Levin to Receive 2006 Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award

WASHINGTON – Calling him a “champion throughout [his] career in promoting ethics in government,” and citing his “dedicated efforts to combat public corruption, streamline government processes, protect the rights of whistleblowers, and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse,” the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois has named Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., as the 2006 recipient of the Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award.

The Ethics in Government Award is given annually to an individual who has “made a significant contribution to the practice and understanding of ethical behavior in government.” The 2006 national selection committee included former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, former Washington D.C. Appeals Court Judge Abner Mikva and other individuals from the public and private sectors as well as from academia. In selecting Levin for the award, the committee also noted his “efforts connected to the enforcement of securities and corporate governance laws.”

“Senator Paul Douglas was a boyhood hero of mine, and I am honored and humbled to receive this award named after him,” Levin said. “Senator Douglas shined like a beacon in the Senate for his idealism and integrity. His record of public service stands to this day as a monument to the strength of his character.”

Paul H. Douglas, a three-term U.S. senator from Illinois first elected in 1948, has been referred to as “the conscience of the U.S. Senate.” As a senator, he championed civil rights, education, public housing, Social Security, Medicare, the environment, social welfare programs, and tax reform. The University of Illinois established the Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award in 1992 as part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the senator’s birth.

Previous award recipients include former Governor Thomas Kean and former Congressman Lee Hamilton, the chair and vice chair of the 9/11 Commission (2005), New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer (2004), Senator Paul Sarbanes (2003), former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Arthur Levitt (2002), former Secretary of Defense and Senator William Cohen (2001), Senator John McCain and Senator Russ Feingold (2000), former Senator Paul Simon (1999), former Appeals Court Judge Abner Mikva (1998), former Secretary of Health and Welfare Arthur Flemming (1997), A. Ernest Fitzgerald, civil servant and whistleblower (1996), Archibald Cox, Watergate special prosecutor (1995), and former Senator Mike Mansfield (1994).

B. Joseph White, president of the University of Illinois, will present Levin with the award at a ceremony at the Madison Building of the Library of Congress at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 26. Senator Richard Durbin, D-Ill., will also speak at the event.