U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is off on a weeklong trip to the Middle East and Africa. Durbin’s office says the taxpayer-funded trip is part of the Illinois Democrat’s role as the new chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. He will travel to Bahrain, Djibouti (jih-BOO’-tee), and Uganda.
Durbin’s trip will focus on issues related to military readiness, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy efforts, and humanitarian causes. The senator says he will also examine how deep spending cuts would affect those missions if the looming federal “sequester” takes effect as scheduled March 1st.
