Dick Durbin born November 21, 1944, is an American politician and attorney. His full name is Richard Joseph Durbin. He has been serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997.
He has been Senate Democratic whip since 2005, the second-highest position in the Democratic party leadership in the Senate.
Moreover, he is also the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and has stayed at one of the highest positions of democratic leadership for the last sixteen years.
Senator United States Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on November 21, 1944. He graduated with a B.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1966.
After his graduation, Durbin interned with Senator Paul Douglas. He later earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1967.
Senator Dick Durbin started his career in politics while practicing law at Springfield. He became a legal counsel to Illinois State Lieutenant Governor from 1969 to 1972.
He also worked as a legal counsel for the Illinois State Judiciary Committee for ten years, from 1972.
During his service as a legal counsel, Durbin ran for the seat of the Illinois state senate, in which he lost. He also lost his race for lieutenant governor in 1978.
While practicing law, Durbin then worked as a professor at Southern Illinois University from 1978 to 1983.
In 1982, Durbin won a seat at the U.S. House of Reps, representing the 20th district in central Illinois. Representing a rural district, he focused on improving agriculture in his district.
He became a member of the House Agriculture Committee. He later won a seat at the Appropriation Committee.
Senator Dick Durbin was elected to the U.S. Senate after Senator Paul Simon announced his retirement in 1996. He won again in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020.
Durbin is an active member of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The organization handles the protection of wildlife in the Alaskan region.
Considered politically conservative, Risch voted against the Affordable Care Act and supported its repeal and replacement in 2010. He also introduced the Global Health Security and Diplomacy Act, which was not voted for.
His administration has been relentless in promoting national security.
He co-sponsored the Israel Antiboycott Act, which would make it a federal crime to boycott any Israel and Israeli settlement. He was also a cosponsor of the Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act.
He also protested against the increase in fuel prices, for which he was especially admired and appraised by American Airlines.
You can find out more about the senator here.
Here’s our collection of the best Dick Durbin Quotes:
Table of Contents
Dick Durbin Quotes on Politics/Power
It simply isn’t fair for senators to cut to the front of the line when seniors around the country have been forced to wait for hours to get a flu shot.
Dick Durbin
Our party is a diverse one, as is my home state of Illinois.
Dick Durbin
America wins when the voiceless have a seat at the table, when the vulnerable are protected, and when working families have the same political clout as the wealthy.
Dick Durbin
Since 2000, I have proposed changing the Constitution so that our popular vote decides the presidency.
Dick Durbin
Chairing any Appropriations subcommittee is both a great honor and weighty responsibility.
Dick Durbin
Before I was elected to Congress, I worked in a courtroom. For years, I defended doctors and hospitals, and for years, I sued them on behalf of people who were victims of medical malpractice.
Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin Quotes on Business/Economy
Credit card companies and banks usually aren’t shy when they’re trying to sell you something. Heck, Wells Fargo didn’t even bother to ask consumers before signing them up for as many as two million checking and credit card accounts.
Dick Durbin
Taxpayers across the U.S. have invested hundreds of billions of dollars building our nation’s infrastructure, and that investment should be protected.
Dick Durbin
There are only two honest ways to reduce our debt: cut spending or raise revenues.
Dick Durbin
If the Department of Education is serious about fighting for students and protecting taxpayers, a full ban of mandatory arbitration clauses is a no-brainer.
Dick Durbin
When we engage in the critical decisions about our nation’s future budgets, I want progressive voices at the table to argue that we must protect the most vulnerable in our society and demand fairness in budget cuts.
Dick Durbin
Having billions of dollars immediately available to plug budget holes without raising taxes is very appealing. And to the delight of Wall Street investors, state and local governments often fail to ask the important questions or consider the long-term impact.
Dick Durbin
American businesses and consumers deserve a debit card system with competition, transparency, and reasonable fees.
