00:00Hi. You know me. I'm Loretta Durbin's husband.
00:21Upstaged by Loretta at this stage in my career. It's about time. Love you.
00:28I think back how I got to this stage, and I don't want to reminisce because there's
00:35that much that holds an audience when you tell personal stories over and over, but I
00:42do want to say a few things. My mother was an immigrant to this country. She was brought
00:47here at the age of two from a country called Lithuania, and her family thought that the
00:53land of opportunity, the place to go in America, was East St. Louis, Illinois, which is where
01:03I was born and raised. Let me tell you about the Durbins of East St. Louis, Illinois. We
01:10were Catholics, members of unions. We ate fried chicken after church on Sunday, drove Ford
01:21automobiles, and we were Democrats. I learned that lesson from my family early on, and thank
01:31God I did. Probably the most important lesson that they taught me, the difference between
01:36Democrats and Republicans. It has really guided my life and my career and my public life. I
01:43think about why we gather here, and I particularly want to thank one person on my staff who has
01:49been the leading light for the Democratic Party of our state for so long, Bill Houlihan.
02:04And his wife, Cindy.
02:10I spent this last week traveling around the state to find out what was on the mind of families
02:16and people. You've heard a lot from my colleague whom I dearly love, Tammy Duckworth. But let
02:23me tell you what I heard this week as I traveled from Chicago to Springfield. We heard that a
02:28major hospital in Chicago is closing. Sadly, there are others that will follow, even downstate.
02:35We learned that hospitalization insurance premiums are going to go up 65% for many of our neighbors.
02:42We also learned at the same time that two major health insurance companies are leaving the
02:47state of Illinois. This is barely two weeks after the passage of the so-called Big Beautiful
02:53Bill. We told this president and the Republicans, if you ignore the fragile situation with health
02:59care in our nation, ordinary people will suffer. I can tell you losing your health insurance
03:06is something you never forget. Loretta and I got married after my first year in law school
03:12and God sent us a beautiful little girl a few months later. Nine months and thirty minutes, I say.
03:17She was as sweet and wonderful as can be, but she had a medical challenge, a serious medical challenge.
03:26I was a law student with no health insurance. We ended up sitting in Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C.,
03:33where I was going to school, in the charity ward, waiting to see what doctor would come through the door.
03:38We had no insurance. That was our option. Luckily, she got good care, and I was glad of it.
03:45But I never forgot, as a father and a husband, those days without health insurance. You feel so damn helpless.
03:52And now we're being told by the Congressional Budget Office that more than 10,000 Americans are going to lose their health insurance.
04:00What a heartbreak for those people, what they're going to have to go through. And what is it for?
04:05For Donald Trump's tax break for the wealthiest people in America. A family that loses its health insurance will never forget it.
04:14$346,000 tax break for Elon Musk. He'll never even notice it. That's the reality of the situation.
04:21My friends, this election coming up is important for us to take back the House.
04:26I thank Hakeem Jeffries for accepting the invitation today.
04:31We've got to make sure that we have quality candidates running for every office in our state and around the country.
04:39I was pleased to learn yesterday that Sherrod Brown is going to run for election again as United States Senator in the House.
04:49And there will be others. We've got to be generous to them and help them every step of the way.
04:55So let me close by saying this. It's an honor to represent you. This is a long goodbye. I've got a year and four months left.
05:03You're going to see me some more. But I'm going to tell you I'll never forget this party, this state and what you've meant to my life.
05:10It really has made a difference and I hope I have too. Thank you all.
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