After two weeks of negotiations with Democratic leaders, Roland Burris will be sworn into the U.S. Senate this week.
After two weeks of negotiations with Democratic leaders, Roland Burris will be sworn into the U.S. Senate this week.
“I am truly humbled and honored to learn that later this week I will be sworn in as the junior Senator of Illinois,” Burris said at a Monday news conference. “Right now we are trying to coordinate our schedules so we can do the swearing this week. It could happen Thursday or Friday. It all depends on everyone’s schedules. I want my family to be there so my children, who work jobs, are arranging to get time off to attend.”
The former state comptroller and attorney general thanked Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Harry Reid, DNev., and the citizens of Illinois for all their support.
Among his first priorities as a senator is to help pass an economic stimulus bill that Barack Obama has been encouraging lawmakers to do since he was elected president in November.
“This state and country is hurting, and we need to get things back on track,” Burris said.
But by the time Burris, 71, gets settled into office, it will soon be time to run for re-election, something he has not determined if he will do. Burris was appointed to fill the remainder of Obama’s Senate term, which is up in 2010.
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