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Durbin, R Sen

CHAIR the Senate Judiciary Committee 11 23

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WATCH: On Senate Floor, Kelly Leads Colleagues in Marking 16 Years Since Citizens United Ruling, Highlighting Impact of Big Money in Politics on Working Families  - Senator Mark Kelly

january 16, 2026

WATCH: On Senate Floor, Kelly Leads Colleagues in Marking 16 Years Since Citizens United Ruling, Highlighting Impact of Big Money in Politics on Working Families

*“The loudest voices in Washington became billionaires, not every day Americans.”

In case you missed it, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly led a series of floor speeches with his colleagues marking the 16th ^anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision, which opened the floodgates for big, dark money in our politics.

In their remarks, Kelly and his colleagues connected the rise of dark money and super PAC spending to real-world consequences for Americans, highlighting how unlimited corporate and billionaire spending has warped priorities in Washington and driven up costs for working families, underscoring the need to restore accountability and transparency so that our democracy answers to voters—not special interests.

*Sen. Kelly speaks on Senate floor.

Watch Kelly’s full speech here. See key excepts from Kelly and his colleagues below:

*Sen. Kelly: “In 2010, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that put a ‘for sale’ sign on our democracy. The Citizens United ruling opened the door for corporations and billionaires to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections, often without the public ever knowing who’s behind it. The Court decided that spending money in elections is the same as political speech, and that corporations should have the same political rights as individual Americans. The result was predictable – and it wasn’t limited to a courtroom. It changed how this place works. The loudest voices in Washington became billionaires, not every day Americans.

*Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): “I was here before the Citizens United decision. When robust meaningful bipartisan climate legislation was constant here in the Senate. I can think of four major bipartisan bills here in the Senate. And I remember my friend, John McCain, carrying the Republican banner into the presidential election with a respectable climate platform. Well, right after Citizens United, all of that stopped. The barrage of fossil fuel dark money into our politics killed bipartisanship on climate change instantly. It is still a problem today.”

*Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR): “The growth in dark money has been stunning because there’s so much money among the oligarchs and billionaires, they want to spend it to create laws that favor the oligarchs and billionaires and they are spending at an extraordinary rate. Six years ago, it was about $300 million, but according to the Brennan Center […] dark money hit a record high of $1.9 billion in the 2024 races. That’s a six-fold increase in six years. That’s the rich and powerful buying their government. It is an absolute travesty. No one in our founding community of our nation who wrote the Declaration of Independence, who wrote the Constitution, wanted to design a system where the mega rich ran the place as a cabal of elites. But that’s what we have and that’s what we have to change.”

*Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN): “In the 2024 elections, secret money groups spent $1.9 billion – nearly double the amount spent just one cycle before. This undermines our democracy and shakes the public’s trust because unlimited, anonymous spending in our elections doesn’t encourage free speech – it drowns out the voices of American people who are seeking to participate. We must fight for a more transparent democracy where every voter’s voice is heard.”

*Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ): “We live in the time of the greatest distrust in modern history. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can have a politics that restores and grows trust, instead of actively degrading it. This year is the 250th anniversary of the independence of our nation. This is our moment to free Americans from the influence of big money and give them their voice back in their democracy.”

*Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ): “Since the Citizens United decision, I have watched how this body has seen clearly corrupt forces beginning to overrun the commonsense and the will of the people and policy, more and more be bent to the whim and the will of the wealthiest of the wealthy in our country, in the world, as well as corporations, many of them multinational corporations. We are in crisis. Our nation is in crisis. […] Trust is vital for a democracy to thrive. And there has been nothing more powerful in undermining that trust in the years I’ve been in the Senate that I’ve seen than the destructive force of money in our politics.”

*Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): “Under the current system that’s described by my colleagues on the floor, there is so much entrenched money that they virtually control the agenda and scare the living hell out of average individuals who don’t have a fortune to spend. And that’s the reality of what we face.”

*Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT): “Individuals today make up to 16% of total spending in elections. 16%. 84% of all the spending in elections today are not done by citizens. 84% of spending are corporations and organizations. Much of that money is anonymous. You have no idea where that comes from. Let me tell you what the impact of that. The impact is corruption. Let’s just call it what it is.”

*Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA): “Citizens United didn’t just change campaign finance law — it fundamentally altered our democracy. It was the moment where the voices of everyday Americans began to be drowned out by a small and powerful few, armed with unlimited money and unprecedented access. As Trump completely sidelines the Federal Election Commission — our country’s top campaign finance watchdog — we are entering a midterm election season with unlimited money allowed in our elections and a President who has regularly used the powers of the office to benefit his billionaire donors. I will continue to push my colleagues to enact legislation to overturn Citizens United so that our elections reflect the will of the people instead of corporations and the highest bidder.”

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february 3, 2025

Padilla, Schiff, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats Demand Answers From Trump Administration on Purging of DOJ and FBI Officials

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) joined U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and all other Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in demanding answers from Trump Administration nominees and acting officials on the removal or reassignment of career law enforcement officials across the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Last week, the Trump Administration reportedly purged dozens of DOJ and FBI officials involved in prosecuting Donald Trump and the January 6 rioters, and they are now threatening additional action against thousands of employees across the country who worked on investigations related to the attack on the Capitol. The Senators wrote to Pam Bondi, President Trump’s nominee to be the Attorney General of DOJ; Kash Patel, nominee to be the Director of the FBI; Todd Blanche, nominee to be Deputy Attorney General; Acting Attorney General James McHenry; and Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll regarding the mass purging.

“We have grave concerns about the removal or reassignment across the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of senior career civil servants who have served honorably under multiple administrations, regardless of the President’s party,” wrote the Senators.“The removals and reassignments from their positions of a significant number of experienced, nonpartisan Department officials with invaluable national security expertise without any comparable replacements one day into the second Trump Administration presents an alarming threat to national security.”

“As America faces a heightened threat landscape, these shocking removals and reassignments deprive DOJ and the FBI of experienced, senior leadership and decades of experience fighting violent crime, espionage, and terrorism,” continued the Senators.“As the FBI Agents Association stated in response to reports about the removal of FBI officials: ‘Dismissing potentially hundreds of Agents would severely weaken the Bureau’s ability to protect the country from national security and criminal threats and will ultimately risk setting up the Bureau and its new leadership for failure.’

Moreover, the firing of dozens of federal prosecutors and hundreds of agents will cripple FBI field offices and U.S. Attorney’s offices across the country. We can only assume these decisions are intended to prevent the Department from investigating national security and public corruption, while also serving as political retribution against the President’s perceived enemies and stoking fear among the dedicated and talented workforce in our nation’s premier law enforcement agency.”

As many as 20 senior DOJ officials were reassigned or removed, including the veteran career deputy assistant attorneys general in the Department’s National Security Division.

Over the weekend, thousands of FBI personnel across the country were asked to complete a questionnaire by today, Monday, February 3, at 3 p.m. The survey asks for their job title, whether they worked on a case related to the January 6th attack on the Capitol, “if they were involved in the arrest of a Jan. 6 suspect, if they testified at a trial, if they interviewed witnesses, if they conducted surveillance on suspects and more.” It has also been reported that the Acting FBI Director is being advised by an advisory committee comprised of partisan political operators, including an Elon Musk affiliate. This is a stark departure from the longstanding tradition that the FBI Director is the only political appointee in the Bureau.

The purge of experienced career prosecutors and agents has recently expanded to include the removal or forced retirement of all six executive assistant directors (EADs), including the EADs who oversee the National Security Branch, Intelligence Branch, and the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. It also includes the assistant Directors and the Special Agents in charge of at least four major field offices. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered these actions in a January 31, 2025 memo, stating, “I do not believe the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully.”

Additionally, over a dozen senior DOJ prosecutors were fired after receiving memos from Acting Attorney General McHenry, stating “Given your significant role in prosecuting the President, I do not believe that the leadership of the Department can trust you to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully.”

