Durbin Highlights Judiciary Committee Accomplishments During His Time As Chair

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reflected on his time serving as Chair and highlighted the accomplishments of the Committee over the last four years.

During Durbin’s time as Chair, the Committee held 145 full Committee hearings, 88 subcommittee hearings, and 86 executive business meetings; advanced 373 executive and judicial nominees out of Committee; and reported 56 bills out of Committee. The Committee advanced highly qualified, diverse judicial nominees who will be a frontline defense of the rule of law for a generation. The Committee also revitalized its critical oversight role over the Executive Branch agencies under its jurisdiction; and made progress on issues critical to Americans, including protecting children online, supporting women who have faced sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, and implementing critical gun violence prevention reforms.

Durbin said, “I want to thank all of the Senate Judiciary Committee members, particularly the Democrats, for their hard work ensuring equal justice for all and defending our democracy. I would be remiss not to acknowledge our former colleague, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. Dianne was a trailblazer and champion for LGBTQ+ Americans, reproductive rights, and gun violence [prevention]. We honor her legacy by continuing our efforts on these critical issues. I’m also particularly thankful for the Republican Ranking Member Graham and my Senate Judiciary Republican colleagues who were willing to work across the aisle to advance judicial nominees and bipartisan legislation.”

During his speech, Durbin highlighted the highly qualified, independent, and evenhanded judges confirmed to the federal bench.

Durbin continued, “Over 80 percent of all judges approved by the Senate reported out of the Committee have been approved by a bipartisan roll call… Aside from their exceptional qualifications and respect for the rule of law, they represent historic demographic and professional diversity. Under President Biden’s leadership, the Senate has confirmed more Black women to the federal circuit courts than all prior Presidents of the United States combined—including the first-ever Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. We have confirmed a historic number of Asian-American, Latino, and LGBTQ+ judges. We have also confirmed more circuit judges that have experience as public defenders than all prior presidents combined. During the last four years, Senate Democrats have confirmed 233 judges to lifetime positions, and if we confirm two more to the federal bench this week …we will surpass the previous administration’s record. The confirmations of these highly qualified, diverse judges will help ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice in America.” 

Since becoming Chair of the Committee in 2021, Durbin has also made it a priority to revitalize the tradition of regular oversight for executive branch agencies within the Committee’s jurisdiction. The Committee has held regular oversight hearings with the leaders of the Department of Justice, FBI, Bureau of Prisons, the Intelligence Community, and Department of Homeland Security, ensuring that every member of the Committee was able to discuss critical issues with these high-level officials.

Over the past four years, the Committee has also made progress in advancing key legislation. Important Judiciary Committee bills that were enacted into law include: legislation barring forced arbitration forsexual assault and sexual harassment cases; legislation Durbin authored to sustain the federal Crime Victims Fund; legislation Durbin authored to eliminate the federal statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases; and Durbin’s legislation with Senator Grassley to allow the Justice Department to prosecute war criminals in the United States.

Durbin said, “We showed that when we’re willing to come together on a bipartisan basis, we can make progress. We also unanimously reported several bills to help stop the exploitation of kids online. And, earlier this year, I held a full committee hearing to demand that the CEOs of social media giants—Discord, Meta, Snap, TikTok, and X, formerly known as Twitter,—come before [the Committee]. This hearing highlighted the ongoing risk that social media poses to our children and the immediate need for Congress to act. We didn’t get it done in this session. We must get it done in the next.”

The Committee has also led the effort to address the Supreme Court’s ongoing ethics crisis. Reports about justices’ ethical failures have brought public confidence in the Court to an all-time low.

Durbin continued, “At a time when the worst reports are coming out of the Supreme Court of lavish gifts for Supreme Court justices, this has become a partisan issue. The Democrats calling forchange and the Republicans resisting. I don't know what happened to that bipartisan consensus on ethics, but looking at the evidence that we've uncovered through committee staff work and subpoenas, it surely is demanding of us to do something. Ensuring that all Supreme Court justices are subject to an enforceable code of conduct is critical to establishing the American people's trust in the Court. More than 12 years ago, I asked in writing [for] Chief Justice Roberts to adopt a binding code of conduct for all Supreme Court justices.”

Last year, the Judiciary Committee reported the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act to the full Senate. The bill would require the justices to adopt an enforceable code of conduct so that the highest court in the land—the Supreme Court—doesn't have the lowest ethical standards of all courts in America. 

Durbin said, “Our work didn't stop there. We worked on defending reproductive health care, curbing gun violence, and dealing with the major issues that are on the minds of the American people.” 

Durbin concluded, “Finally, I would like to acknowledge the work of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s eight subcommittees, which held dozens of hearings on matters under the Committee’s jurisdiction. I want to thank Chairs Blumenthal, Booker, Butler, Coons, Klobuchar, Ossoff, Padilla, Whitehouse, and Senators Hirono and Welch for their hard work and leadership in this effort. And once again, thank you to all of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for their cooperation. It has been the honor of a lifetime.”

Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations.

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