U.S. Senator Dick Durbin has addressed comments made by Dr. Robert Redfield, former head of the Centers for Disease Control, that he [Redfield] believes COVID-19 may have been manufactured in a lab in Wuhan, China. The novel coronavirus, which has killed millions and done inestimable harm to Western economies over the past twelve months, was originally thought to have originated from a live-animal market in Wuhan.
“There have been investigations. There was an international team about six weeks ago that went on the ground and did not reach that conclusion . . . yet,” said Durbin. “I want to make sure we have the facts straight as best we can put them together as to where this came from. If there was deception and efforts on the part of the Chinese Communist Party to promote this virus or to see it spread, they need to be held responsible.”
Durbin, who also chairs the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, was quick to add that our enemy in such a scenario are members of the Communist Party—not the Chinese people or Chinese Americans.
In the wake of Georgia’s new voter law—one of the most restrictive in decades—Durbin expressed his disappointment. “We may have to pass legislation on the federal level to guarantee to people they have the right to vote,” he said. “We’ve done it before. It’s not new. When there was a poll tax, we abolished it in Washington.”
After encouraging a crowd of fellow democrats, candidates, and volunteers at a get-out-the-vote rally near Springfield’s Old State Capital on Saturday, Durbin affirmed his support for tuition-free community college as part of President Biden’s anticipated infrastructure bill. “If we say to these young people you’ll get a chance to have your start in life without a debt hanging over your head, it’s the best thing for them, it’s best for the economy, and it really encourages people to do the right thing.”
The U.S. Senate is on break through April 9th.