Durbin, Bustos Announce New Guidance from Army to Improve Rock Island Arsenal Competitiveness

ROCK ISLAND - U.S Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) today announced new guidance from the Army that will help manufacturing at the Rock Island Arsenal (RIA) remain competitive with the private sector and maintain a reliable workload. The new guidance will ensure that the RIA is given fair consideration for every Army acquisition purchase and require all private sector companies to look at the RIA's Joint Manufacturing & Technology Center (JMTC) as a pot… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Trump Administration On Its New War On Drugs

Calls for greater oversight of pharmaceutical industry and focus on public health prevention and treatment WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today questioned Kemp Chester, Associate Director of the National Heroin Coordination Group in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and Christina Nolan, U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism entitled "Defeating Fentanyl: Addressing the Deadl… Continue Reading

Durbin Details Mission To Venezuela In Senate Floor Speech

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke about his recent travel to Venezuela, where he met with President Nicolas Maduro, members of the opposition, the President of the National Assembly, the Ministers of Health and Nutrition, business leaders, civil society groups, doctors, and humanitarian organizations. "What I found was in fact a country on the edge of a precipice, facing overlapping economic, humanitarian, and political crises," said Durbin. "Let me be cle… Continue Reading

Democratic Senators Press Secretary DeVos To Publicly Release Documents Being Used By Deadbeat For-Profit Accreditor To Petition For Federal Recognition

WASHINGTON - Following Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' decision to sign an order to restore the federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools' (ACICS), U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to immediately release the documents being used by ACICS to petition for recognition. The order from Secretary DeVos stated that ACICS will retain it… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today questioned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees entitled "Facebook, Social Media Privacy, and the Use and Abuse of Data": "Mr. Zuckerberg, would you be comfortable sharing with us the name of the hotel you stayed in last night?" Durbin asked. "Um, uh, no," Zuckerberg replied. "If you messaged anybody this week, would you share with us the names of the people you messa… Continue Reading

Durbin: The Republicans Who Control Congress Should Ignore Trump, Protect Dreamers

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today again came to the Senate floor to call on Republican leaders in Congress to pass the bipartisan Dream Act now. As of March 5, 2018 - the arbitrary deadline that President Trump set for expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program - hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the United States as children, known as Dreamers, faced losing their work permits and being deported to countries they barely re… Continue Reading

Durbin, Quigley, Clerk Orr and State Election Officials Highlight New Funding for Election Security

CHICAGO - Illinois will receive $13.2 million in new federal funding to strengthen its election security systems, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL-05) announced today along with Cook County Clerk David Orr and Executive Director of the Illinois State Board of Elections Steve Sandvoss. The funding - which is part of the federal omnibus spending bill that was signed into law last month - will provide critical assistance to states that are using outdated and v… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On China's Response To President Trump's Tariffs

WASHINGTON-Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on China's decision to place duties on U.S. imports, including soybeans and pork, in retaliation to President Trump's plan to place tariffs on Chinese goods: "Illinois' farmers now join DACA recipients as the latest victims of President Trump's temper. Illinois is our nation's largest producer of soybeans, and a top producer of pork, and will feel China's retaliation to threats of a trade war more … Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Sinclair Broadcasting Dictating Content To Local News Stations

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on Sinclair Broadcasting Group Executive Chairman David Smith to explain his company's policy regarding mandating content for local news stations, as well as whether employment consequences exist for local news anchors who do not deliver scripted content from the broadcasting giant. A recent report showing local news anchors reading the same script verbatim continues the troubling history of Sinclair dictating content to its… Continue Reading

Durbin Visits Boeing, Highlights New Funding for Manufacturing Lines

ST. LOUIS - New federal investments in Boeing's Super Hornet and Growler aircraft will provide critical support for thousands of employees in the Metro East, said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) following a tour of Boeing's St. Louis facility today. As Vice Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Durbin worked with Navy leaders to ensure the Fiscal Year 2019 budget includes the purchase of 110 new Super Hornets over the next five years - critical for employees in the region whose jo… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Call For Full Funding Of Refugee Programs