The Senators emphasized that the Senate Judiciary Committee has a constitutional obligation to perform oversight over the Department and its components, and to provide advice and consent on the nominations of officers to lead it. To that end, they requested information to be returned to the committee in response to the removal of FBI and DOJ officials. They also requested answers from these individuals about their involvement.

In addition to Senators Padilla, Schiff, and Durbin, the letters were signed by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Full text of the letter to Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi is available here.

Full text of the letter to FBI Director nominee Kash Patel is available here.

Full text of the letter to Deputy Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche is available here.

Full text of the letter to Acting Attorney General McHenry and Acting FBI Director Driscoll is available here.

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Illinois: Illinois’ delegation includes seven Dirty Air Villains: Reps. Peter Roskam (R-IL6), Joe

Walsh (R-IL8) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL11) (each of whose districts overlap with the 18th

dirtiest MSA in the US for soot pollution) and Randall Hultgren (R-IL14), Donald Manzullo (RIL16),

Robert Schilling (R-IL17) and John Shimkus (R-IL19).

Illinois also has five Clean Air

Heroes: Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL4), Michael Quigley D-

(IL5), Bobby Rush (D-IL1) and Janice Schakowsky (D-IL9).

o Iowa: Iowa has three Dirty Air Villains, Senator Charles Grassley

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the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved subpoenas for conservative billionaire Harlan Crow and the Federalist Society's Leonard Leo despite loud objections from the committee's Republican members.

Axios reported that during the roll call for the subpoenas, Republicans repeatedly "shouted objections." Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) was quoted yelling "come on, man" as chairman Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) conducted the vote. Punchbowl News reporter Heather Caygle tweeted that Republicans then "left the room during the vote."

The chaos started after Durbin moved to suspend rule IV, which allows for debate, in order to move directly to the subpoena vote. Republicans were upset, claiming debate over the confirmation of judicial nominees was being prematurely stifled. Durbin responded that the committee had already debated the nominees "at great length" during a prior hearing before moving ahead with the rule IV motion.

"You're going to have a lot of consequences coming if you go down this road," Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) told the committee. "Listen to me, I've cautioned a lot of you."

"So you're telling us to shut up? You want us to shut up? That's what you're saying," Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) said to Durbin.

Even though the uproar in the committee was ostensibly over the process of debating judicial nominees, a Senate Republican aide speaking anonymously to Axios told the publication that senators' anger was more in relation to the subpoenas of Crow and Leo.

:{:{The Senate Judiciary Committee ordered the subpoenas for both Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo in relation to Crow's numerous undisclosed gifts to Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, and Leo's facilitation of those gifts. Currently, all federal judges — including members of the Supreme Court – are banned from receiving gifts and compensation for speeches and public appearances under the Ethics Reform Act of 1989.}:

READ MORE:Ex-judge: Clarence Thomas RV loan another example of justice 'doing an end run' around ethics rules

"Leo’s efforts to keep Thomas happy meant 38 destination vacations, a voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas, 26 private jet flights (plus eight by helicopter), a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events (typically sitting in a box), two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica, and a standing invitation to an exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast," Gertner wrote. "Most of these were arranged by Leo and paid for by conservative billionaires."

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as the the United States Supreme Court faces an "ethical crisis" following ProPublica's report earlier this year exposing Justice Clarence Thomas' history of receiving lavish gifts from billionaires, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, according to a CNN report, announced Monday they will soon vote to authorize subpoenas in their ongoing probe of the court.

Per CNN, this comes as "four justices – Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett" over the last few months "have expressed various forms of support for some kind of ethics reform at the high court, although no announcement has been made."

Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) said, "The Supreme Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making," CNN notes, adding that the "subpoenas would target Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo and Robin Arkley II, who have all been linked to Thomas and others in recent news stories."

The news outlet reports the Democratic senator added "that the three had declined to fully engage with the committee on a voluntary basis during its inquiry," saying "Due to Crow, Leo and Arkley's intransigence, the Committee is now forced to seek compulsory process to obtain the information they hold."

