Durbin Presses For Stronger Action On Kid-Friendly E-Cigarette Flavors In Meeting With FDA Commissioner

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to discuss recently announced regulations on e-cigarette flavorings, flavored cigars, and menthol cigarettes. Durbin thanked Gottlieb for his decision to implement stronger oversight on e-cigarette flavorings being sold to teenagers and kids, and urged him to take even stronger action moving forward. Photos of today's meeting are available here. "E-cigarette use among… Continue Reading

Durbin, Schneider, Duckworth, Lipinski, Foster Introduce Bill To Require EPA To Revise Standards For Ethylene Oxide Emissions

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), along with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Representatives Dan Lipinski (D-IL-03) and Bill Foster (D-IL-11), today introduced a bill that would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions standards for medical sterilization and chemical facilities, which have been the source of harmful emissions in Illinois. The bill also requires the EPA to notif… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Congress To Halt Unauthorized U.S. Military Involvement In Yemen Ahead Of Senate Vote On War Powers

WASHINGTON-Following a classified briefing on the Saudi's war in Yemen from Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - CIA Director Gina Haspel was troublingly not allowed to attend - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Senate to pass a bipartisan joint war powers resolution to end unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen. The Senate is expected to vote on the matter this afternoon. "The American people entrust us [Senators] with … Continue Reading

Durbin Honors Victims Of Shooting At Mercy Hospital

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today in a speech on the Senate floor honored the victims of last week's shooting at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, in which a gunman killed Chicago Police Department Officer Samuel Jimenez, Dr. Tamara O'Neal, and Dayna Less. "Officer Jimenez, Dr. O'Neal, and Ms. Less were all doing work that mattered - and mattered greatly. All three were dedicated to helping others - Officer Jimenez as a protector, and Dr. O'Neal and Ms. Less as healers. Their death… Continue Reading

Durbin Criticizes Trump Administration After Watchdog Finds Vulnerabilities At Facility Charged With Caring For Children In Health Department's Custody

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) responded to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) that identified significant vulnerabilities at a facility in Tornillo, Texas, tasked with caring for children as part of the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (ORR) Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) program. The report found that HHS waived the requirement that the facility conduct required Federal Bureau of Investigation … Continue Reading

Durbin: Senate Republicans Should Oppose Nomination Of Thomas Farr

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today urged his Republican colleagues to vote against Thomas Farr's nomination to be a judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina given his decades-long history of supporting and defending efforts to restrict the right to vote. All 49 Senate Democrats have come out against Farr's nomination. "When we bring Thomas Farr for a vote this week in the United … Continue Reading

Durbin & Senators Call On HUD To Improve Oversight Of Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with nine of his Senate colleagues, today sent a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) urging the agency to immediately improve its oversight of lead-based paint hazards in federally-assisted housing to ensure that families and children are protected from exposure to lead. The letter comes on the heels of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report recommending that HUD take immediate action to improve all of… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Shooting At Mercy Hospital

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the shooting at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, in which a gunman killed three people including Chicago Police Department Officer Samuel Jimenez: My heart is with Mercy Hospital in Chicago tonight. I am praying for the victims, their families, and those who were traumatized by the shooting this afternoon. And I am grateful to the men and women of the Chicago Police Department who responded with bravery, … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Sign Bicameral Amicus Brief To Protect National Monuments Against Unconstitutional Attacks By Trump Administration

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), U.S. Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), 25 Senators, and 92 House members, submitted an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs in five cases before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that challenge the Trump Administration's decision to significantly diminish the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in southern Utah. In the bri… Continue Reading

Senators Unveil Revised Bipartisan Prison, Sentencing Legislation

WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today introduced revised legislation to reduce recidivism, promote public safety, and improve fairness in sentencing of federal crimes. The revised First Step Act, S.3649, has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. "This compromise represents years of work by a bipartisan coali… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Renew Call For Illinois Public Health Director Shah To Resign Over Botched Response To Legionnaires' Outbreak At IVH Quincy

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today reiterated their call for Illinois Public Health Director Nirav Shah to resign given reports that the Rauner Administration and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) botched a water-system repair at Illinois Veterans Home (IVH) Quincy, which was in violation of state health codes, and then chose to deliberately withhold that information from the public and not cite the facility for a mistake. In documents r… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Senate Colleagues To Support Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform Legislation

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today encouraged his Senate colleagues to support the revised First Step Act, bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation. The legislation includes key sentencing reforms from the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act - a bill authored by Durbin and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in Fe… Continue Reading

Durbin, Murkowski Statement On New FDA E-Cigarette Regulations

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today released the following statement after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new regulations on e-cigarette flavorings and flavored cigars: E-cigarette use among children and teenagers is an epidemic, just ask our federal health agencies or any school teacher in America. The FDA is finally moving in the right direction by cracking down on the sale of kid-friendly flavors in e-cigarettes and cigars, an… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Foster, Schneider Meet With Acting EPA Administrator, Call For Action On Cancer-Causing Pollution In Lake And DuPage Counties

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Bill Foster (D-IL-11) and Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), today met with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to discuss cancer risks caused by ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions at Sterigenics Inc. in DuPage County, Illinois and Medline Industries, Inc., and Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc., in Lake County, Illinois. The members urged Acting Administrator … Continue Reading

Durbin Applauds Senate Passage Of Bill To Improve Oil Spill Response In Great Lakes

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded passage of a bill that directs the Coast Guard to establish a Center of Expertise for Great Lakes Oil Spill Research and Response, which will monitor, assess, and train first responders on freshwater oil spill response in the Great Lakes. The provision was included in the Coast Guard Reauthorization bill, which passed the Senate today. "Protecting the Great Lakes is critically important to Illinois' future, and this bill will help ens… Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassely Statement On President Trump's Endorsement Of Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the lead cosponsors of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, today made the following statement regarding President Donald Trump's endorsement of a bipartisan proposal to lower crime rates, prepare inmates to successfully reenter society, promote community safety, and increase fairness in sentencing: President Trump's endorsement of the bipartisan criminal justice refo… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Illinois Representatives-Elect

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Jesus "Chuy" Garcia and Sean Casten, U.S. Representatives-elect from Illinois, to congratulate them and discuss their goals for the 116th Congress. "It's an honor to welcome these newly-elected Representatives to Washington and congratulate them on their victories. They each bring a unique perspective and new energy to our efforts to address the issues facing Illinoisans and our nation, and I look forward to working with them in the ne… Continue Reading

Durbin Re-Elected Senate Democratic Whip For 116th Congress

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after being unanimously re-elected as the Senate's second-highest ranking Democrat, the Senate Democratic Whip, for the 116th Congress by his Senate Democratic colleagues this morning. Durbin has served in the number two role in the caucus since 2005. I am honored that the Senate Democratic Caucus has again supported me to serve as Whip. Our party is more diverse than ever, our Congress is divided, and the challenges… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Schneider Call On Trump Adminstration To Improve Its Monitoring Of Cancer-Causing Pollution In Lake County

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) today, in a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requested it perform updated and current air sampling and modeling studies to determine the cancer risks in Lake County, Illinois, caused by ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions at Medline Industries, Inc. and Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc. The EPA has not conducted air emissions quality tests for these two facil… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Attorney General Sessions Resignation

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced his resignation at President Donald Trump's request: Attorney General Sessions' forced resignation is a transparent effort to clear the way for President Trump to limit or stop the Mueller investigation. Acting Attorney General Whitaker has made his intentions clear to do the President's bidding and stop Mueller. This move could lead our nation in… Continue Reading