CHICAGO (WBBM/CBS) – U.S. Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are both speaking out about the death of Osama bin Laden.

Durbin said he was notified specially, and made a special point of waiting for President Barack Obama’s announcement.

“Vice President Biden called me at home in Springfield to tell me that Osama bin Laden had been killed and that the president would be making an announcement soon with details. I waited up for it,” Durbin said. “I’m leaving for Washington in the morning, but this is news that we’ve been waiting for, for almost 10 years. This is the mastermind behind 9/11, and President Bush did everything in his power to capture him or kill him, and President Obama has been able to announce to the American people something we’ve been waiting for.”

Meanwhile, Kirk tells WBBM Newsradio 780 he believes bin Laden’s death will limit the ability of terrorist organizations to carry out attacks.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Dave Marsett reports

“I think there could be a possibility that al-Qaeda will try to exact a revenge for what happened, but this is clearly a blow to one of their most important leaders, and terrorist attacks generally take quite a bit of time and effort to put together,” he said.

Kirk said the death of Bin Laden was a tribute to the military and administration. He spoke from Amsterdam, on his way back from a fact-finding trip.