CNN notes:

*The latest allegation against Thomas occurred last week after The New York Times reported that he failed to repay a 'significant' portion of a $267,230 loan from a friend that allowed him to by a luxury motorcoach in 1999, according to a memo issued by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee. Hours after the report appeared, a lawyer for Thomas disputed the findings arguing that the loan had never been forgiven. 'The Thomases made all payments,' the lawyer, Elliot S. Berke, said in a statement to CNN.

A Democratic aide told the news outlet the committee "is likely to vote on the subpoenas on November 9."

an 4 23

no lnx

Dick Durbin under fire for letting GOP Senate minority veto Biden judges

Jake Johnson and Common Dreams April 10, 2023

With the disastrous consequences of the far-right's takeover of the federal court system becoming clearer by the day, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is facing intense criticism for preserving a tradition that is allowing Republicans to veto judges nominated by President Joe Biden.

The so-called "blue slip courtesy" is a nonbinding Senate norm that allows lawmakers to reject nominees for court seats in their home states.

While Republicans didn't hesitate to dispense with the informal rule when they were ramming through far-right judges at a torrid pace during former President Donald Trump's four years in office, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has chosen to adhere to the blue slip norm for district court nominees.

That decision garnered fresh anger last week when Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced she would not return a blue slip for Scott Colom, a Biden nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Collum had already received approval from Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, also a Republican.

CNN noted Monday that "Durbin's office blasted Hyde-Smith's opposition to Colom in a statement that did not indicate whether he was rethinking the blue slip rule."

"The rule has not been respected consistently through the modern history of the Senate, and Republicans nixed the requirement for U.S. circuit court vacancies under Trump. Democrats, now in control, have refused to bring it back for appellate nominees, but Durbin has said he'd like to keep it in place for district courts," the outlet reported. "Durbin didn't waver on that position when Sen. Ron Johnson [R-Wis.] flip-flopped last year on his support of a district court nominee in his home state, state Judge William Pocan, effectively torpedoing Pocan's nomination."

Progressive advocacy groups said Monday that Durbin's refusal to ditch the blue slip tradition was made even more outrageous by a Friday ruling from Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas, who deemed the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the abortion medication mifepristone invalid. The U.S. Justice Department is appealing the ruling.

Shortly after Kacsmaryk handed down his ruling, which parroted anti-abortion talking points, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice of Washington State—an Obama appointee—issued a conflicting decision ordering the FDA to maintain access to the pill.

"If last week's appalling ruling from a MAGA judge attempting to ban abortion medication has taught us anything, it's that judges matter. Senate Dems must do everything in their power to confirm [Biden's] nominees, including eliminating the blue slip ASAP."

Hyde-Smith praised the Kacsmaryk ruling, calling it a "victory for pregnant mothers and their unborn children."

Durbin's adherence to the blue slip norm has also drawn frustration and backlash from fellow Democrats.

"If it's a blue slip problem and the Republicans aren't turning in their blue slips and they're being obstructionist, then we need to think about changing the rules," Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told CNN.

In a tweet late Friday, former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) faulted Durbin for "allowing the blue slip process to prevent confirmation of Democratic judges in red states" as right-wing judges attempt to further weaken abortion rights.

The Senate approved 96 federal judges during Biden's first two years in office, outpacing all of his recent predecessors.

But the upper chamber confirmed just 34% more Biden judges in 2022 compared to the previous year, whereas the Senate under Trump approved 177% more judicial nominees in the former president's second year in the White House than in his first.

The Senate greenlit a record 231 federal judges—not including Supreme Court justices—during Trump's four-year tenure, filling vacancies across the country with young, often unqualified right-wing judges who will have significant power over U.S. law for decades to come.

In addition to further imperiling abortion rights, Trump-appointed judges have recently issued rulings against student debt cancellation, LGBTQ+ protections, and efforts to revoke anti-immigrant policies implemented by the former president.

According to the American Constitution Society, 18 Biden judicial nominees are awaiting floor votes, 12 still must be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and six are still waiting for hearings.

The Biden administration has thus far refused to pressure Durbin to drop the blue-slip rule entirely, even after Hyde-Smith made clear that she would try to tank Colom's nomination.

Durbin has said the recent and indefinite absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.)—a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee—has had an impact on the panel's ability to advance judges.

