VA Applies Bipartisan Provision To Enhance Va Medical Care

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) welcomed the news that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will implement one of the key proposals from the bipartisan Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act, helping to ensure veterans can get the care they need from Advance Practice Registered Nurses. The VA will now allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) to practice to the full extent of their education, training, a… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Bill To Require President, Vice President To Fully Divest Personal Financial Conflicts Of Interest

CHICAGO-On the day President-elect Donald Trump was supposed to inform the American people about his future with the Trump Organization, a group of Democratic U.S. senators announced they will introduce a bill in January that would require the President and Vice President to disclose and divest any potential financial conflicts of interest. It would also require presidential appointees to recuse themselves from any specific matters involving the President's financial conflicts of interest that c… Continue Reading

Durbin: Repealing Affordable Care Act Would Disrupt Lives of Millions

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with doctors and health care experts to discuss the local impact of congressional Republicans plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - without replacing the law - in early January. Repealing the ACA will threaten health care for all Americans, drive up costs, and let insurance companies place arbitrary limits on benefits and deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or gender. More than one million people in Illinois would lose their hea… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Education Department To Provide Debt Relief To Former Westwood College Students In Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) urged the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to work with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to provide prompt federal student loan debt relief through the Department's borrower defense to repayment rule for more than three thousand former Westwood College students in Illinois. Last year, Attorney General Madigan settled a lawsuit with the company for $15 million after finding that Westwood misled students about the accreditation and cost of its cr… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces More Than $3 Million In HUD Funding For Illinois Housing And Community Development

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that Chicago Housing Authority and The Village of Oak Park, Illinois will receive a total of $3,452,000 in grant funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Village of Oak Park received $3 million through the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program to spur business development and economic growth in the community. The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) received $452,000 through the Resident Opportunities and Self Su… Continue Reading

Senators Call For National Intelligence Estimate Of Russian Tampering In U.S. Election, Request Confirmation Of Justice Dept. Investigation

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Al Franken (D-MN), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Ed Markey (D-MA) today called for a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) to determine the extent of Russian intervention in the 2016 United States presidential election, accompanied by an unclassified summary of its key judgments by January 20th, 2017. An NIE is the formal, authoritative assessment of the Directo… Continue Reading

Durbin, Business Leaders Highlight New Bill to Protect DREAMers

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition (IBIC) today highlighted Senator Durbin's new legislation to ensure that the young undocumented immigrants known as DREAMers remain shielded from deportation if the Trump Administration ends the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Like DACA, the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy (BRIDGE) Act would provide temporary relief from deportation and work authorization to … Continue Reading

Durbin’s Bipartisan Bill To Reauthorize Leasing Authority At Arsenals Passes Senate

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) released the following statement after the Senate passed their bipartisan legislation, the Arsenal Installation Reutilization Authority, to reauthorize the leasing authority at Department of Defense arsenals and military instillations for unused office space to outside tenants: "This legislation provides the kind of thoughtful, engaged approach we need to ensure … Continue Reading

Durbin, Kirk Announce Illinois Post Offices To Be Renamed After Abner J. Mikva, Officer Joseph P. Cali

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) today announced the Senate passed legislation to name two U.S. Post Office facilities after Illinois' Abner J. Mikva and Officer Joseph P. Cali. "Abner Mikva was always my North Star for integrity, independence, and progressive values. And Officer Cali was a true public servant, putting his life on the line in Vietnam and paying the ultimate sacrifice as a Chicago police officer at a tragically young age. Both men could not be more … Continue Reading

Durbin, Quigley Announce Chicago Post Office To Be Renamed After Officer Joseph P. Cali

