Dick Durbin: “Mr. Chairman, this committee, with appropriations language, could eliminate the discount that was being given to the…”

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.

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.

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.