CNN observed that since Feinstein's office announced in early March that the senator was hospitalized with shingles, "the committee has only approved one nominee, Judge Matthew Brookman, the GOP-supported appointee for the Indiana district court seat."

But The American Prospect's David Dayen stressed Monday that the Senate GOP only has effective veto power over Biden judges "because Durbin refuses to revoke the blue-slip tradition that willingly grants Republicans the ability to obstruct."

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

Stop Fearmongering About Terrorists in the US: Guantanamo Prison Must Be Closed ›

Bill Barr denounced for pushing executions even after the administration was voted out ›

CREW demands 'immediate investigation' of Clarence and Ginni Thomas for possible 'conflicts of interest' ›

JUMPS THE SHARK:

AlterNet [1] / By Cliff Weathers [2]

GOP Senator Attacks Retired Military Brass for Saying Climate Change Threatens Security

May 16, 2014 |

Republican Sen. James Inhofe is once again dismissing a report on climate change, attacking the integrity of the report's authors. While that's not news in itself, the targets of Inhofe's derision are 16 retired three- and four-star generals and admirals. Inhofe claims that retired military officers are just desperate for publicity, and don't understand the defense needs of the nation.

The generals and admirals wrote a federally funded report on climate change, assessing the threats of global weather events on national security.

Other Republicans, however, have been notably quiet since the report's release. Typically, they form a chorus to shout down any climate-change report, claiming that man-made climate change is fraud perpetuated by the "liberal agenda.” This time, the authors of the report are not scientists and environmentalists, the typical targets of conservative derision. It would be political suicide for any Republican to categorize such a large group of career military officers as liberals, especially in an election year.

The authors of the climate change report focused solely on their area of expertise, national security. They serve as the military advisory board for the CNA Corporation, a non-profit research and analysis organization in Alexandria, VA. They warned that climate change is not only a menace to the environment but presents the U.S. with several new security threats. The advisory board's report said that climate change has already led to conflicts over food and water because of droughts and extreme weather, and it anticipates that the incidence of these conflicts will increase exponentially. The report also predicted that the increase in catastrophic weather events would create more demand for U.S. military troops, and could cause damage to naval ports and military bases.

“Climate change can act as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world, and it presents significant national security challenges for the United States,” says the report, adding that conflicts will likely be felt “even in stable regions.”

The report says that climate events like flooding, prolonged drought and rising sea levels could result in population dislocation, waves of refugees and food insecurity. These would serve as “catalysts for instability and conflict,” in more vulnerable regions, aggravating existing stressors such as poverty, political instability and social tensions. Such conditions can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence, according to the report.

The report concluded that the U.S. military should shift course, and adopt strategies to manage catastrophes and conflicts both domestically and internationally.

The report's forward was written byformer Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. They warned that “we no longer have the option to wait and see” and pleaded for a “bipartisan call to action.”

Responding to the report, Secretary of State John Kerry told the New York Times [3] that American foreign policy will need to adjust to respond to the climate events predicted. Kerry said, “The intelligence community takes it seriously, and it's translated into action.”

“Tribes are killing each other over water today. Think of what happens if you have massive dislocation, or the drying up of the waters of the Nile, of the major rivers in China and India,” Kerry said.

Pentagon officials also said they would use the report's findings to shape military policy; however, it is already moving in that direction. Last month, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel hosted 10 defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at a meeting in Hawaii where they discussed how their militaries can work together to effectively tackle non-traditional security challenges, including climate change and natural disasters. And in March, the Department of Defense announced it had drawn a direct link between the effects of global warming and terrorism.

“The department certainly agrees that climate change is having an impact on national security, whether by increasing global instability, by opening the Arctic or by increasing sea level and storm surge near our coastal installations,” said John Conger, the deputy under secretary of defense for installations and environment. “We are actively integrating climate considerations across the full spectrum of our activities to ensure a ready and resilient force.”

One of the report's authors, retired Rear Admiral David Titley, theformer oceanographer of the Navy, told the Huffington Post he hopes the message will be received differently by climate-change deniers as it comes from retired and respected U.S. military brass.