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) announced the Senate passed legislation to designate the U.S. Post Office facility located at 6300 N. Northwest Highway in Chicago, Illinois as the Officer Joseph P. Cali Post Office Building. Vietnam War Veteran and Chicago Police Officer Joseph P. Cali was shot and killed on May 19, 1975, at the age of 31 while writing a parking ticket in the 2100 block of West Lake Street. He was survived by his wife, Neva,… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Senate Colleagues To Support Bridge Act To Protect Dreamers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke on the Senate floor about new bipartisan legislation to ensure that the young undocumented immigrants known as DREAMers remain shielded from deportation under a Trump Administration. Like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy (BRIDGE) Act would provide temporary relief from deportation and work authorization to young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the Unite… Continue Reading

Graham, Durbin Announce Bipartisan Bridge Act To Protect Young Individuals From Deportation

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced they are introducing bipartisan legislation to protect young undocumented individuals should the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program be discontinued. U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) are original cosponsors of the bill. Like DACA, the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy (BRIDGE) Act would provide temporary relief from d… Continue Reading

Bipartisan Senators Call On Pres.-Elect Trump To Stand Against Russian Aggression, Support NATO, Ukrainian Sovereignty

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), co-chairs of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, today led a bipartisan group of 27 senators to call on President-elect Donald Trump to continue America's tradition of support for the people of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. "In light of Russia's continued aggression and repeated refusal to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereign right to choose its own destiny, we also renew our call for the United States to i… Continue Reading

Durbin Pays Tribute To Vice President Joe Biden On Senate Floor

WASHINGTON-In a Senate floor speech Wednesday, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) paid tribute to Vice President Joe Biden, with whom he served in the Senate for 12 years: "Mr. Vice President, for more than 40 years you have taken all the strength and wisdom you learned from your family, and all of your own experiences with loss and hardship, and you have used those lessons to give countless millions of people in Chicago, in America, and around the world, reasons to hope and ways to heal. You are a… Continue Reading

Durbin Thanks Education Secretary King, Pushes For Relief For Corinthian, Westwood, And Other Defrauded Students

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. to thank him for his dedication and service to students at the U.S. Department of Education. They also discussed high-priority issues that still need to be addressed by the Department before the end of the Obama Administration, including student loan debt relief for Corinthian, Westwood, and other defrauded students. "For the past year, I have had the honor of working with Secretary King to bring a… Continue Reading

Durbin, Graham Statement on Trump Comments on DREAMers

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) released the following statement on comments made to Time magazine by President-elect Donald Trump, who said, "We're going to work something out that's going to make people happy and proud. They got brought here at a very young age, they've worked here, they've gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they're in never-never land because they don't know what's going to happen." "We're encourag… Continue Reading

Democratic Senators Urge Education Department To Protect Students And Taxpayers Should For-Profit Accreditor Lose Federal Recognition

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today called on the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to take steps to protect students and taxpayers in the event that the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), currently the nation's largest accreditor of for-profit colleges, loses federal recognition. ACICS losing federal recognition would require the approximately 250 sch… Continue Reading

Durbin Thanks Attorney General Lynch, Discusses Need For Action On High-Priority Issues

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to thank her for her dedication and service in the Department of Justice. They also discussed high-priority issues that still need to be addressed by Congress and the Department of Justice, like reforms to federal sentencing law. "I want to thank Loretta Lynch for her outstanding service as our nation's 83rd Attorney General. She has been a dedicated advocate for the civil and constitutional rights of al… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Education Department Decision To End Federal Student Aid For Two More ACICS-Accredited Schools

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced it would terminate the participation of Globe University and Minnesota School of Business in the Title IV federal student loan program. The announcement comes after a Minnesota judge ruled in September that the for-profit colleges defrauded and misled students. "It's no surprise that Globe University and Minnesota School of Business, found guilty in Minnesota court of… Continue Reading

Durbin Thanks Transportation Secretary, Pushes For Critical Illinois Priorities

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called United States Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx to thank him for his dedication and service in leading the Department of Transportation (DOT). They also discussed the need for DOT to fund priority Illinois projects as the Obama Administration draws to a close, including a full funding agreement for the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Red and Purple Modernization Program, FASTLANE grants, Chicago Union Station Emerging Projects Agre… Continue Reading