Quotes from Dick Durbin

There are only two honest ways to reduce our debt: cut spending or raise revenues.

We've had enough with loopholes in our gun laws that allow dangerous people to get their hands on guns.

'Stand your ground' laws based on the ALEC model have had harmful consequences and need to be reconsidered.

Our party feels that we need to have fair compensation, living wage, good benefits, and decent treatment of workers, and that we can do that and still be competitive on a global basis.

There is no question that tobacco is addictive and that tobacco kills.

Our laws must be fixed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. We have to keep speaking out for common-sense reforms. If we do, we can beat the gun lobby and save lives.

There is no question that the federal government sometimes overdoes it in issuing rules and regulations.

Where would Monsanto be without the U.S. farm program and world-class research labs?

Every day seems to bring news about another for-profit college scam. Hundreds of thousands of students have been deceived, misled, and harassed into enrolling at these schools where they end up with a mountain of debt and a worthless degree.

I have always been critical and skeptical of fast-tracking. It is a take-it-or-leave-it approach to trade agreements which really deals members of Congress and their concerns out of the picture.

We believe that there are aspects of border security that Democrats and Republicans can agree on.

I've been impressed with Rick Guzman and his commitment to the residents of Aurora since I first met him many years ago.

We don't want to see the government shut down.

Credit card companies and banks usually aren't shy when they're trying to sell you something. Heck, Wells Fargo didn't even bother to ask consumers before signing them up for as many as two million checking and credit card accounts.

I stood respectfully as Ronald Reagan was sworn in to his second term though I disagreed with him on many issues. I stood as well for the inauguration of George W. Bush's second term though I thought his war in Iraq was a tragic mistake.

American businesses and consumers deserve a debit card system with competition, transparency, and reasonable fees.

Instead of incentivizing quick, short-term decisions, the federal government should be asking the tough questions when governments turn over publicly funded transportation assets to for-profit operators.

With every new corporate inversion, the tax burden increases on the rest of us to pay what these corporations don't.

When you're talking about long-term deficit reduction, $4 trillion worth, entitlement reform needs to be part of it.

I think we learned a lesson and paid a bitter price when we put troops on the ground on a long-term basis in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let us support a homegrown, indigenous, and locally inspired effort to bring stability to the region.

My wish is to bring the troops home as quickly as possible.

We need to provide support to those that are fighting ISIS. And we can provide that support: logistically, training, intelligence, air cover. There are many things we have already accomplished successfully. But the notion of sending in rotational troops, as we saw in Iraq in the past, and in Afghanistan, I think we have learned our lesson.

Our timing is right... The election results are still fresh in the minds of my Republican colleagues and they don't want to go through this again.

Progressives should be willing to talk about ways to ensure the long-term viability of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but those conversations should not be part of a plan to avert the fiscal cliff.