Richard Durbin

After graduating from law school, Durbin started a law practice in Springfield. He was legal counsel to Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon from 1969 to 1972, and then legal counsel to the Illinois State Senate Judiciary Committee from 1972 to 1982. He ran for Lieutenant Governor in 1978 as the running mate of State Superintendent of Schools Michael Bakalis; they were defeated by the Republican incumbents, Jim Thompson and Dave O'Neal. He then became an adjunct professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine for five years while maintaining his law practice.

Durbin and his wife Loretta have two daughters, Christine and Jennifer, and a son, Paul.

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1982, Durbin won the Democratic nomination for the 20th Congressional District, which includes most of Springfield. He scored a huge upset, defeating 22-year incumbent Paul Findley. Durbin was reelected six more times, rarely facing serious opposition.

U.S. Senate

Leadership

In 1996, Durbin became the Democratic Party's candidate for the Senate to replace the retiring Democratic incumbent, Paul Simon, a long-time friend. He faced Republican State Representative Al Salvi in the November general election. Although U.S. Senate election was initially expected to be competitive, Durbin won by a surprising 15-point margin, undoubtedly helped by Bill Clinton's 18-point win in Illinois that year.

In 2001, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle appointed him to the role of Assistant Democratic Floor Leader. On November 5, 2004, Durbin announced that he had enough committed votes to become the Democratic Whip in the 109th Congress. He became the first Illinois Senator to serve as Senate Whip since Everett Dirksen in the late 1950s. His role marks the fifth time in history an Illinois Senator has served as a Senate leader.^[4]

He became Majority Whip when the Democrats gained control of the Senate after the 2006 elections. Durbin served as Assistant Minority Leader from 2004 until 2006, when the Democrats became the Majority party in the Senate. He then assumed the role of Assistant Majority Leader, or Majority Whip.

Durbin also currently serves as chairman for two Senate Subcommittees: the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law and the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government^[5].

Committee assignments

Political actions and positions

Abortion

As a congressman, Durbin voted consistently to uphold pre-existing restrictions on abortion or impose new limitations – including supporting a Constitutional amendment that would have nullifed Roe v. Wade.^[7].

Congressman Durbin reversed this stance in 1989, and has since voted to maintain access to abortion, including support for Medicaid funding of the procedure, and opposition to any limitation that he considers a practical or potential encroachment upon Roe.^[8] Senator Durbin has maintained that this reversal came about as a result of personal reflection and his growing awareness of potentially harmful implications of his previous policy with respect to women facing dangerous pregnancies.^[9] While visiting a home for abused children in Quincy, Illinois, the director, a friend, asked him to speak with two girls who were about to turn 18 and be turned out of state care. Talking with the girls, victims of gang rape and incest, made him reconsider his position on the subject. He says, "I still oppose abortion and would try my best to convince any woman in my family to carry the baby to term. But I believe that ultimately the decision must be made by the woman, her doctor, her family, and her conscience."^[10]

Darfur

On March 2, 2005, former Senator Jon Corzine presented the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (S. 495) to the Senate. Durbin was one of 40 senators who co-sponsored the bill. The Darfur Accountability Act is noted as the premier legislative attempt to instill peace in Darfur. The bill asks that all people involved in or deemed in some way responsible for the genocide in Darfur be denied visas and entrance to the U.S.

In 2006, Durbin co-sponsored the Durbin-Leahy Amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations bill for emergency funding to instill peace in Darfur. In 2006, he also co-sponsored the Lieberman Resolution, and the Clinton Amendment.

On June 7, 2007, Durbin introduced the Sudan Disclosure Enforcement Act, "Aimed at enhancing the U.S. Government's ability to impose penalties on violators of U.S. sanctions against Sudan." This bill calls for the United Nations Security Council to vote on sanctions against the Sudanese Government for allowing genocide in Darfur.

Durbin is recognized for voting in favor of all Darfur related legislation to date. In addition to the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, he has also supported the Civilian Protection No-Fly Zone Act, the Hybrid Force Resolution, and the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act.

HIV/AIDS

In March 2007, Durbin introduced the African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2007 to the Senate. The bill was designed so that over a three year period, the U.S. would supply over $600 million to help create safer medical facilities and working conditions, and the recruitment and training of doctors from all over the continent.

In December 2007, Durbin and two other senators co-sponsored Senator Kerry’s Nondiscrimination in Travel and Immigration Act. Also, in March 2007, Durbin joined thirty-two other Senators to co-sponsor the Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2007.

