A New Direction for America

A NEW DIRECTION FOR AMERICA -- (Senate - January 04, 2007)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is my honor to follow the speeches that have been given by my new majority leader, Senator HARRY REID of Nevada, and my new Republican leader, Senator MITCH MCCONNELL of Kentucky. It is a great honor for me to stand this day in the Senate as the assistant Democratic leader. I cannot express my gratitude to my colleagues for entrusting me with this responsibility.

I come to this moment with a sense of amazement. Some 40 years ago, as a college student in this town, I first set foot in the old Senate office building as an intern, never dreaming that 40 years later I would be standing on the floor of the Senate in this capacity.

It is indeed a great honor.

I do not know how many men and women have lived in the United States of America in our history--hundreds of millions, for sure. Today there are some 300 million who count America as their home. In the entire history of the United States of America, from its creation, as of today, as of this moment in our history, 1,895 men and women have had this high honor of serving in the Senate. Today, we were joined by 10 more.

Their life stories, like the stories of many of us, are the stories of America: stories of immigrant families, stories of struggle, stories of dreams that finally resulted in an election to this great body in the Senate.

I imagine if you called on some of the experts in U.S. history--even those who served for quite a few years in the Senate--and asked them how many of the 1,895 Senators who have served here they could remember, they would be hard pressed to come up with a long list. As it happens in most walks of life, a few people stand out in history. But most are part of a parade, a parade that passes by many times anonymously.

In the desk drawers of each of our desks here there is a quaint little Senate custom. I was talking to Senator John Glenn of Ohio about it today. Senators who have served here, despite what they were told by their teachers in grade school, are encouraged to scratch their names in the bottom of the desk drawer. I happen to be sitting at the desk of former Senator John Glenn of Ohio, and my former mentor and inspiration, Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois. I would imagine if you look in these desk drawers, there will be many names you do not recognize. The point I am trying to get to is this: Members of the Senate, men and women, come and go, but, thank God, this Nation endures. And it endures because of the sacrifice each makes for the common good of this Nation.

We have weathered so many storms--9/11 the most recent but, of course, the Civil War, which almost tore us apart--and time and again throughout our history men and women in this body, in the Senate, have decided the good of this Nation was more important than their individual personal ambition.

We have another similar moment in history. It is interesting how critical Americans are of their politicians; and that is a healthy thing. We do not assume that those elected to public office are part of any gifted class or any special group. We just assume they are people who are like us and fortunate enough to get elected. But over the years a lot of people have questioned us, whether those of us who have devoted a good part of our lives to public service truly have the public interest in mind.

The skepticism grew last year with the culture of corruption, the announcements of indictments, prosecutions, resignations, not just among public officials but those who work in the Halls of the Capitol. And the skepticism and cynicism about public life grew as people heard more and more of these stories. That is why it is so important we reflect on what Senator Reid said earlier about our agenda.

The first item on our agenda--and there could be many--is to address this issue of ethics and honesty in Government. I have been a fortunate soul in public life. Two people who brought me here--Paul Douglas and Paul Simon, both Senators--were literally paragons of public virtue.

Paul Douglas, as Senator from Illinois, used to have a tradition that except for food and drink he would not accept a gift worth more than $2.50. Now, it sounds like an interesting standard. It turned out to be a complete headache to figure out what to do with a gift that was worth $3, or what to do with the belt that a man hand tooled with Senator Douglas's name on it and sent to him as a gift. But he was steadfast in his belief that public service meant public sacrifice, not public enrichment.

Paul Simon, my other mentor in life, felt the same, followed in the Douglas tradition, and started me on a long road of disclosing in complete detail every year my income taxes and total net worth. There were painful moments early in my married life when Loretta and I had very little to claim as earthly possessions and filed a net worth which was pretty embarrassing. Things are a little better now, and I have continued the tradition.

But when Senator Reid talks about changing the Senate rules, to start with, as the first item of business, I think what he is trying to do on behalf of Democrats and Republicans in this bipartisan bill is to address this fundamental issue of restoring the confidence of the public in the Senate. Before we roll up our sleeves and take on the issues that count for every family across America, let's take on the issue of restoring the integrity of the Senate. That is why this is a bill that is high on our list and the first we will consider.

The American people voted for change in this last election in many ways. They certainly want us to move forward. Some of our advisers tell us that the term ``bipartisanship' has too many syllables and is unintelligible to the average person. I am not sure. But people do understand the words ``cooperation' and ``compromise.' And I think people across America said to us in the last election: We want you to compromise. We want you to find solutions. We do not want you to play to a draw with nothing to show for it.

The first issue that concerns the people of Illinois to whom I speak is this war in Iraq. In the first week of October, I went to Iraq with Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island. We visited Afghanistan and had three different stops in Iraq, and we spent many hours meeting with our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. I spent extra time with those from Illinois just to say hello to them and thank them. I came back not just with some frustration over a war which I think was a colossal, strategic mistake, but anger--anger that we continue to ask these brave young men and women to sacrifice their lives every single day.

