SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) announcement that she would not seek the top Democratic spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee next Congress:
“I want to thank Senator Feinstein for her distinguished leadership on the Judiciary Committee during turbulent years. She has been a champion for common-sense gun safety, reproductive rights, and many other issues of critical importance to the American people. I am proud to call her my friend and colleague, and I look forward to continuing to serve with her on the Committee in the years to come.
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“I intend to seek the top Democratic position on the Judiciary Committee in the 117th Congress. I have served on the Committee for 22 years, and I am its most senior member who does not currently serve atop another Senate Committee. We have to roll up our sleeves and get to work on undoing the damage of the last four years and protecting fundamental civil and human rights.
“For the last four years, Republicans leading the Senate Judiciary Committee have turned a blind eye to the worst abuses of the Trump era. While President Trump assaulted the Constitution, the Judiciary Committee abdicated its oversight responsibilities and became little more than a conveyor belt to rubberstamp ideological and largely underqualified judicial nominees. The to-do list for the Senate Judiciary Committee is long, and of critical importance to the future progress of our country.”