Iraq War

On September 29, 2002, Durbin held a news conference in Chicago to announce that "absent dramatic changes" in the resolution, he would vote against the resolution authorizing war on Iraq.^[13] On October 2, 2002, at the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally in Federal Plaza, Durbin repeated his promise to oppose the resolution in a letter read during the rally.^[14]

On October 10, 2002, the U.S. Senate failed to pass Durbin's amendment to the resolution to strike "the continuing threat posed by Iraq" and insert "an imminent threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction", by a vote of 30 to 70, with the majority of Democratic senators voting for the amendment, but with 21 Democratic senators joining all 49 Republican senators voting against it.^[15] On October 11, 2002, Durbin was one of 23 U.S. Senators to vote against the joint Congressional resolution authorizing the Iraq War.^[16]

On April 25, 2007, Durbin said that as an intelligence committee member he knew in 2002 from classified information that the American people were being misled by the Bush Administration into a war on Iraq, but he could not reveal this because, as an intelligence committee member, he was sworn to secrecy.^[17] This revelation prompted an online attack ad against Durbin by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.^[18]

Tobacco Regulation

In 1987, Durbin introduced major tobacco regulation legislation in the House that banned cigarette smoking on airline flights of two hours or less. He was joined by Rep. C. W. Bill Young, a Republican from Florida, in saying that the rights of smokers to smoke end where their smoking affects the health and safety of others, such as on airplanes. The bill went on to pass as part of the 1988 transportation spending bill. In 1989 the legislation was followed by a new law that banned cigarette smoking on all domestic airline flights.^[19]

In March 1994 Durbin proposed an amendment to the Improving America's Schools Act that required schools that receive Federal drug prevention money to teach elementary and secondary students about the dangers of tobacco in addition to those of drugs and alcohol. The amendment also required that schools warn students against tobacco and teach them how to resist peer pressure to smoke.^[20]

In February 2008 Durbin called on Congress to support a measure that would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to oversee the tobacco industry. This measure would require companies to disclose the contents of tobacco products, restrict advertising and promotions, and mandate the removal of harmful ingredients in tobacco products. The measure would also prohibit tobacco companies from using terms such as "low risk", "light" and "mild" on packaging.

Durbin attributes his strong stance against tobacco and the tobacco industry to his father, who he says smoked two packs of Camels a day and died of lung cancer when Durbin was younger.

Freedom of Speech

In 2007, speaking as Senate Majority Whip, Durban went on record as stating that "It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine,"[1] coercively regulating talk radio by reviving rules requiring privately-owned commercial stations to balance conservative hosts such as Rush Limbaugh with liberals such as Al Franken.

Durbin's position runs in direct opposition to the 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision in FCC v. League of Women Voters of California, 468 U.S. 364 (1984) that the scarcity rationale underlying the doctrine did not apply to expanding communications technologies, and that the doctrine was limiting the breadth of public debate, as well as disregarding the Court's majority opinion (by William J. Brennan, Jr.) to the effect that the Fairness Doctrine was "chilling speech."

Other political positions

Among Durbin's legislative causes are asbestos regulation and environmental protection, particularly the protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He has also been noted for his work, along with Senators Patrick Leahy and Charles Schumer, in attempting to block President Bush's judicial nominations, as well as for efforts to prevent closure of military bases in Illinois.

In January 2005, Durbin changed his longstanding position on sugar tariffs and price supports. After several years of voting to keep sugar quotas and price supports, Durbin now favors abolishing the program. "The sugar program depended on congressmen like me from states that grew corn," Durbin said, referring to the fact that, though they were formerly a single entity, the sugar market and the corn syrup market are now largely separate.^[21]

In May 2006, Durbin campaigned to maintain a $0.54 per gallon tariff on imported ethanol. Durbin justified the tariff by joining Senator Barack Obama in stating that "ethanol imports are neither necessary nor a practical response to current gasoline prices," arguing instead that domestic ethanol production is sufficient and expanding.^[22]

Interest group ratings

Durbin's ratings from interest groups indicate how often he votes in agreement with their priorities. Durbin's voting record is very similar to the Democratic caucus position, consistent with his leadership position as Whip, which has the duty of persuading senators to follow the party line in their votes.

Guantanamo interrogation controversy

Durbin received a lot of media attention on June 14, 2005, when on the U.S. Senate floor he compared interrogation techniques used at Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay, as reported by the FBI, with those utilized by such regimes as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Khmer Rouge:

Durbin’s comments drew widespread criticism that comparing U.S. actions to such regimes was insulting to both the U.S. and to victims of genocide. Radio host Rush Limbaugh and White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove accused Durbin of treason,^[24] while former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called on the Senate to censure Durbin.^[25] Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, whose son Patrick was serving in U.S. Army, also called on Durbin to apologize for his remarks saying that “I think it's a disgrace to say that any man or woman in the military would act like that”.^[26] New Mexico Democratic state party chairman, John Wertheim, and Arizona Democratic party chairman Jim Pederson were also critical of Durbin’s remarks.^[27] The leader of the Veterans of Foreign Wars also demanded an apology^[28], as did the Anti-Defamation League^[26] Durbin at first refused, but on June 21, 2005, went before the Senate to tearfully apologize for his statement, saying, "More than most people, a senator lives by his words ... occasionally words fail us, occasionally we will fail words."^[29]

Several notable commentators supported Durbin. These included British libertarian conservative and former editor of The New Republic, Andrew Sullivan, who praised Durbin for raising serious moral issues about U.S. policy^[30]. Other commentators (including popular liberal commentator Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of Daily Kos) actively condemned Durbin for issuing any form of apology to his critics, believing Durbin to have made a mistake in making himself (rather than detention and torture concerns at Guantanamo Bay) the focus of media coverage.^[31]^[32]

Electoral history

Illinois Senator (Class II): Results 1996–2002^[3]
Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct
1996		Richard J. Durbin	2,384,028	56%		Al Salvi	1,728,824	41%		Steven H. Perry	Reform	61,023	1%		Robin J. Miller	Libertarian	41,218	1%		Chad Koppie	U.S. Taxpayers	17,563	<1%		James E. Davis	Natural Law	13,838	<1%
2002		Richard J. Durbin	2,103,766	60%		Jim Durkin	1,325,703	38%		Steven Burgauer	Libertarian	57,382	2%

Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1996, write-ins received 4,228 votes.

