Durbin & Blumenthal Statement on FDA Tobacco Regulations

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement today in response to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) final deeming regulations on tobacco: "Today's release of the final tobacco deeming rule will help in the effort to protect a new generation from the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes, cigars, hookah, and other previously unregulated tobacco products. We commend the FDA for taking this long overdue action to … Continue Reading

Durbin Continues to Warn High School Students Against Predatory For-Profit Colleges

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - With the Class of 2016 ready to graduate from high schools across Illinois, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) once again wrote today to principals, counselors, and teachers throughout the state asking for their help in the fight to protect students from being lured into enrolling in a for-profit college and all too often "[finding] their dream has turned into a nightmare when they end up with a worthless degree that employers don't even recognize, credits that don't transfer, … Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Supreme Court Nominee at SIU Law

CARBONDALE - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke with students and faculty from the Southern Illinois University School of Law about the nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Durbin met with Judge Garland in Washington last month and has repeatedly called on Senate Republicans to hold a hearing and a vote on the President's nominee. "It has been 48 days since Chief Judge Merrick Garland was nominated to the Supreme Court, and 80 days since a vacancy on the Co… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Bill to Expand Access to Substance Abuse Treatment Under Medicaid

CARBONDALE - In the midst of the ongoing heroin and prescription opioid abuse epidemic, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today discussed legislation he has introduced to expand access to treatment for people who are not receiving the addiction care they need. The Medicaid Coverage for Addiction Recovery Expansion (Medicaid CARE) Act would modify the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) Exclusion policy-a decades-old Medicaid policy that has had the unintended consequence of limiting tre… Continue Reading

Durbin & Kirk Introduce Bill to Name Aurora Post Office After Ken Christy

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) introduced legislation in the Senate to designate the U.S. Post Office facility located at 525 N. Broadway in Aurora, Illinois, as the Kenneth M. Christy Post Office Building. U.S. Representatives Bill Foster (D-IL) and Rodney Davis (R-IL) introduced the bill - which is now supported by the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation - in the House of Representatives earlier this month. Ken Christy, who passed away sud… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls on Congress to Pass Emergency Funding for Zika Virus

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today held a roundtable discussion with Illinois public health officials and medical experts to discuss the urgent need for Congress to pass the President's $1.9 billion emergency funding request to help treat and prevent the spread of the Zika virus. In the absence of Congressional action, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has begun diverting funding and resources away from Illinois and other states to support Southern states where th… Continue Reading

Durbin Commends Obama Administration's Newly Released Student Loan Servicing Principles

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the White House unveiled a set of student loan servicing principles that contains basic rights and protections for federal student borrowers when dealing with loan servicers. Today's announcement makes common sense improvements to ensure that military borrowers are afforded by the servicer all of the special legal benefits and protections they are entitled to under the law and that all borrowers ar… Continue Reading

Grassley-Durbin Sentencing Reform & Corrections Act Expands Bipartisan Support

WASHINGTON-Assistant Senate Democratic Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), co-authors of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act today announced revisions to the legislation to broaden bipartisan support for criminal justice reform. Durbin and Grassley were joined by co-sponsors Assistant Majority Leader John Cornyn, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy, and Senators Mike Lee and Sheldon Whitehouse. Durbin spoke about the bill on the fl… Continue Reading

Durbin Asks President Obama to Make Cahokia Mounds a Unit of the National Park Service

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to President Obama asking him to declare the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site as a National Monument. At the request of Durbin in 2014, the National Park Service began undertaking a survey of the suitability of Cahokia Mounds in the St. Louis Metro region to a unit of the National Park Service. "I support protecting and sharing this important natural, archeological, and cultural resource that runs through Collinsv… Continue Reading

Senators Say Industry Should be Doing More to Address Dangers of Detergent Packets

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today called on The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), along with other manufacturers of detergent packets, to do more to address the dangers to children of detergent packets outlined in a recent study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics official journal on Monday. Last year, the standards-setting organization ASTM International convened manufactur… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets with Will County Officials to Discuss Local Priorities

