Durbin Statement On Secretary of State Rubio Announcing "Sweeping Reorganization" At The State Department
CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a plan to significantly reorganize the State Department, including targeting human rights programs and others focused on war crimes and democracy:
“The chaos and cruelty of this Administration knows no bounds. After dismantling USAID, the Trump Administration is now going after the State Department—a critical department that executes our foreign policy goals, maintains our alliances around the world, and promotes the long-term security of the United States.
“As more information becomes available, I will be monitoring these ‘reforms’ closely. I am particularly concerned over reports that the Trump Administration plans to target human rights programs and the monitoring of war crimes and democracy abroad. Secretary Rubio and I worked closely on many of these priorities during his time in the Senate and I know he understands the importance of American leadership on these issues.
“With instability continuing in challenging corners of the globe, now, more than ever, we need America’s top diplomats engaged—not ceding our leadership to China and Russia.”
In Congress and as Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, Durbin has continuously called out Russia for committing war crimes in Ukraine. Durbin and Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) bipartisan Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act – which updates the current war crimes statute to enable prosecution of war criminals in the United States regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator or victim – was signed into law by President Biden.
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