Dick Durbin: “Thank you for the opportunity to say a few words today on this issue.”

The lowering of the FBI's hiring standards "threaten[s] to undermine the work of the FBI and pose a grave risk to the Bureau's integrity.

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.

We ask that you immediately provide all committee records that you have withheld, commit to fully complying with Senate Rules XXVI and XXVII going forward, and apologize to Mr. Smith on behalf of the Committee.

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