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with members of the Will County Board who were in Washington, D.C. for their annual fly-in. Durbin and the group discussed local economic development issues and transportation priorities. A photo of today's meeting is available here. "The Will County Board serves as an important local voice for the business and community interests of the entire region," Durbin said. "I was happy to meet with members of the Board today to talk a… Continue Reading

Durbin: DOD Tobacco Policy Tobacco Policy is Good, But Not Good Enough

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, released the following statement in response to the Department of Defense's new Tobacco Policy: "The numbers tell the story. Tobacco usage in our military is significantly higher than the rest of America. And that tobacco usage creates serious health problems within our military while reducing troop readiness to defend our nation. The response announced by the Pentagon … Continue Reading

Durbin: Republican Inaction on Zika Virus Threatens Public Health Preparedness & Response in Illinois

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - As a result of Congressional Republicans' refusal to fund emergency actions combatting the spread of the Zika virus, Illinois and other states are losing access to critical public health resources, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today. To prevent additional resources from being diverted away from states like Illinois, Durbin called for the immediate full funding of President Obama's request for emergency appropriations to fight the Zika virus. "Illinois should no… Continue Reading

Durbin, Brown, Blumenthal Renew Call for FDA to Ban Retail Sale and Marketing of Deadly Pure, Bulk Caffeine

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Earlier today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stood with representatives for the Center for Science in the Public Interest and families whose loved ones have died after using powdered caffeine as they renewed their call on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the retail sale and marketing of pure, bulk powdered caffeine, which even in small doses can be deadly. Data collected by the American Association of… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on White House Commitment of $100 Million Toward Goal of Tuition-Free Community College

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) praised the Obama Administration's decision to pledge $100 million to expand workforce training programs at community colleges around the country. Today's funding is part of President Obama's goal of providing two years of free community college tuition to hardworking students. According to the Illinois Community College Board, five community colleges in Illinois have a tuition free program - City Colleges of Chicago, Elgin Community College,… Continue Reading

Durbin Renews Call for Legislation to Address Rising Number of Poisonings in Children Due to Detergent Packets

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called for passage of legislation he introduced with U.S. Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) to address the rising number of poisonings in children due to laundry detergent packets. Earlier today the American Academy of Pediatrics released a study showing a 17 percent increase in calls between 2013 and 2014 to Poison Control Centers across America related to ultra-concentrated detergent packets. "Today's American Academy of Pedi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Kirk, Bost, Shimkus & Davis Request Meeting with NGA Director to Present Their Case for St. Clair County

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - The bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Delegation representing Southwestern Illinois - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), U.S. Representative Mike Bost (R-IL), U.S. Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), and U.S. Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) - wrote National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Director Robert Cardillo today to detail their "strong concerns" with the agency's rationale for selecting a site for its new facility, known as NGA W… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses New Initiatives to Address High Rates of Lead Exposure Across the Nation

SPRINGFIELD, IL - As part of a larger effort by Senate Democrats to combat lead contamination, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today highlighted new initiatives to protect children in affordable housing from lead poisoning and update the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) lead and copper regulations to establish mandatory lead testing of pipes and water in cities-large and small-across the country. Earlier this week, Senate Democrats introduced the True LEADership Act, a comprehensive plan … Continue Reading

Durbin, Bustos: Senate Committee Passed Bill Fully Funds Thompson Prison Activation for 2017

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos (IL-17) today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee - of which Durbin is a member - passed a bipartisan FY2017 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill that continues funding for the activation of the Thomson correctional facility in Thomson, Illinois. The legislation must now be passed by the full Senate and then reconciled with the House version of the bill. "Once controversia… Continue Reading

With Anti-Muslim Bigotry on the Rise, Durbin Seeks Information About Airlines’ Efforts to Prevent Discrimination on Flights

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Following a series of recent incidents on airlines involving alleged discrimination against American Muslims and Arab Americans - including a report of a student being removed from his flight after speaking Arabic on a phone call earlier this week - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote to Airlines for America President Nicholas Calio to share his concerns, and to seek additional information about what its member airlines are doing to prevent similar future incidents. … Continue Reading