WASHINGTON DC – Illinois' senior U.S. Senator Dick Durbin led an attack on President-elect Donald J.Trump's nominee for attorney general Tuesday, dealing with Senator Jeff Session's views on criminal sentencing and immigration.
Durbin's line of questioning to the attorney general nominee started with a question about the Fair Sentencing Act, a bill both Durbin and Sessions worked on together in the Senate. Durbin then went on to poke Sessions for refusing to sign onto an intervention for a punishment plea.
Sessions said the way Durbin set up the question as "unfair," and went on to retell the situation as he recalled it – quite different than Durbin's recollection.
"I will acknowledge you stepped out on this issue," Durbin said to Sessions, and went on to defend his position on leniency of sentencing.
He then focused on the issue of immigration.
"Sen. Sessions, since joining the Senate in 1997, you've voted against every immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for the undocumented," Durbin said. "You described the Dream Act, which I introduced 15 years ago to spare children who are undocumented through no fault of their own, as 'a reckless proposal for mass amnesty.'
"You opposed the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill, which passed the Senate four years ago. You've objected to immigrants volunteering to serve in our armed forces, saying, 'In terms of who's going to be most likely to be a spy: somebody from Cullman, Alabama, or somebody from Kenya?'
"When I asked what you would do to address the almost 800,000 Dreamers … you said, 'I believe in following the law. There's too much focus on people who are here illegally and not enough on the law.'"
"Sen. Sessions," Durbin continued, "there is not a spot of evidence in your public career to suggest that as attorney general you would use the authority of that office to resolve the challenges of our broken immigration system in a fair and humane manner. Tell me I'm wrong."
Sessions responded, "You are wrong… I believe the people agree with my view … that we create a lawful system of immigration…"
