CHICAGO — Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin said Friday that he made a mistake in supporting the “tough on crime" law that passed 25 years ago and has become a lightning rod for criticism in the Democratic presidential race.
“It was the worst vote I ever gave since being in Congress,” he told a panel of ward committeemen of the Democratic Party of Cook County during a meeting in Chicago for statewide candidates on the 2020 ballot.
“I voted for the war on drugs. I know why I did it,” he said, pointing to concerns in the early 1990s about the increasing use of cocaine, crack and other drugs.
Durbin said that, years later, he came to view his vote as a mistake and now supports legislation to roll back some of the mandatory minimum sentencing set in the law commonly known as the 1994 crime bill. Democratic 2020 presidential front-runner Joe Biden, who was then a senator, helped engineer the law.
The Illinois senator was answering a question from a committeeman, who said Biden should join other Democratic contenders in apologizing for the legislation.
“You’re right,” Durbin said. “You’ve got to be ready to say when you’re wrong. I was wrong on that vote. I’ve tried to make it right. I’ll never make it right for the sacrifices so many people paid,” he said, without referencing Biden.
After his comments to Cook County Democrats, Durbin told POLITICO he wants Democrats to keep their focus on defeating Trump and to avoid the party’s mistakes of 2016.
“We’re just not going to drop the ball this time in any of these states,” he said, referring to criticisms that the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016 didn’t focus enough on Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The states were ones Democrats had hoped to win, but all voted for Trump that year.
For 2020, he said, “You’re going to see a very coordinated effort” to get out the vote. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to Iowa, Wisconsin or Indiana over the years, and we’re going to do it again. But this time, I’m talking about more organization. Evanston Township Party (for example) is talking about reaching out to a specific county in Wisconsin, teaming up on a joint effort. I like that. You don’t waste time roaming around being in the wrong place. You have a goal and you reach it.”
Durbin, who is No. 2 in the Senate Democratic leadership after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), also dismissed the idea he might be trying to wait out becoming his party’s leader in the chamber.
“I’m where I want to be,” he told POLITICO. “One of the biggest parts of leadership responsibility is raising enormous sums of money. Schumer is very good at that. I welcome him to take on that role. It’s not one that I would jump into. I hope I’m doing a good job as whip and hope to continue.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Sen. Dick Durbin’s seniority in the Senate. He holds the second-highest rank in the Senate Democratic leadership.
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