Mike Levin: “I am grateful for that participation. Senator Thurmond was on the floor a few minutes ago. It reminded me that this will…”

“I am grateful for that participation. Senator Thurmond was on the floor a few minutes ago. It reminded me that this will be, of course, his last term. No Senator serving today can appreciate what this body will be like when Strom Thurmond leaves this year. He has served longer in this body than any other Senator in history. His 48 years in the Senate span the terms of 10 Presidents of the United States. He keeps pictures of all 10 of those Presidents on his wall in the office. When I joined the Armed Services Committee in 1979, Senator Thurmond by then was on the committee already 20 years. His love for and dedication to the U.S. military goes back even further, though, to his commission as an Army Reserve second lieutenant of infantry in 1924 at the age of 21.”