Sen. Carl Levin Becomes Ranking Democratic Member of the Historic Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

Remains as the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee

Washington--Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich) is assuming new duties as the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) during the 106thCongress. Levin will give up the position he held during the 105th Congress as the ranking Democrat on the Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, & Federal Services, but he will continue to serve on that subcommittee, even as he takes on his new duties at PSI.

"Serving as Ranking Democrat on PSI is a great opportunity. PSI has a long history of high- impact, bipartisan investigations. It's the only subcommittee in Congress that has rules which specifically recognize the minority members' rights to initiate subcommittee investigations. I plan to attempt to use this opportunity promptly to look into the latest money-laundering techniques and how new banking and securities practices are being used by criminals to hide their ill-gotten gains."

With the retirement of Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), Levin became the senior Democrat on the Senate's Governmental Affairs Committee. Since he was already the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee during the 105th Congress and since Senate rules prohibit a Senator holding the position of ranking member on two committees at the same time, Levin decided to continue in the Armed Services position. He will also continue to serve on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee and the Senate Small Business Committee.

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) traces its origins to the proposal of the then Senator Harry S Truman to oversee spending on the military projects undertaken as we entered into World War II. Truman shaped the committee into what historians have called "the most successful congressional investigative effort in the United States history." Other notable investigations include the McClellan investigations into labor-management racketeering that uncovered mob links to labor unions, the Joseph Valachi hearings into the structure of organized crime, and the Billie Sol Estes fraud case.

In the last congressional session, PSI undertook investigations, among others, into unauthorized telephone long distance switching (slamming), imported food safety and penny stock fraud. It plans further investigations into telephone long distance billing abuses, sweepstakes, the funeral industry and internet stock fraud.