Durbin: Congress Must Support Efforts to Eliminate Rape Kit Backlog

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Experts have estimated that hundreds of thousands of rape kits remain backlogged across the country, stuffed into police department evidence lockers or awaiting testing at crime labs. At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said Congress must continue to support state and local efforts to combat sexual assault. Footage from the hearing will be made available later today. He also pointed to the need for crimina… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Department of Education to Hold Three For-Profit Companies Accountable for Wrongdoing

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Following the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) lawsuit against ITT Tech and two of its executives for fraud, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Department of Education to investigate the for-profit college's practices along with the practices of Career Education Corporation and Education Management Corporation both of which have also been found by state and federal agencies to have engaged in wrongdoing. In addition, Durbin is seeking an assurance … Continue Reading

Durbin, Graham Launch Senate NIH Caucus

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were joined at a briefing by Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Francis S. Collins today to announce the launch of the bipartisan Senate NIH Caucus. The goal of the NIH Caucus is to preserve our nation's global competitiveness by highlighting the need for investments in cutting-edge research being performed by the agency - the foremost biomedical research institute in the world. NIH directly supp… Continue Reading

Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation to Ensure All Foreign Medical Schools Are Held to Same Standards

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) joined U.S. Representatives Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) today to introduce bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would save taxpayer dollars and protect students by closing a loophole that gives special treatment to a small number of medical schools in the Caribbean that, in 2012, took in more than $450 million in U.S. Department of Education Title IV funding - two-thirds of all Title IV dollars … Continue Reading

Durbin Criticizes Proposed Cuts to Health and Social Services

[CHICAGO] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today criticized proposed budget cuts at the federal and state levels that would have a devastating impact on health care for low-income families across Illinois. Earlier this month, Congress passed a federal budget framework that slashes health care for working families. These cuts are compounded by the State of Illinois' proposed budget, which would leave many of Illinois' most vulnerable citizens without vital health programs. "The proposed state a… Continue Reading

Durbin Enlists Allies on the Frontlines in the Fight Against Predatory For-Profit Colleges

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - With the Class of 2015 ready to graduate from high schools across Illinois, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) 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, and almost … Continue Reading

Senators Press EPA to Set Strong RFS Standard for Biofuels Workers & Farmers

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Al Franken (D-MN) today called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set strong Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) required under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that provides long-needed certainty to farmers and workers in the biodiesel industry while helping domestic producers grow. They also pressed the EPA to live up to its le… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Monsanto to Keep Tax Address in U.S.

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Following news reports that Monsanto is considering acquiring Syngenta AG based in Switzerland, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged the Chairman and CEO, Hugh Grant, to keep its corporate tax headquarters in the U.S. rather than move it overseas, but only on paper, in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes - a process known as "inversion". "As you consider acquiring Syngenta AG or any other company, I strongly urge you and the board of directors to maintain Monsanto … Continue Reading

Senators Call for Attorney General Investigation of Corinthian Colleges Failure

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Citing a claim that the Department of Education has limited tools for holding individual executives responsible for any misconduct of the recently failed Corinthian Colleges, 7 U.S. Senators called it critical that Attorney General Loretta Lynch get to the bottom of whether the for-profit college and its executives violated federal civil or criminal laws. U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ed Markey (… Continue Reading

Durbin: Investigation Into Trucking Company Oversight Will Move Forward

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded the announcement by the Department of Transportation's Inspector General that it will begin an audit of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)'s investigative practices. Durbin called for an investigation in April 2014 after a Chicago Tribune report found a troubling example of FMCSA ordering, but never actually launching, an investigation into an Illinois motor carrier - DND International - with a long histor… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls for Federal Debt Relief for Former Everest College Students

