Durbin to Chair Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs

Press Release

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was named the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Crime and Drugs Subcommittee today, giving him control of the broadest jurisdiction of any Judiciary Subcommittee.

"Our criminal justice system impacts every American," Durbin said. "I look forward to working closely with law enforcement, crime victims and community leaders to ensure that Congress is doing everything we can to keep Americans safe and to ensure that our criminal justice system is consistent with American values."

Among the issues that Durbin intends to examine in the Subcommittee are federal support for state and local law enforcement, gang violence, and racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

In the 110th Congress, Durbin was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Human Rights and the Law Subcommittee. As Chairman, Durbin held the first-ever Congressional hearings on genocide law, child soldiers, crimes against humanity, U.S. human rights enforcement, sexual violence in conflict, and the human rights responsibilities of oil, gas and mining companies.

He also authored landmark human rights legislation that was enacted into law, including the Genocide Accountability Act, which makes it a crime to commit genocide anywhere in the world; the Child Soldiers Accountability Act, which makes it a crime and violation of immigration law to recruit or use child soldiers; and the Trafficking in Persons Accountability Act, which makes it a crime to engage in human trafficking anywhere in the world.

The Crime and Drug Subcommittee has jurisdiction over:

Oversight of the Department of Justice's:

* Criminal Division
o Drug Enforcement Administration
o Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys
o Office on Violence Against Women
o U.S. Marshals Service
o Community Oriented Policing Services and related law enforcement grants
o Bureau of Prisons
o Office of the Pardon Attorney
o U.S. Parole Commission
o Federal Bureau of Investigation
o Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
* Oversight of the U.S. Sentencing Commission
* Youth violence and directly related issues
* Federal programs under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended (including the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act)
* Criminal justice and victims' rights policy
* Oversight of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
* Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service
* Corrections, rehabilitation, reentry and other detention-related policy
* Parole and probation policy.

The Crime and Drugs Subcommittee is the largest Judiciary Subcommittee, with eight Democratic members and six Republican members. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee. The other members are: Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Ted Kaufman, (D-DE), Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).

Senator Durbin will also continue to be a member of the Constitution Subcommittee; the Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee; and the Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security Subcommittee.

Source