“This report is signed, not by environmentalists or climate scientists, but by 16 admirals and generals who collectively have over 500 years of service to our country,” said Titley, who is now a meteorology professor at Penn State University.

There is some speculation that the report could spawn a National Intelligence Estimate regarding climate change. NIEs are authored by the U.S.' 16 intelligence organizations and various military organizations and are used to evaluate security threats here and abroad, typically suggesting actions to be taken.

In 2007, then Sen. Hagel, a Republican, called for legislation requiring federal intelligence agencies to collaborate on a National Intelligence Estimate to evaluate the security challenges presented by climate change. He was joined by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin. Although Hagel and Durbin's bill died in committee, a NIE was later released in 2008. No NIE on climate change has been released since.

Any mention of climate change by scientists, the media and the Obama administration is met with piranha-like attacks by Republicans that often climax in an abundance of media appearances to denounce the messengers. But with the exception of Inhofe, they've been notably hesitant to attack former top military officers.

Inhofe, of Oklahoma, is a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He calls himself "a vocal skeptic of the established science that greenhouse-gas emissions contribute to global warming." He claims to believe the science of climate change is a "hoax."

"There is no one in more pursuit of publicity than a retired military officer," said Inhofe of the CNA Corporation study. "I look back wistfully at the days of the Cold War. Now you have people who are mentally imbalanced, with the ability to deploy a nuclear weapon. For anyone to say that any type of global warming is anywhere close to the threat that we have with crazy people running around with nuclear weapons, it shows how desperate they are to get the public to buy this."

Climate change, which was once considered an issue that would only pose problems many years from now, has moved firmly into the present. Although scientists caution against linking any single atypical climate event to climate change, they note that together these aberrant and severe weather events are consistent with global warming.

In March, the United Nations released a report stating that climate change is already cutting into the global food supply and fueling wars and natural disasters. The report stated that political instability and riots in Asia and Africa in 2008 were a direct result of food-price shocks brought on by regional weather events. The UN report warned that governments are unprepared to protect those most at risk.

Syria's civil war is believed to have been spurred by the droughts which have distressed the country since 2006. Three-quarters of the nation's crops have failed and nearly all of its livestock have died of thirst or hunger. Syria’s farmers abandoned their farms, fleeing to the cities in search of jobs and critically insufficient food supplies, creating regional social unrest. UN observers estimated that between 2 and 3 million of Syria’s 10 million rural inhabitants were reduced to extreme poverty, and this is the core cause of recent national instability.

See more stories tagged with:

climate change [5],

terrorism [6],

national security [7]

Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/inhofe-attacks-retired-generals-and-admirals-over-climate-change

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Dick_Durbin

Richard Joseph "Dick" Durbin is the Democratic senior U.S. Senator from Illinois since 1997.[1]

Contents [hide]

Record and controversies

General information about important bills and votes for can be found in Congresspedia's articles on legislation. You can add information you find on how Dick Durbin voted by clicking the "[edit]" link to the right and typing it in. Remember to cite your sources!

Iraq War

Durbin voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq in Oct. 2002.

During the 2002 debate over the resolution giving President Bush the authority to use military force against Iraq, then House Minority Whip Durbin proposed an amendment (S.AMDT.4865) requiring that an "imminent" threat be present before turning to force. Opponents believed this language was too restrictive and that the president ought to have the right to use force in the face of a "continuing" threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The amendment failed 30-70.

Main article: Congressional actions on the Iraq War prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion

In 2003, during the debate over the FY2004 Defense Appropriations bill, Durbin introduced an amendment (S.AMDT.1277) to withhold $50 million in intelligence funding until President Bush submitted a report explaining how his administration handled the intelligence leading up to the Iraq War. Supporters argued that the measure would force the administration to be accountable for intelligence used to justify the war. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) joined every other Senate Republican in opposing the amendment, tabling the measure. He called it "nitpicking" by the Democrats and argued that "history shows clearly that Iraq has tried to acquire and did acquire nuclear capability in the past."

