Senator Carl Levin has served on the Governmental Affairs Committee during his entire Senate career. As the most senior Democrat on the committee, Senator Levin has worked to increase accountability and efficiency in the federal government and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. Among other initiatives, he has helped expose corporate misconduct, increase federal contract competition, protect whistleblowers, reform the federal regulatory process, improve federal Great Lakes programs, toughen consumer protections, and strengthen homeland security.

Senator Levin has served on three subcommittees of the Governmental Affairs Committee.

Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

Senator Levin is the ranking Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and chaired the subcommittee from June 2001 to January 2003. As chairman, Levin led Congress' most in-depth examination into the collapse of Enron. He also investigated gasoline price spikes, offshore tax havens, and abusive tax schemes.

Earlier investigations led by Senator Levin included a probe into the sweepstakes industry, culminating in enactment of new legislation to protect American consumers, and a 3-year investigation of U.S. private banking and correspondent banking practices and their vulnerability to money laundering and foreign corruption, leading to adoption of stronger anti-money laundering laws in the USA Patriot Act.

International Security, Proliferation and Federal Services Subcommittee

In 1997 and 1998, Senator Levin served as the ranking member of the International Security, Proliferation and Federal Services Subcommittee. Senator Levin participated in numerous hearings on nuclear proliferation and export controls related to satellites and high-performance computers. He also initiated an investigation into the U.S. sweepstakes industry and its use of deceptive mailings.

Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee

Shortly after joining the Governmental Affairs Committee in 1979, Senator Levin established and chaired the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs and eliminate federal waste, fraud and abuse. In his 17 years on the subcommittee, he authored numerous reform laws including the 1996 False Statements Accountability Act, 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act, 1995 Reports Elimination Act, 1990 Negotiated Rulemaking Act, 1990 Great Lakes Critical Programs Act, 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act, 1989 Ethics Reform Act of 1989, 1986 Anti-Kickback Enforcement Act, 1984 Social Security Disability Benefits Reform Act, and 1984 Competition in Contracting Act.

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