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Richard Durbin

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{{Infobox Senator | name=Richard "Dick" Durbin | nationality=american | image name=Richard Durbin.jpg | jr/sr and state=Senior Senator, Illinois | party=Democratic Party (United States) Democratic | term=January 1997–Present | preceded=Paul Simon (politician) Paul Simon | succeeded=Incumbent (2009) | date of birth=November 21, 1944 | place of birth=East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis, Illinois | dead=alive | date of death= | place of death= | spouse=Loretta Schaefer | religion=Roman Catholic }} '''Richard Joseph "Dick" Durbin''' (born November 21 1944) is a Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Politics of the United States American politician. He currently is the senior United States Senate U.S. Senator from Illinois and is now United States Senate Democratic Whip Democratic Whip, the second highest position in the party leadership in the Senate. Durbin, a lawyer originally from East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis, was elected to the United States House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and served there from 1983 to 1997.

Early life
Durbin was born to an Irish-American father and a Lithuanian-American mother. He graduated from Assumption High School in East St. Louis in 1962. During his high school years he worked at a meat packing plant. He earned a Bachelor of Science B.S. from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service 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 Juris Doctor J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969 and was admitted to the Illinois bar later that year.

Service in the U.S. Senate
Durbin became the United States Democratic Party Democratic candidate for the Senate to replace the retiring Democratic incumbent, Paul Simon (politician) 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 U.S. Senate election, 1996 the election and was easily elected to a second term in U.S. Senate election, 2002 2002. Durbin has a reliably liberalism in the United States liberal voting record on most issues[http://bolson.org/gov/us/senate/2005/Durbin.html]. 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. On November 5th, 2004, Durbin announced that he had enough committed votes to become the United States Senate Democratic Whip 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.

Interest group ratings
Senator Durbin's ratings from interest groups indicate how often he votes in agreement with their priorities; his particular scores indicate a liberal-Democratic record. Given his leadership position - especially since the Whip's job is to cajole senators to toe the party line - Durbin's voting record is very similar to the Democratic caucus position. *NARAL: 100% *American Civil Liberties Union:60% *U.S. Chamber of Commerce: 35% *National Education Association:91% *League of Conservation Voters: 89% *Christian Coalition: 0% *Cato Institute: 17% *National Rifle Association: F *American Public Health Association: 100% *AFL-CIO: 85% *Association of Retired Americans: 90% *National Taxpayers Union:14%

Controversy
Sen. Durbin sparked controversy on June 14, 2005[http://durbin.senate.gov/gitmo.cfm] on the U.S. Senate floor during debate when he compared interrogation techniques used at Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay 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 terrorism 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. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/17/politics/main702631_page2.shtml] In the face of increasing criticism, however, the most influential critic being Democratic Chicago, Illinois Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley Richard Daley, he went before the Senate, On June 21, 2005, to tearfully apologize for his statement [http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=239278], saying, "More than most people, a senator lives by his words ... occasionally words fail us, occasionally we will fail words." 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 War in Iraq Iraq war, praised Durbin for raising serious moral issues about U.S. policy. [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php] Other commentators (including popular liberal commentator Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of ''Daily Kos'') actively condemned Durbin issuing any form of apology to his critics, believing Durbin to have made a mistake in making himself (rather than Guantanamo Bay#Detention_of_prisoners detainment and torture concerns at GITMO) the focus of media coverage. [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0506230236jun23,0,1250714.column?coll=chi-ed_opinion_columnists-utl] [http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/6/22/132428/176]

External links
{{wikiquote}}
- Official website *{{bioguide link | id = D000563 | name = Richard Durbin}} *{{nndb name | id = 238/000032142 | name = Richard Durbin}}
- 2004 campaign finance data
- A pro-Durbin article from The Nation
- An anti-Durbin student group based at the University of Illinois {{start box}} {{succession box| before=Paul Findley.html">US Congressional Delegations from Illinois United States Representative for the 20th Congressional District of Illinois| years=1983–1997| after=John Shimkus}} {{succession box| before=Paul Simon (politician) Paul Simon| title=List of United States Senators from Illinois United States Senator (Class 2) from Illinois| years=1997–| after=Incumbent}} {{succession box| before=Harry Reid.html">Senate Minority Whip years=2005–| after=Incumbent}} {{end box}} {{IL-FedRep}} {{Current U.S. Senators}} Category:1944 births Durbin, Richard Category:American lawyers Durbin, Richard Category:Irish-American politicians Durbin, Richard Category:Lithuanian-Americans Durbin, Richard Category:Roman Catholic politicians Durbin, Richard Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois Durbin, Richard Category:United States Senators from Illinois Durbin, Richard Category:Living people Durbin, Richard Category:Georgetown University alumni Durbin, Richard de:Richard Durbin fr:Richard Durbin ru:Дурбин, Ричард

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