I can recall when one of the generals took us aside and showed us one of these roadside bombs that kills and maims our troops, almost on a daily basis. It looked like nothing more than a fruit cocktail can, with both ends lopped off and a metal charge inside. They disguise it and camouflage it and put it on the side of the road. While unsuspecting American soldiers course down that road, they unleash the blast that kills or maims them. That is life for our soldiers in Iraq. They do not confront an enemy so much as confronting these improvised explosive devices.

Over the last few weeks, we have passed some tragic milestones. More Americans have died in Iraq than died on 9/11. As of the first of this year, the 3,000th American life was lost among our fighting men and women in Iraq. Over 22,000 have returned from Iraq with serious physical and mental injuries.

The legacy of this war will continue. Next week, the President is to propose the next phase of the war, what he wants to do next. I have to tell you, as one of 23 Members of this Senate who voted against this war, I continue to believe we made a serious mistake underestimating the gravity of the challenge once we had deposed Saddam Hussein. It is clear now this administration was not prepared to wage this war, certainly not prepared to move us to peace. What they have done is to move our troops into harm's way, risked their lives, and leave us in a situation, 4 years into this war--a war longer than World War II--where there is still no end in sight.

In October, our leaders in Iraq told Senator Jack Reed and myself it is a matter of months. If we cannot get this under control in a matter of months, we have to be honest about it. I think honesty is important. There is a lot of talk about surge. Let's move beyond the word ``surge' into the reality. We are talking about the lives of American soldiers, whether we will send 20,000 or 30,000 more American soldiers into that field of combat, whether that can possibly make a difference.

I hope to God the President reconsiders that. I am afraid in many instances we are only sending targets and not troops. It is time for the Iraqis to stand up and defend their own country. It is time for them to accept the responsibility of governance and defense. We have given them so much, over 3,000 American lives and all of our treasure, so they can rebuild their country and have a chance. We deposed their dictator, put him to trial, saw his execution, gave them a chance for constitutions and governments, gave them all these opportunities, and now it is their turn. We cannot impose democracy on them. That appetite for democracy has to spring from their souls, and they have to want it badly enough to work out the political compromises to disband the militia, to show the kind of leadership which will give them a nation in fact rather than just in words. That will be one of the big issues we debate here.

Some have criticized us this week for not talking about Iraq enough. I can understand it. When I hear the mothers of fallen soldiers say that should be our first priority, I think they understand, as we do, there is nothing more important that ever happened in their lives. This assurance I can give: Next week, when this Senate convenes, both the Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee will begin hearings on Iraq. The debate will really begin in earnest, as it should, as the American people expect. And we will have a responsibility to come up with the best answer for our Nation, for our troops.

There are so many other issues we face. One near and dear to my heart is the cost of college education. This young boy from East Saint Louis, IL, could never have attended Georgetown University or law school were it not for Government loans. I borrowed the money, paid it back, and believe it changed my life forever. So many students across America today wonder if they will ever be able to borrow enough to go to school. Some of them drop out because of debt. Some of them change their life plans because of paying off student debt.

Well, last year, we decided to make it more difficult. The President signed a bill raising the interest rates on student loans, making it more difficult for the kids of working families to go to school. One of our first priorities is to reduce the cost of college education expenses so young people with great dreams and limited means have a chance to succeed. That is one of our priorities as Democrats, and one I totally support.

I also think we have to restore some basic economic justice in America. How can you possibly explain that over 10 years we have not raised the Federal minimum wage? These people get up and go to work every day, many of them raising children, struggling to survive, going to soup kitchens and pantries to supplement their income.

Over the Christmas holidays--as many of us do--I visited some of those places, and I met a lot of people who work 40 hours a week. They come to the soup kitchens, they come to the pantries because that is the one way to supplement their income. Well, we can do better. We need to increase the Federal minimum wage. And as Senator Reid said, it is one of our highest priorities.

Senator McConnell said, a few moments ago, when it comes to the Medicare prescription Part D program, he will not stand by and allow us to scrap the program. I say: Hear, hear. We do not want to scrap the program. It is long overdue. Prescription drugs under Medicare keep our seniors healthy, independent, and strong. But, sadly, we know the reality that when that bill was passed, it was written by the pharmaceutical industry. It took competition out of the program so they could charge higher prices. It created a maze of opportunities, but a maze of choices for many seniors who were bewildered by what to do. It created a doughnut hole, a period of time where seniors who were the sickest had no coverage whatsoever.

So I would say to my colleague on the other side of the aisle, we are not going to scrap it. We are going to do our best to improve it. And we can improve it, bring in some competition so we have reasonable cost drugs, so we have more coverage for seniors across America.

There is an old saying that there is no education in the second kick of a mule. No matter what side of the aisle we are on, there is a lesson for all of us. The American people have given us today a rare opportunity in our history. They have given us an order, too, to chart a better course for this Nation. They have asked us to listen. And if, at the end of the day, we play to a draw on these major issues--if we do not achieve results, if we do not show a good-faith effort toward compromise and cooperation--they will be just as harsh in their judgment 2 years from now as they were last November. And we deserve it.

As we begin anew this Congress, we need to resolve together, on a bipartisan basis, to find that path to a better and stronger America.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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