Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator from Illinois
Richard Joseph Durbin was born in November 1944 in East St. Louis, Illinois. He earned an undergraduate degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. During his senior year, he served as an intern at the Senate. He received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, after which he entered into private practice in Springfield, Illinois. He served as legal counsel to Illinois Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon and then as legal counsel to the Illinois State Judiciary Committee for ten years. Durbin was also an adjunct professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
Durbin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and served fourteen years there. He successfully ran for the United States Senate and has been Senator from Illinois since assuming office in January 1997.
Durbin is married to Loretta and they have had three children, one of whom died in 2008 from complications due to a congenital heart condition. He is a Catholic.
In the News…
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois was one of 8 members of the Senate to support the amended continuing resolution to end the government shutdown and temporarily fund federal agencies.
“Part of it … was my friend Toby Hawk, who heads up the air traffic controllers in the tower near O’Hare. I’ve known him since the shutdown in Trump’s first term,” Senator Durbin said. “I had a long conversation with him just a few days ago. I’m genuinely worried that we’re giving these air traffic controllers six 10-hour shifts each week.“
He added, “Some of them have gone to other leaders in that [air traffic control] tower and asked to be furloughed so they could go get a job to make some cash money to make the payments for their families. When these controllers are keeping airplanes safe in the air, I don’t want them worried about the paychecks and problems that they have at home.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Senator Durbin today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Dick Durbin
Senator from Illinois
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