In 2008, Durbin will face Republican nominee Steve Sauerberg, a doctor and small business owner from Berwyn. Only a single major poll has been conducted on the race, and it showed Durbin ahead by over 30 points.^[33]

Footnotes

^ Dick Durbin: The Debater - TIME
^ durbin
^ ^a ^b "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ Dick Durbin: Bush Fighter - January 27, 2005
^ Project Vote Smart - Senator Richard J. "Dick" Durbin - Biography
^ Gore considers naming VP immediately after GOP convention - June 13, 2000
^ The Durbin Abortion Papers
^ Richard Durbin on Abortion
^ Excerpt from NBC News' Meet the Press
^ Parsons, Christi (2007-12-02), "Dick Durbin's Challenge", Chicago Tribune: 15-19, 26-27
^ Select Committee on Intelligence (July 9, 2004). "Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq".
Durbin, Richard (September 10, 2002). "Assessing Iraq's military capabilities". Congressional Record--Senate pp. S8427-S8429.
Sweet, Lynn (September 11, 2002). "U.S. lacks Iraq analysis: Durbin" (paid archive), Chicago Sun-Times, p. 5.
^ Windrem, Bob; Murray, Mark (May 25, 2007). "Hillary and the 2002 NIE". msnbc.com.
CNN (May 29, 2007). "Records: Senators who OK'd war didn't read key report". cnn.com.
Raju, Manu; Schor, Elana; Wurman, Ilan (June 19, 2007). "Few senators read Iraq NIE report". The Hill.
^ Dorning, Mike; Chase, John (September 30, 2002). "Durbin opposes Bush war resolution" (paid archive), Chicago Tribune, p. 1 (Metro).
^ Glauber, Bill (October 3, 2002). "War protesters gentler, but passion still burns" (paid archive), Chicago Tribune, p. 1.
Strausberg, Chinta (October 3, 2002). "War with Iraq undermines U.N." (paid archive), Chicago Defender, p. 1.
Bryant, Greg (October 2, 2002). "300 protesters rally to oppose war with Iraq", Medill News Service.
Katz, Marilyn (October 2, 2007). "Five Years Since Our First Action". Chicagoans Against War & Injustice.
^ U.S. Senate (October 10, 2002). "Roll call vote No. 236 on the Durbin Amendment No. 4865".
Sweet, Lynn (October 11, 2002). "Durbin loses bid to limit authority" (paid archive), Chicago Sun-Times, p. 7.
^ U.S. Senate (October 11, 2002). "Roll call vote No. 237 on H.J.Res. 114".
Goldberg, Michelle (November 11, 2002). "Wellstone was right". Salon.com.
^ Durbin, Richard (April 25, 2007). "Iraq Supplemental Appropriations Bill". Congressional Record--Senate pp. S5026-S5028.
Lengell, Sean (April 27, 2007). "Durbin kept silent on prewar knowledge" (paid archive), The Washington Times, p. A1.
Oberman, Keith (April 27, 2007). "5. Changing Tenets". Countdown with Keith Olbermann. msnbc.com.
SilentPatriot (April 28, 2007). "Sen. Durbin drops bombshells on the Senate floor". Crooks and Liars.
^ Krol, Eric (May 3, 2007). "GOP goes after Durbin with online ad" (paid archive), Daily Herald, p. 10.
Byrne, Dennis (May 7, 2007). "Oath upheld, but at what cost?" (paid archive), Chicago Tribune, p. 21.
^ AP (July 15, 1987). "House Passes Ban on Smoking on Flights of 2 Hours or Less".
^ Katharine Seelye (March 23, 1994). "Congress Considers Smoking Ban in Schools".
^ Congressman Mark Steven Kirk - 10th District of Illinois
^ http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=255348
^ http://durbin.senate.gov/gitmo.cfm
^ http://harpers.org/StabbedInTheBack.html Harper's Magazine, Stabbed in the Back!: The past and future of a right-wing myth
^ http://www.newt.org/backpage.asp?art=1843
^ ^a ^b Durbin Apologizes for Remarks on Abuse
^ Durbin's Gitmo remarks draw fire back in Illinois
^ Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) :: News
^ DURBIN STATEMENT OF REGRET (6-21-2005)
^ The Daily Dish
^ CT article ]
^ Daily Kos: Durbin fucked up
^ Pollster: Illinois Senate Race

Contents

Early life and family