By RFD Radio/WFMB
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., offered a tribute to a fixture in Illinois and national politics, Abner Mikva, who died Monday at the age of 90.
Durbin called the former congressman, judge and White House legal counsel a major influence on his career.
“With his old buddy Paul Simon, his old buddy in the Illinois House, they probably inspired this senator as much as any two people that have been living during my time in public service,” Durbin said in a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
Mikva worked for liberal causes until the very end, most recently pushing for the U.S. Senate to consider the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. He served five terms in the Illinois General Assembly, five terms in Congress, became a judge for 15 years for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and then served as White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton.
President Barack Obama awarded Mikva the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
