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The New York Times
March 5, 2010 |
David Herszenhorn and Robert Pear
Staff Writers |
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Michigan Lawmaker Steps Up at Ways and Means |
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Representative Sander M. Levin, a liberal Democrat from Michigan and a bookish expert on trade policy, stepped into the powerful post of chairman of the Ways and Means Committee on Thursday as Democrats averted an internal battle over replacing Charles B. Rangel of New York.
Hours later, Mr. Levin laid out his agenda to create jobs and expand trade, saying he would press South Korea and other countries to do more to open their markets to American-made products, including automobiles manufactured in and around his district in the northern suburbs of Detroit.
In an interview in the committee’s ornate conference room in the Capitol, Mr. Levin said he was convinced — based on recent conversations with constituents — that Democrats must battle harder to enact their goals, including sweeping health care legislation and addressing the aftershocks of the worst recession in generations.
“You go home virtually anywhere in this country, and I can’t tell you enough — it’s excruciating, what it’s doing to families,” Mr. Levin said. “To hear the stories of people saying: ‘We want to work. Now make it possible.’ That’s our job, to help make it possible. That’s our No. 1 job.”
By seniority, Mr. Levin, 78, who has been a member of Congress since 1983, was second in line for the top committee post, after Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California. Mr. Stark agreed to stand aside and continue as chairman of the panel’s health subcommittee after it became clear that he did not have the full support of Democrats on the committee or of House Democratic leaders.
Mr. Rangel, the dean of New York’s Congressional delegation, stepped down on Wednesday as Republicans prepared to force a vote to oust him from his chairmanship. Last week, the ethics committee admonished Mr. Rangel for violating House gift rules by accepting two trips to seminars in the Caribbean that were sponsored by corporations.
House leaders predicted that Mr. Levin, who referred to himself as “acting chairman,” would provide a steady hand, in contrast to Mr. Stark, who is known for occasional verbal outbursts, like one in October 2007, when he accused President George W. Bush of sending soldiers “to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”
The panel has jurisdiction over taxes, health care, trade and other issues central to the economy.
“I am collegial and can be tough,” Mr. Levin said. “I don’t think they are inconsistent.”
Mr. Rangel is generally considered a pro-trade Democrat. Mr. Levin’s positions are more nuanced.
I. M. Destler, an expert on trade politics at the University of Maryland, said: “Mr. Levin is assertive, combative and tough-talking on trade. He highlights problems with other countries’ policies. But he probably has a more pro-trade voting record than most Democrats in the House.”
Mr. Levin said he refused to be described as either a free trader or a protectionist. “I totally reject the polarization in trade,” he added. “I’ll sum up my position: to expand trade and to shape its course to maximize the benefits and to minimize the detriments.”
He said he was deeply concerned about trade barriers that made it hard for Ford to sell autos and for Whirlpool to sell basic refrigerators in South Korea.
“As a matter of practice and principle,” Mr. Levin said, “trade agreements have to have a two-way street, reciprocity.”
“I know that globalization is here to stay,” Mr. Levin said. But, he added, he has insisted on “fully enforceable labor and environmental standards,” like those included in a United States trade agreement with Peru.
Mr. Levin said he had also pushed for greater protection of workers’ rights in trade pacts with Panama and Colombia, personally negotiating with officials from both countries to make sure the issue was addressed.
Mr. Levin and Mr. Rangel are friends, and Mr. Levin expressed mixed emotions about the events that led to his ascent to one of the most influential positions in Congress. But he also voiced confidence. “I believe I can do the job,” he said. “I believe I can work well with people and I can make the tough decisions.”
Mr. Levin was handed the gavel at a tough time for the committee and for House Democrats generally, as they begin a final push to adopt health care legislation amid relentless criticism by Republicans, in a midterm election year. Mr. Levin himself is facing a primary challenge.
Mr. Rangel offered praise for his successor. “It’s the best thing for the country, the Congress and the committee under the circumstances,” Mr. Rangel said. “I love him. He is good. He is thorough.”
Mr. Levin also received a congratulatory telephone call from the chief executive of the Ford Motor Company, Alan R. Mulally.
Mr. Levin, who is known as Sandy, said he had inherited a commitment to social justice from his parents. “Michigan was where the middle class first blossomed,” he said. “In my district, I can knock on doors and see the embodiment of the progress we’ve made in this country for working families. It was the auto industry that provided people with the means to have a decent salary, a house, health insurance and a pension. We have to preserve that progress and help it expand.”
Mr. Levin’s younger brother, Carl, is Michigan’s senior senator and the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The two are close, and often play squash, competing fiercely.
Senator Levin, in an interview, called his brother “an absolute expert at reaching out to people and building consensus.” But he also acknowledged the rivalry.
“He is as nice a guy as you could ever meet,” Senator Levin said. “On the athletic courts, he is not so mild-mannered.”
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