Durbin, Richard J. (Richard Joseph), 1944-

<p>Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Springfield, is the 47th U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois, the state’s senior senator, and the convener of Illinois’ bipartisan congressional delegation.</p>

<p>Durbin also serves as the Senate Majority Whip, the second highest ranking position among the Senate Democrats. Senator Durbin has been elected to this leadership post by his Democratic colleagues every two years since 2005.</p>

<p>Durbin serves as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and sits on the Appropriations and Agriculture Committees.</p>

<p>Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. He has been Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, the second-highest position in the Democratic leadership in the Senate, and Senate Majority Whip since 2021. He chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.</p>

<p>Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. He graduated from the School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center. Working in state legal counsel throughout the 1970s, he made an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor of Illinois in 1978. Durbin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, representing the Springfield-based 20th congressional district. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and reelected in 2002, 2008, 2014 and 2020. Durbin has served as the Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, from 2007 to 2015, and in the 117th Congress serves as the Senate Majority Whip. He is the dean of Illinois's congressional delegation.</p>

<p>Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, to an Irish-American father, William Durbin, and a Lithuanian-born mother, Anna (née Kutkin; Lithuanian: Ona Kutkaitė). He graduated from Assumption High School in East St. Louis in 1962. During his high school years he worked at a meatpacking plant. He earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1966. Durbin interned in Senator Paul Douglas's office during his senior year in college, and worked on Douglas's unsuccessful 1966 reelection campaign. Durbin adopted the nickname "Dick", which he did not previously use, after Douglas mistakenly called him by that name.</p>

DURBIN, Richard Joseph, a Senator and a Representative from Illinois; born in East St. Louis, St. Clair County, Ill., November 21, 1944; graduated from Assumption High School, East St. Louis 1962; B.S., Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Washington, DC 1966; intern in the office of Illinois Senator Paul Douglas during his senior year in college; J.D., Georgetown University Law Center 1969; admitted to the Illinois bar 1969, and commenced practice in Springfield; legal counsel to Illinois Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon 1969-1972; legal counsel, Illinois State senate judiciary committee 1972-1982; Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Illinois 1978; associate professor, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield 1978-1983; delegate, Democratic National Conventions 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996; chairman of Illinois state delegation in 1996; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-eighth and to the six succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1983-January 2, 1997); elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1996; reelected in 2002, 2008, 2014, and again in 2020 for the term ending January 3, 2027; Democratic party whip (2005-); chair, Committee on the Judiciary (One Hundred Seventeenth Congress).