Main article: Congressional actions on the Iraq War following the 2003 U.S. invasion

On May 24, 2007, Sen. Durbin, along with Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) in the House, added a provision to the Iraq War funding bill that would stop the Bush administration from cutting Medicaid payments to hospitals for one year. The bill, including the Medicaid provision, passed overwhelmingly, 348-73.

Main article: Congressional actions to end the Iraq War in the 110th Congress

For more information see the chart of U.S. Senate votes on the Iraq War.

Student financial aid legislation

On January 4, 2007, Durbin introduced a Senate version of a House financial aid bill (S.1642), which was co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Specifically, the bill would gradually decreases the rate on subsidized federal loans until 2011, when it hits a temporary low of 3.4 percent for a six-month period. Once that period is up, the rate will revert to 6.8 percent unless future legislation dictates otherwise. “Subsidized” loans are those for which the federal government pays the interest until the student leaves school.[2] The bill would raise fees on and cut profit margins for student lenders to offset the proposed cut. An estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated that the rate cut would cost $8.1 billion over a five year period. Increased loan fees would raise $2.7 billion and reducing guaranteed lender profit margins would raise another $2.5 billion over the same period, according to CBO. The remainder of the cost would be raised by reducing lender guarantees and retaining certain guaranty agency collections.[3]

Kennedy, however, announced plans to support a broader education bill which would halve interest rates on more than just Stafford loans, raise the Pell Grant limit to $5,100, cap federal student loan payments at 15 percent of a borrower's discretionary income, forgive the debt for those who stay in public service careers, and encourage schools to use the government's Direct Loan Program.[4]

Main article: Student financial aid legislation

Guantanamo Bay Statement

Sen. Durbin sparked controversy on June 14, 2005[5] on the Senate floor during debate when he compared interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Camp Xray described in an FBI report with those utilized by 20th century regimes including Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Khmer Rouge:

When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here -- I almost hesitate to put them in the record, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold....On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."

Republicans demanded an apology, claiming that comparing U.S. actions to the regimes Durbin included was insulting to both the US and to victims of genocide, and provided terrorists with propaganda. Durbin at first refused to apologize, replying that the White House should apologize for fostering an environment which permitted the alleged abuse to occur. [1] In the face of increasing criticism, including some from Democratic Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, on June 21, 2005 he apologized on the Senate floor, saying, "More than most people, a senator lives by his words ... occasionally words fail us, occasionally we will fail words." [2]

Despite the vocal backlash against Durbin's statements, many influential commentators did support him, as did much of his party's base. Notably, Andrew Sullivan, a supporter of the Iraq war, praised Durbin for raising serious moral issues about U.S. policy. [3] Other commentators (including popular liberal commentator Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of Daily Kos) actively condemned Durbin issuing any form of apology to his critics, saying that Durbin made a mistake in making himself (rather than detainment and torture concerns at GITMO) the focus of media coverage. [4] [5]

Tobacco issues

Richard J. Durbin has been a leading advocate for public health on tobacco issues in Congress, and an early proponent of allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco products. At a press conference on June 13, 1994, U.S. Rep. Durbin, Rep. Mike Synar (D-OK)and Rep. Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced that they would seek an amendment to the fiscal year 1995 Agriculture Appropriations bill to require Food and Drug Administration (FDA)regulation of tobacco. The Rules committee refused to allow the amendment.[6]

In May 1994, U.S. representative Martin Meehan wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno signed by six other congress members including Richard Durbin. The letter suggested the U.S. Department of Justice investigate whether the tobacco executives violated civil RICO laws or committed perjury before the Waxman subcommittee in 1994, when they testified that they did not believe nicotine was addictive.first pages

Quotes

"Giving a veteran a flag is not a substitute for giving our vets the quality health care they were promised."—Dick Durbin, after he and other Democrats "noted that Republicans had voted down a Senate amendment increasing veterans' health spending the previous night." March 25, 2004.

Bio

Background

Durbin was born November 21, 1944 in East St. Louis, Illinois. He earned a B.S. from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1966. He served as an intern in the office of Illinois Senator Paul Douglas during his senior year in college. Durbin earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969 and was admitted to the Illinois bar later that year.

