Durbin, Duckworth, Quigley, Casten, Schakowsky Call on USPS Board of Governors to Protect Postal Workers After Inaction From Postmaster General Dejoy

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL-5), Sean Casten (D-IL-6), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9) sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors to express their concern over the inadequate response to the rise in violent crime against mail carriers. The letter comes after the lawmakers received an apathetic response to a Durbin-led letter in July that called on Postmaster General Louis DeJo… Continue Reading

Durbin, Blumenthal, Scanlon Urge Justice Department to Publicly Disclose Data on Prosecution of Corporate Crime

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); and U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) today sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to expand its Department-wide corporate crime data collection. "Comprehensive Department-wide data collection and a searchable public database of the resolutions of Department actions against corporations and individ… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Colleagues in Urging DOJ & ATF To Clarify & Enforce Ghost Guns Rule

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and thirteen Senate colleagues in urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to issue enforcement guidance and clarify the recently finalized Ghost Gun Rule. The rule regulates unfinished frames and receivers that are the core components used to construct ghost guns, which have become the prefe… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Applaud the Biden Administration for Approving Illinois Disaster Declaration Following July's Severe Flash Floods

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today applauded the Biden Administration for approving Governor JB Pritzker's request for federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the State of Illinois, to help St. Clair County respond to significant damage from the flash floods from July 25-28. In August, Durbin and Duckworth led the entire Illinois Congressional delegation in sending a letter to President Biden … Continue Reading

Durbin, Warren Urge Department of Education to Hold Predatory For-Profit College Executives Accountable for Scamming Students

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today sent a letter along with U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona urging him to use the Department of Education's authority to hold executives and owners of predatory for-profit colleges accountable for scamming students out of a meaningful education and saddling them with insurmountabl… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces $600,000 For Expansion of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Services At Swedish Hospital

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited Swedish Hospital to discuss the $600,000 Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) grant from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that will allow them to expand and strengthen their Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program. The SANE program supports victims of sexual assault by enhancing best practice care and forensic evidence collection, supporting the recruitment and retention of nurse examiners, strengthening the community response to sexual ass… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $12.5 Million in DOJ Awards for Illinois to Advance Community Policing

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Illinois law enforcement agencies will receive a total of $12,533,250 in funding from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to hire 85 new full-timelaw enforcement professionals, including 50 in Chicago. This funding is part of a nationwide announcement of more than $139 million in COPS Hiring Program (CHP) grants to 180 agencies … Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on Administration's Action to Expand And Strengthen H-2B Visa Program

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of Labor (DOL), announced that nearly 65,000 supplemental H-2B visas will be allocated in fiscal year (FY) 2023 and that DHS and DOL are implementing changes to address abuses in the H-2B Visa Program: "I have long had serious concerns about the effect of increasing the H-2B cap on… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Gillibrand In Calling for EPA to Further Address Toxic Peas Pollution in Upcoming Guidance

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with 12 of their colleagues, in sending a letter calling for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increase its efforts to stop the flow of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances?(PFAS) into communities. Ahead of the EPA's upcoming guidance to state permitting authorities on how to address PFAS in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, … Continue Reading

Durbin Announces $775,000 for Aurora University to Improve Training for Nursing Students

AURORA - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited Aurora University (AU) to discuss the $775,000 in federal funding he secured through Congressionally Directed Spending-commonly known as an earmark-in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 omnibus appropriations bill to provide enhanced hands-on training opportunities for nearly 800 nursing students. This funding will allow the University to obtain new state-of-the-art training technology, including simulation manikins, to teach foundational skills thr… Continue Reading

Durbin, Portman, Rubio Provisions to Ban U.S. Recognition of Any Ukrainian Territory Annexed By Russia Included In Proposed FY23 NDAA Substitute

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Co-Chairs of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) announced their amendments that prohibit the United States from recognizing any Russian claim of sovereignty over any portion of the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine have been included in the substitute of the Senate-version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that advanced to the Se… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Lindsay C. Jenkins, Nominated to the Northern District of Illinois, in Judiciary Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Lindsay C. Jenkins, nominated to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. During the hearing, Durbin highlighted her extensive qualifications and background as a federal prosecutor. Ms. Jenkins spent 15 years as a federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Illinois, and in that time, gained … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $2.25 Billion in Federal Formula Funding for Illinois Infrastructure

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $2,250,129,111 in federal formula funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration for Fiscal Year 2023. This funding is part of the more than $17 billion in federal formula funds that Illinois will receive from the significant increase in federal infrastructure funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. "Today's announced funding wi… Continue Reading

Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Hearing on Latest Circuit and District Court Nominations

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nominations of Anthony Devos Johnstone, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit; Daniel J. Calabretta, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California; Matthew L. Garcia, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico; Jeffery Paul Hopkins, to be United… Continue Reading

Durbin, Cassidy Inform Consumers Act Included In Proposed FY23 NDAA Substitute

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) announced today their Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM Consumers) Act has been included in the substitute of the Senate-version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that advanced to the Senate floor today. The legislation will combat the online sale of stolen, counterfeit, and dangerous consumer products by ens… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Nearly $6 Million in Grants for Chicago Public Schools

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Chicago Public Schools received $5,893,904 in Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) grants to support school curriculum and promote equity efforts. The MSAP grant money, awarded by the U.S Department of Education, will assist Chicago magnet schools in implementing innovative instructional approaches that will support students from a wide-range of social, economic, ethnic, and ra… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls for Passage of NOPEC Act in the Lame Duck Session

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding OPEC+'s decision to dramatically reduce oil production in alliance with Vladimir Putin: "From unanswered questions about 9/11, the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the exporting of extremism, to dubious jailing of peaceful dissidents and conspiring with Vladimir Putin to punish the U.S. with higher oil prices, the Saudi royal famil… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on Fifth Circuit Ruling on DACA

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and author of the Dream Act, released the following statement regarding the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to remand the case on the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to the District Court for further consideration. For now, this decision maintains the status quo - current DACA recipients can continue to live and work under the protections of the progr… Continue Reading

Durbin, Stratton Join Local Officials to Cut Ribbon On Latest Completed Segment of Springfield Rail Improvements Project

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today attended the ribbon cutting for the new 5th and 6th Street Bridges, which are part of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project. The 5th and 6th Street Bridges Project includes new double-track bridges for the Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific corridors at 5th and 6th Streets. It also includes grading, drainage, and trackwork from north of 6th Street to Stanford Avenue. This project improves rail safety and vehicle height restrictions on the h… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Urge Department of Education to Strengthen Regulations Against Informal Removal of Students From Class as a Form of Discipline

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today sent a letter to the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights calling for "informal removal" to be included in the final rulemaking for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As the Senators reiterate in their letter, including informal removal in Section 504 regulations would protect students, particularly those with disabilities, from the discriminatory use of informal remo… Continue Reading