910 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“I’m pleased this recovery funding will help support important health care research and training across our state,” Stabenow said. “By investing in health care research at our universities and research institutes, we will help keep our families healthy and help create good-paying jobs in the process.”    » read more »

June 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., said the following today regarding the proposal for a fleet modernization or “cash for clunkers” program:

“I am hopeful that the Senate will soon act on the proposal put forth by Senator Stabenow, myself and others for a so-called ‘fleet modernization’ or ‘cash for clunkers’ program that will provide a voucher to those turning in their older less fuel efficient vehicles. Such a program will encourage people to purchase new more fuel efficient vehicles and offers potential both to stimulate the sale of new vehicles by U.S. companies and to reduce overall fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.    » read more »

June 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announced today that Michigan has been awarded more than $7,386,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the U.S. Forest Service. The funding will be used to improve water quality and fish habitats, maintain Forest Service roads and for other enhancements.

“This Forest Service funding will help numerous communities in Michigan make necessary improvements during a tough economic stretch,” said Levin. “I am hopeful that these projects will create much-needed jobs in Michigan and help protect Michigan’s natural resources at the same time.”    » read more »

June 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) today applauded the announcement that Michigan will receive a total of $49.9 million in additional Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) from the Department of Labor (DOL) to provide career training for workers who have lost their jobs due to unfair trade. The additional funding brings the total amount of TAA funding allocated to Michigan in Fiscal Year 2009 to over $59.5 million.    » read more »

June 1, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., said the following today regarding General Motors’ announcement of its bankruptcy filing:

“There is a huge amount of pain associated with today’s announcements by General Motors. There will be plant closings that will cause great hardship to the hard-working Americans who will lose their jobs and to communities in Michigan and across this country.

“Just as we have all done everything we possibly could to help GM survive, we now need to put our shoulders to the wheel for two goals: supporting in every way we can the people whose jobs are lost, in part with a greater emphasis on new energy technologies that can be developed in Michigan, and doing our utmost to help the new GM become a strong and vibrant company.    » read more »

Funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which passed earlier this year

May 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced today that Wayne County will receive $50 million in tax credits awarded through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) under the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The NMTC program has attracted nearly $12 billion into communities around the country to create jobs and stimulate economic growth.    » read more »