Senator Dick Durbin offered a tribute to a fixture in Illinois and national politics, Abner Mikva, who passed away Monday at the age of 90.

Durbin called the former Congressman, judge and White House legal counsel a major influence on his career.

Mikva worked for liberal causes until the very end, most recently pushing for the U.S. Senate to consider the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

He served five terms in the Illinois General Assembly, five terms in Congress, became a judge for 15 years for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and then served as White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton.

President Barack Obama awarded Mikva the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.