Durbin warns of deep divisions in farewell address to Illinois lawmakers

As he closed his address Wednesday before members of the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. JB Pritzker in the Illinois Capitol, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin invoked the words of another favorite son of Springfield.

“Abraham Lincoln, in the House Divided speech that he gave here in Springfield, gave a grim warning that the divisions in America over the issue slavery could destroy our nation,” Durbin said from the dais of the Illinois House chamber. “We see similar divisions today.

“The challenge we face in the days ahead could be just as serious,” he added. “I hope that those of us blessed to live in this Land of Lincoln will remember his warnings in 1858 and his counsel to those who lead this nation in our time.”

Durbin, 81, delivered what was billed as a farewell address, reflecting on his record in office while urging state lawmakers to pick up the torch for the causes he championed.

The East St. Louis native will retire next year after 30 years in the Senate — most of it spent as the chamber’s influential No. 2 Democrat. Though a fixture in Illinois politics for more than a half-century, Durbin never served in state elected office, losing a bid for Illinois Senate by less than 2 percentage points in 1976 and for lieutenant governor in a landslide in 1978. But he did work in the Illinois Capitol, serving as parliamentarian of the Illinois Senate in the 1970s.

‘A bridge across generations’

His influence extends further than that. Among the thousands who’ve worked in Durbin’s office are state Rep. Kam Buckner and Sen. Mike Simmons, both Democrats from Chicago.

Several women in the legislature are alumnus of the Illinois Women in Leadership Training Academy, a group cofounded by Durbin’s wife, Loretta, for which he provided seed money.

“Think about the arc of history this man has lived and helped lead,” Buckner said. “He interned for (U.S. Sen.) Paul Douglas in the 1960s. He worked for Paul Simon. He served with Carol Moseley Braun. He later helped guide and mentor Barack Obama. This is not just a resume; this is a bridge across generations of Illinois leadership.”

Durbin highlighted some of his top legislative accomplishments while acknowledging the work that remains. He recalled his challenge to Big Tobacco in the 1980s, referring to it as “the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill.”

He remembered catching a last-minute flight that required him to sit in the plane’s smoking section. “I said, 'Isn't there something you can do?'” he recalled asking a gate agent. “She said, 'No, but Congressman, there's something you can do.' So I got on the plane, sat in that center seat between two chain-smoking sumo wrestlers. What did I say? There's got to be a better way.”

Durbin subsequently introduced legislation that banned smoking on commercial airline flights, eventually getting it passed in 1988.

He also touted legislation banning the marketing of tobacco products to children, which he credited with a massive drop in the number of high school students smoking.

“Before I rest on my laurels, I will tell you that unfortunately cigarettes have been replaced by vaping,” Durbin said, urging lawmakers to “do something about it at the state level.”

‘Proud to be the son of an immigrant’

Durbin, whose mom was an immigrant from Lithuania, kept her naturalization certification for decades, and he displayed it in the credenza behind his desk in his Capitol office. He said he wanted people to know that he’s “proud to be the son of an immigrant.”

Throughout his tenure, Durbin has been the chief champion of proposed legislation that would grant legal status to undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children. Known as the DREAM Act, the legislation has been introduced several times but has never passed both houses of Congress.

Durbin joked that one of the most interesting issues he faced was “to stop one damn fish from getting to Lake Michigan,” a reference to the effort to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

“I can't tell you how many millions of dollars we've spent for poison, for electroshock, for disco bubble machines. We've tried everything, and we've done it,” Durbin said.

Freedom Caucus boycott

Members of the conservative Illinois Freedom Caucus boycotted Durbin’s speech.

“The only good news is that this career politician is finally retiring,” said Sen. Andrew Chesney, a Republican from Freeport “It is long overdue. Every legislator who actually cares about fixing this state should skip today’s political theater and get back to work.”

Pritzker’s campaign called the caucus’ boycott “disrespectful and an embarrassment to our state.”