[CHICAGO] - Nearly a year after Corinthian Colleges began to collapse under the weight of its own wrongdoing, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) called on the U.S. Department of Education to provide meaningful federal debt relief to students who attended the school's local campuses, branded as Everest College. Illinois students who attended Everest College are not currently eligible to discharge their federal student loans because the Illinois campuses were sold as opposed to closed. Durbin is urgi… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on New Rules to Strengthen Railroad Tank Cars

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the Department of Transportation announced new rules to strengthen requirements for railroad tank cars. The new rules are intended to help prevent and mitigate the effects of catastrophic spills of the hazardous materials - including ethanol and crude oil - these cars transport through densely populated Illinois cities and towns. Durbin received an update regarding the new regulations during a phone… Continue Reading

Senators Urge Full Funding for Food Safety in Wake of Recalls Following Listeria Outbreak

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Following one of the most sweeping food recalls in history by Blue Bell Creameries and yesterday's announcement of a recall of potentially contaminated pasta salad at Hy-Vee stores across the Midwest, 7 Senators joined today in urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to fully fund the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety activities authorized by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Since it was signed into law in 2011, the FSMA has been underfunded by less… Continue Reading

To Combat Smoking, Lethal Health Risks from Tobacco, Durbin, Blumenthal, Reed, Boxer Introduce Legislation for Tobacco Enforcement Reforms

WASHINGTON, DC] - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced the Tobacco Tax and Enforcement Reform Act (TTERA) to address illegal tobacco trafficking and tobacco product tax disparities, as well as deter consumers - especially among youth - from purchasing tobacco products by increasing federal tax rates on tobacco products. Under current law, tobacco products are disparately taxed, enabling and incentivizing manufa… Continue Reading

Durbin Backs Bill to Raise Federal Minimum Wage

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) in introducing a bill to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 to help more families make ends meet, expand economic opportunity, and help build an economy that works for all families, not just the wealthiest few. The Raise the Wage Act would also phase out the $2.13 tipped wage and would index the minimum wage to median wages. "If you go to work and wo… Continue Reading

Durbin: With Amtrak Ridership on the Rise, But Infrastructure Aging, Investing in Passenger Rail Is More Critical Than Ever

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to include several Illinois priorities in their Passenger Rail Reauthorization legislation. Durbin also raised several significant concerns regarding related legislation passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year that would have a significant impact on Illinois' passenger rail system. Illinois is home to the second largest rail network in the cou… Continue Reading

Durbin and Illinois Farm Service Agency Chair Jill Appell to Attend Joint Session of Congress

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) will welcome Jill Appell of Altona, Illinois as his guest for a Joint Session of Congress tomorrow morning. Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe is the first Japanese Prime Minister to address a Joint Session of Congress. Appell currently serves as Chair of the USDA Farm Service Agency Illinois State Committee. Illinois is the fourth largest pork producing state in the United States, which counts Japan as its primary export market for pork product… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls Out Department of Education for Including Other For-Profit Colleges Under Investigation as "Viable" Transfer Options for Corinthian Students

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called out the Department of Education for suggesting students that have been harmed by the collapse of Corinthian Colleges, Inc. transfer to other for-profit companies - including Westwood College, ITT Tech, Education Management Corporation's The Arts Institutes and Argosy, and Career Education Corporation's Le Cordon Bleu and International Academy of Design and Technology - that are under investigation by multiple federal and state age… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces $1.1 Million Investment in Quincy Airport

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that the City of Quincy, Illinois has received a $1,100,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration for infrastructure improvements and upgrades at Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field Airport. This grant will be used to construct a new taxiway, assisting the airport in meeting new design and safety standards, and improving access to the airfield for employers and economic drivers in t… Continue Reading

Durbin, Bipartisan Senators Introduce Bill to Ban Bulk Collection Under Section 215

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to introduce legislation to restore Americans' eroded privacy rights by ending the government's dragnet collection of phone records under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. An identical bill was introduced in the House on Tuesday, and lawmakers from across the political spectrum called on Congressional leaders to take up the measure ahead of a key deadline for expiring surveillance … Continue Reading