By AP/KWMU
Washington – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin today released a study produced by his own staff that portrays his recent legislative record as being in accord with many of the official positions taken by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In April, the Illinois Catholic was stunned by the public statements of a priest in his hometown of Springfield who said he would refuse to administer Holy Communion to the Democrat because of his support for abortion rights.
Durbin's scorecard gave him an overall score of just over 60 percent in support of positions taken by the bishops.
The rating covers a wide variety of issues including not only abortion but such other matters as immigration and housing.
Durbin's score was the second highest of the 24 Catholic senators whose records were analyzed.
Durbin's staff says the scorecard covered a total of 48 votes or actions senators have taken regarding 24 domestic and international issues in the current 108th Congress, and one from the previous Congress on the Iraqi War Resolution.