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Durbin not seeking re-election; says trade war hurting farmers

The second ranking Democratic member of the U.S. Senate says the Trump administration’s trade policies are hurting family farms.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who recently announced he’ll not seek another term after serving more than 40 years in Congress, says groups are telling him the impacts of new tariffs could be devastating.

“Go to the Farm Bureau and ask to meet with them privately.”  He says, “They don’t want to speak publicly about this.  Ask them what it will mean if we go through with tariffs on their exports.  Go to the CEOs of corporations who’ve called me and told me they were desperate to make a decision on their future, but they couldn’t make it because of the prospect of these tariffs.”

He says Congress needs to assert its Constitutional power of the purse.

“We said in an emergency situation we would delegate that to the President.”  He says, “We don’t have an emergency situation with Canada.  For God’s sake, that is one of our most important trading partners and now we’re going into a trade war with Canada. But it’s sad that we’ve reached that point.”

The 80-year-old Durbin says he’ll actively serve out the remainder of his term through January 2027.

AUDIO: Illinois Senator Dick Durbin

Audio courtesy of affiliate WFMB