Dick Durbin
More people working and paying taxes reduces government expenditures and helps us move a little closer to balance.
Dick Durbin
The fact is I tried for years to work with the financial industry on reasonable swipe fee reform, but the industry wouldn’t have it.
Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin Quotes on Society/Equality
It is unacceptable that disabled veterans in Illinois rank at the bottom of the list when it comes to disability pay. We owe our disabled veterans more than speeches, parades and monuments.
Dick Durbin
Social Security is the most important social program in America.
Dick Durbin
Instead of incentivizing quick, short-term decisions, the federal government should be asking the tough questions when governments turn over publicly funded transportation assets to for-profit operators
Dick Durbin
Every day seems to bring news about another for-profit college scam. Hundreds of thousands of students have been deceived, misled, and harassed into enrolling at these schools where they end up with a mountain of debt and a worthless degree.
Dick Durbin
Any reports of animal cruelty should be thoroughly investigated and those operators held accountable.
Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin Quotes on Health Care
We will have health care reform in America.
Dick Durbin
There is no question that tobacco is addictive and that tobacco kills.
Dick Durbin
Millions of Americans take vitamins safely every day, including me. Vitamins and mineral supplements taken in recommended doses are safe. It’s the designer supplements that are worrisome.
Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin Quotes on Environment
We happen to believe that emissions going into the atmosphere are not good for us as humans or Mother Earth.
Dick Durbin
Reducing and removing greenhouse gas emissions spares our planet from the well-documented degradation that we are witnessing on a global basis.
Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin Quotes on Security/Terrorism
We can’t do much about ensuring that the homeland is safe if our local police and sheriffs’ departments don’t have the personnel they need to keep our streets and neighborhoods secure.
Dick Durbin
In July of 2006, I visited the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was important for me to see Guantanamo firsthand and to meet the military personnel who are doing such a great job for our country.
Dick Durbin
Our soldiers deserve better. They need a plan for success. They need an administration that is honest about the costs of war, human and otherwise, and they need full accountability and oversight on Capitol Hill.
Dick Durbin
My wish is to bring the troops home as quickly as possible.
Dick Durbin
I think we learned a lesson and paid a bitter price when we put troops on the ground on a long-term basis in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let us support a homegrown, indigenous, and locally inspired effort to bring stability to the region.
Dick Durbin
I’ve been out to Walter Reed on unannounced visits. I’ve seen these soldiers. I’ve met their families.
Dick Durbin
We need to provide support to those that are fighting ISIS. And we can provide that support: logistically, training, intelligence, air cover. There are many things we have already accomplished successfully. But the notion of sending in rotational troops, as we saw in Iraq in the past, and in Afghanistan, I think we have learned our lesson.
Dick Durbin
These are men and women who are willing to risk their lives in defense of their country. And the fact that their orientation – sexual orientation’s been held against them is a blot on our nation’s reputation.
Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin Quotes on Rights/Justice/Law
There is no room for legal hair-splitting when it comes to the humane treatment of detainees – not in a nation founded on the rule of law and respect for human rights.
Dick Durbin
Sunlight is better than secrecy when it comes to making laws.
Dick Durbin
Our laws must be fixed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. We have to keep speaking out for common-sense reforms. If we do, we can beat the gun lobby and save lives.
Dick Durbin
We’ve had enough with loopholes in our gun laws that allow dangerous people to get their hands on guns.
Dick Durbin
Certain classes of weapons that are strictly military and have no useful purpose in sport, hunting, or self-defense should not be legally sold.
Dick Durbin
Other Dick Durbin Quotes
We all make mistakes. But I’m lucky. Being from Illinois and from the Midwest, we believe in pretty basic fairness. Once you’ve made a mistake, get up, dust yourself off, and go to work.
Dick Durbin
We don’t give up on our values, but we better be sensitive, too, that there are people with more moderate views and people who may disagree with some parts of the Democratic platform as they are presented.
Dick Durbin
Summary
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