Dick Durbin: “I am honored to be here with the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Pat Leahy.”

Changes of this magnitude with no discernible justification must be scrutinized.

To leave here without this being a law finalized to protect these young people … is painful, really painful. I don’t want them to feel like I’m abandoning them.

Public executions have no place in a democracy.

You can’t survive in politics unless you’re optimistic. You’ve got to believe that even though you face a setback or you don’t have all the laws you need, that tomorrow will be better.