Durbin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and served from 1983 to 1997.

Senate career

In 1996 Durbin became the Democratic candidate for the Senate to replace retiring Democratic incumbent, Paul Simon — the man that Durbin has called his mentor. The two men had been associated before; while Simon was Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Durbin was his legal counsel.

Durbin won the election and was easily elected to a second term in 2002. Durbin has a reliably liberal voting record on most issues[7]. Among his 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 on judicial nominations, as well as his efforts to avert the closure of military bases in Illinois.

He is concerned with veterans' issues as well. In March 2004 he stated, "Giving a veteran a flag is not a substitute for giving our vets the quality health care they were promised" after he and other Democrats "noted that Republicans had voted down a Senate amendment increasing veterans' health spending the previous night." March 25, 2004.

On November 5th, 2004, Durbin announced that he had enough committed votes to become the Democratic Whip in the 109th Congress. Prior to this, he had been the Assistant Democratic Floor Leader, a position he was appointed to by former Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle. During his time as the minority whip, he has been noted for his sharp debating skills. His boss, Democratic leader Harry Reid, has said that Durbin is without a doubt the best debater in the entire Senate. Durbin has also been noted for his effectiveness at framing and articulating the Democrats' message, and many have said that he is an effective whip both because of his strategic skills but also because he has assiduously avoided any talk of higher aspirations. Indeed, most believe that Durbin plans to seek no higher elective office, and would only consider leaving the Senate if offered a cabinet appointment by a Democratic president.

In September 2006, Durbin joined Sen. Charles Schumer and other Senate Democrats in calling for a probe into hiring practices for the reconstruction of Iraq. The group alleged rampant Republican chronyism was leading to reconstruction workers too inexperienced to do their jobs properly. [8]

After the Democrats won the Senate in the 2006 midterm elections, Durbin was selected Senate majority whip for the 110th Congress.

2008 elections
This information was gathered by volunteer researchers as part of the Superdelegate Transparency Project on the superdelegates for the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. For more info see the Illinois superdelegate tracker or visit the STP homepage.

Before Hillary Clinton conceded the race, Dick Durbin, as a superdelegate, had endorsed Barack Obama for President.

For more information and sources, see the state page for this superdelegate linked to in the blue box above.

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. cid=N00004981&cycle=2006

Links to more campaign contribution information for Dick Durbin

from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Dick Durbin

from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Dick Durbin

from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile:2006 election cycleCareer totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation:2006 election cycleCareer totals
Top contributors by industry:2006 election cycleCareer totals

Committees and affiliations

On the Board of Governors for the Partnership for Public Service.

More background data

Wikipedia also has an article on Dick Durbin. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

[](https://www.google.com/search?q=dick+durbin+alec&client=firefox-a&hs=q1e&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=ppl_ids:--100278533626831266368-,ppl_nps:Anna+Palmer,ppl_aut:1)

www.politico.com/.../dick-durbin-american-legislative-exchange...‎

by Anna Palmer - in 74 Google+ circles

Aug 9, 2013 - The American Legislative Exchange Council is fighting back against Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin's push to get companies associated with ...

www.nonprofitquarterly.org/.../22828-sen-dick-durbin-challenges-alec-s...‎

Aug 29, 2013 - Whether the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is really a 501(c)(3) public charity or should be a 501(c)(4) social welfare ...

www.dailykos.com/.../-Dick-Durbin-seeks-some-illumination-from-corp...‎

Aug 7, 2013 - In the run-up to the opening of the 40th annual convention of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) at the Palmer Hotel in ...

www.breitbart.com/.../Inappropriate-Government-Intrusion-Ted-Cruz-Re...‎

Aug 9, 2013 - Just like the president, fellow Illinoisan Senator Dick Durbin was one of the first Democrats to publicly decry the IRS scandal which he called ...

www.texaspolicy.com/.../tppf-responds-us-senator-dick-durbins-d-il-inq...‎

Aug 14, 2013 - The Texas Public Policy Foundation responded today to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's (D-IL) letter requesting information on the Foundation's ...

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