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and 22 of their colleagues in a letter to Senate appropriators, calling for robust funding for programs affecting refugees and other vulnerable migrant populations. The letter follows President Trump's budget request for fiscal year 2019, which seeks to slash funding for critical humanitarian programs. The President's proposed cuts would underfund key refugee resettlement accounts … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Highlight How Additional Federal Funding For Veterans Could Help Improve Quincy Veterans' Home, Protect Residents From Legionnaires' Disease

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) outlined today how additional federal funds secured in last week's omnibus funding agreement could be used by the State of Illinois to protect the Illinois Veterans' Home (IVH) in Quincy from Legionnaires' Disease and construct a new Veterans' Home in Chicago. Duckworth pushed for more than half a billion dollars in additional funding for construction at state-run Veteran health facilities like IVH Quincy, all of whic… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Top Justice Department Officials To Commit To Protect The Special Counsel

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with a group of eight other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is calling for a public commitment to protect the integrity and independence of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation by the top officials who follow Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the Department of Justice's line of succession. The Senators' request follows growing concern about possible political interference in Mueller's inquiry. "We have… Continue Reading

Durbin, Winnebago County Leaders Discuss Efforts to Combat Opioid Crisis, New Funding in Federal Spending Bill

ROCKFORD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with local doctors and treatment professionals at Mercyhealth Hospital to learn about efforts in Winnebago County to combat the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic. Senator Durbin highlighted major opioid-related funding increases in the fiscal year 2018 omnibus spending bill, which was signed into law last week, including more than $3 billion in new funding for treatment, prevention, and research to fight the opioid crisis. Durbin also di… Continue Reading

Durbin, Democratic Senators Warn CFPB Against Repeal Of Rule Cracking Down On Predatory Payday Lending Schemes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and 42 of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Leandra English and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney urging them to end any efforts to undermine and repeal the CFPB's payday lending rule, which represents an important step in reining in predatory business practices by payday lenders nationwide that are designed to exploit the financial … Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses New Federal Investments in Medical Research

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced new federal investments included in last week's omnibus spending bill that will help Chicago's biomedical research institutions continue their important work creating new technologies and finding ways to treat and cure disease. The Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus includes a $3 billion (or nearly 9 percent) increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a $1 billion (or 14 percent) increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Preventio… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Omnibus Funding Bill

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement regarding the omnibus funding bill: "While this bill seemingly addresses every subject under the sun, it does not address the looming fate that our Dreamers face in America. I'm disappointed by this, but will continue to fight to protect Dreamers and fix the crisis that President Trump created by shutting down the DACA program. "What this bill does include is important investments for the people of Illinois, including… Continue Reading

Durbin Asks Consent To Pass The Dream Act

WASHINGTON-Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked unanimous consent that the Senate pass the bipartisan Dream Act. Republican leaders and President Trump have rejected multiple bipartisan offers to address the DACA crisis created by the President on September 5th, 2017. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) objected, and instead countered with President Trump's immigration plan, which garnered the least support of any immigration measure considered by the Senate earlier this year, fail… Continue Reading

Ahead of March For Our Lives, Durbin Calls On Republicans To Stand Up To The NRA & Support Meaningful Gun Violence Prevention Legislation

WASHINGTON-As tens of thousands of students and supporters of gun violence prevention prepare to march in Washington D.C., Chicago, and cities and towns across America, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed President Trump and the Republican majority in Congress for still being unwilling to push for any gun reforms that the gun sales lobby opposes. "On March 24, students and Americans of all ages will march in the streets to honor those who have been lost to senseless gun violence and… Continue Reading

Durbin, Dem Senators Press DHS IG To Investigate Allegations Of Separation Of Children From Asylum-Seeking Parents At U.S. Border

WASHINGTON-Following recent reports of the case of a seven-year-old girl and her mother from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who were separated for more than four months after they presented themselves at the U.S. border and sought protection in accordance with the law, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and 23 of his Senate colleagues today pressed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Inspector General to investigate allegations that DHS is separating the chi… Continue Reading