Rep. Andy Levin Endorses Senator Elizabeth Warren for President

Warren, MI — Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09) today released the following statement:

"Defeating Donald Trump is not enough for me. I didn’t run for Congress just to keep my party in power. I ran because I feel that for too many years since the election of Ronald Reagan, we’ve been going in the wrong direction. And I came to Congress to play a part in setting America on a new course of justice and opportunity, as FDR and the New Deal Congress did early in the last century. The rules made in Washington and state capitals like Lansing have been rigged in a thousand ways these last 40 years. Fewer and fewer people have the power of a union and collective bargaining behind them. Trade agreements send good jobs overseas, and jobs that stay here are contracted out, made part-time or temporary. Working people pay higher tax rates than the super-wealthy and corporations. Health insurance and prescription drugs are way too expensive. Happily, I believe the surest way to defeat Mr. Trump is to advance bold plans to transform our economy so it works for all of us – not to wring our hands, offer the most cautious candidate and avoid telling the American people the truth. The truth is that the unemployment rate, the stock market, and corporate profits are not indicators of the well-being of America. The truth is that every kid needs access to a great public school education, that every person down on their luck should be trained for a new career, that all Americans deserve a job where they make enough to support their families, that we have to be able to keep our kids healthy without going bankrupt, that all we ask is to retire with dignity after a lifetime of working and contributing. The truth is that people of color have been discriminated against for so long and in so many ways that their families have a tiny fraction of the wealth white families have, and that shames us all. The truth is that we have ignored the plain facts scientists have been putting before us for 30 years, that we have been overheating our planet more and more by burning fossil fuels, but now the chickens have come home to roost in the form of record heat waves, forest fires, floods, droughts, hurricanes and other extreme weather events. It’s going to take a fundamental change of direction to revitalize the American Dream, to rebuild our infrastructure and tackle climate change in ways that make us a more just society. And historic change requires three things: bold vision; a real, bottom-up social movement demanding change; and tough, inspiring leadership to help deliver it. I had not really intended to endorse a candidate so early in the 2020 presidential race. But as I followed the race, I realized that there is one person who combines clear economic and social analysis with the tough and inspiring leadership qualities I seek: Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. I have followed Senator Warren since she was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School during my second year there. She came from modest roots and soared to the highest academic heights. She never forgot where she came from, and never intended to get into politics, but she couldn’t stand the way poor and working people were being taken advantage of, so she became an authentic and fierce fighter for working families. She has released remarkably clear, smart and brave policy plans on everything from climate change to trade to taxation to financial markets to education. I believe Elizabeth Warren can resoundingly defeat Donald Trump on November 3, 2020 and that she will lead a transformative government, encourage mass mobilization for change, and stand up to the forces of reaction. I’m throwing in with Liz!"