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Dick Durbin: Candidate Profile

Senate (Democrat)

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: ChicagoWebsite: www.dickdurbin.comOffice sought: Senate Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: Married to Loretta Schaefer Durbin ,three childrenOccupation: U.S. SenatorEducation: Georgetown University, B.S., 1966, Georgetown University, J.D., 1969Civic involvement: Candidate did not respond.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Many Americans see gridlock as the greatest problem facing Washington today, and public opinions are at historic lows regarding the job their Senators and congressmen are doing. Specifically, what will you do to make Congress more productive and effective?If we're going to move this country forward, it's going to take bipartisanship. Last summer, I approached Senator Alexander, who shared my interest in preventing an interest rate hike for student loan borrowers, and we soon had a small bipartisan group working with the White House to negotiate a compromise that would be enacted into law. In 2009 and 2010, I worked with then-Senator Gregg to update the food safety system at the FDA. We can make policy changes that both parties agree are good for the country, but we have to be willing to listen to each other and be willing to make compromises. Right now, I am working with Senator McCain to regognize the rights of people with disabilities, with Senator Lee to improve the sentencing laws for non-violent drug offenders, and with Senator Enzi to allow brick and mortar retailers to compete more fairly with on-line retailers.What immigration policies do you support? Where, if at all, do you see room for compromise to produce an effective policy on immigration? How will these policies have an impact in your district?Our current immigration system is broken. I worked with a bipartisan group senators to write a comprehensive immigration reform law that would strengthen the security of our borders, crack down on employers who violate our immigration laws, give people who have lived in the U.S. and not committed any serious crimes -- including young people whose parents brought them to this country illegally -- a chance to earn their citizenship and improve the visa system to protect American workers and assist employers in need of specialized skills. The Senate passed our comprehensive reform bill, but unfortunately the House has refused to even consider it. It's time to fix our laws so that millions of people who live here without documentation can come out of the shadows, register with the government, submit to a background check, learn English, work legally, pay taxes, and begin to earn their way to citizenship.How do you assess the state of the federal budget? Do you see a need for changes in how revenue is produced or in spending priorities? What specific changes do you consider necessary regarding federal tax policy and practice?The deficit has been cut in half since President Obama took office. We have cut spending and allowed certain tax cuts for the wealthiest to expire. We are moving in the right direction, but an aging population and the strain that will put on Social Security and Medicare as well as tax loopholes that allow the wealthy and corporations to get out of paying their fair share of taxes will challenge our ability to sustain this kind of progress. Sustaining this progress cannot be achieved by only cutting spending or raising revenue--it will require thoughtful changes to both revenue and spending. I served on the Simpson Bowles Fiscal Commission and voted in support of the proposal that would have reduced the federal debt by more than $4 trillion through a combination of spending reductions and revenue increases.How would you work to produce a stable, affordable, effective federal health care policy? What shortcomings do you see in the Affordable Care Act, and how do you propose addressing them? If you favor scrapping the Act altogether, what do you propose as an alternative?The Affordable Care Act has already improved the lives of millions of Americans and it's beginning to improve the way we deliver health care. We are already seeing a decline in the rate of growth in health care costs, even while 10 million people who couldn't afford to have health insurance now have it. That doesn't mean the law is perfect or that it can't be improved. Remember that at one time both Medicare and Social Security were new programs that people didn't trust for the first several years. We can and should work together in Congress and with the White House to improve the law, and I am open to doing that, but I am not willing to go back to the days when the insurance companies decided what they would cover or when your coverage ran out.What can be done at the federal level to aid Illinois' economy and your district in particular?The most important thing we can do for Illinois' economy is create jobs. At the federal level, we have helped create good jobs by funding the construction of highways and bridges, locks and dams, and local transit lines and industrial projects. Since 2008, Congress enacted the Recovery Act and legislation to fund water resources and surface transportation projects, contributing to Illinois' declining unemployment rate and helping Illinois' businesses create more than 253,000 jobs. We also secured for Illinois a $75 million grant to help transform the manufacturing process by creating the nation's first digital manufacturing lab. That initiative will affect our economic climate for years to come, as this region becomes the leader in high-tech digital manufacturing.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The recent explosion of the "ice bucket" challenge has shined a light on the ongoing need to fund medical research to tackle serious health issues. In 2011, 53 percent of funding for basic research came from the Federal Government. Yet, as a percentage of the total federal budget, the federal government spends two-thirds less on research and development that it did in 1965. At NIH - the foremost biomedical research institute in the world - the number of research grants the agency is able to fund has declined every year for the past 10 years. To counter this trend, I introduced the American Cures Act which creates a dedicated trust fund to steadily grow our investment in medical research by five percent each year over the next 20 years.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Candidate did not respond.What's the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Candidate did not respond.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Candidate did not respond.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Candidate did not respond.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Candidate did not respond.