Dick Durbin returned to NIU Friday, 32 years after helping campaign for ex-NIU professor Mike Bakalis to become Illinois State Superintendent.

“I didn’t think that at that part of my life I would run for anything,” said the senior senator from Illinois.

Durbin returned to DeKalb this time to campaign for himself. This is his first re-election campaign after winning the seat vacated by former senator Paul Simon in 1996.

The meeting, sponsored by NIU’s political science department, allowed Durbin the opportunity to address campaign issues, such as the environment and foreign policy.

Durbin expressed disappointment in the motor vehicle industries’ unwillingness to work toward a better environment. He points to the fall of the fuel efficiency average from 28 miles a gallon in 1985 to 24 miles a gallon, as a sign that it is time for car manufactures to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. He said it not only will help the environment, but will reduce America’s dependency on foreign oil.

The issue of American dependency on foreign oil goes along with the current possibility of a military conflict in Iraq, Durbin said.

Durbin voted against the resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iraq, saying that he doesn’t think that the United States should act alone against the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

“It is better to have a coalition behind us than a coalition against us,” he said.

Durbin wants to get strong backing from Middle Eastern countries and other members of the United Nations before moving against Iraq.

“The U.S. should not want to reach a point where we walk away from collective security,” he said.

After presenting his ideas on campaign issues, Durbin took time to answer questions from the audience and the local media.

The current member of the Select Committee on Intelligence answered questions about how much the United States knew about the North Korean nuclear weapons program and why they are being handled differently than Iraq.

“We’ve had all this information for a while,” he said. “It is curious that President Bush is all about Iraq.”

He reiterated that he thinks it is important for the U.N. to lead the way.

When asked what is next after the resolution, Durbin said he was disappointed about it but “this is a democracy and the President won that vote.” If war comes he plans on supporting the troops.

Durbin also expressed frustration about the high cost for medications senior citizens have to pay and explained why pharmaceutical companies make it is so difficult to pass laws to help with costs.

“They have six lobbyists in Washington for every senator, senior citizens don’t have that,” he said.

When asked about the future of education, Durbin said that he thinks the Bush administration legislation is unsuccessful in dealing with children’s education. He said the president’s “leave no child behind” program is an example of that.

“There we were, standing with President Bush, Ted Kennedy and [other senators] saying let’s do this and when the budget came, there was no money for it,” he said.

How much federal money is available for college students also needs to be evaluated, Durbin said.

“Pell Grants haven’t kept up,” he said.

Durbin followed the meeting with a bus tour of the campus that included visits to Barsema Hall and the Convocation Center before recording an interview with Northern Public Radio.