Dick Durbin: January 2007 Archives

It's becoming a tradition of Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) the Senate majority leader--hosting wounded Iraq war vets at the State of the Union. It's also a sign of how long the war has been waged. Three years ago Durbin's guest was Tammy Duckworth, who went on to run for a House seat in the Chicago suburbs and who now is Gov. Blagojevich's veterans affairs chief.

Durbin will also host Mayor Daley and his wife, Maggie. The Daleys have a son in the service.

The two Illinois soldiers are Staff Sergeant Wage Cobar of Schaumburg, and Staff Sergeant Eric Sundell of Patoka.

The GOP filibuster threat vanished during the day. An ethics bill passed. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate Majority leader, called it the "most sweeping ethics and lobbing reform legislation in the history of the country."

Negotiations were going on Wednesday and Thursday. A "poison pill" GOP Senate leader wanted in the ethics bill disappeared when GOP leaders realized that they would end up being held responsible for killing the ethics package.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.00001:

Here are the bets from the big Bears-Saints game on Sunday.

Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama bet some sweet home Chicago food--deep dish pizza, for example.
Louisiana Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter bet regional food.

for details, click below...

"I am really disappointed that we have not been able to seize this moment in history," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) at a presser on the GOP attempts to kill the ethics bill.

The Senate last night, on healthy bipartisan roll calls, voted to approve amendments to a pending overall ethics bill that would:
*ban senators from taking discount flights on corporate jets.
*ban lobbyists and special interests "from throwing lavish parties honoring Members at party conventions."
*strengthen a variety of gift bans and transparency requirements.

Nothing will happen, however because the GOP senate leaders--headed by Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnel (R-Ky.) threw in what's called a poison pill, giving the president a line item veto. Republicans know Democratic leaders will give them a separate vote on line item veto provisions. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just pledged to do it at a press conference.

Whatever the merits of a line item veto, tossing in a bid for a line item veto in the ethics bill puts the brakes on getting it done. The House already passed its version as part of its 100 day agenda. The more deliberative Senate will take its time.

click below for statement from Obama and reform groups..

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) just delivered a statement in the Senate Radio-TV gallery and then took some questions.

Durbin's notable quote: Iraqis "must know that every time they call 9-1-1 we are not going to send 20,000 more American soldiers.''

Congress, as a practical matter will not be able to stop President Bush from sending more than 20,000 troops to Iraq. Durbin said soldiers may be deployed immediately. "The thought that we can stop this in its track is a big mistake," Durbin said in reply to a question.

click below for Durbin rebuttal.

Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will reflect on President Bush's from Senate Radio-TV gallery, where he will take reporters questions.

White House prospect Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will guest on CNN's Larry King live to discuss his views.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Majority Whip, is sending out an e-mail appeal asking his supporters what the Senate priorities should be. The letter, paid for by his Senate campaign committee, is a snapshot overview of the first 10 measures the new Senate Democratic leadership wants to tackle, PLUS a promise that the Senate Democrats will provide oversight of the Iraq War. President Bush tonight makes official his bid for more troops in Iraq, which is already meeting resistance from Durbin and other members of Congress.

Durbin offers a version of the letter over at DailyKos, on Tuesday posting on the site--to be a regular feature. "I'm really looking forward to interacting more with this tremendous community in the coming weeks and months," Durbin wrote.
for Durbin at DailyKos www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/9/121441/4634 for his "priority" letter, click below.