Durbin Honors Senate Tenure of Roy Blunt

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) paid tribute to U.S. Senator Roy Blunt's (R-MO) tenure in the Senate ahead of Blunt's retirement at the end of the 117th Congress. Durbin began his speech by praising Blunt's commitment to working across the aisle to ensure that water infrastructure projects along the shared Illinois-Missouri border were adequately funded. "Many of the locks and dams that keep the [Mississippi] river navigable are nearly a hundred years old. For many … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Senate Judiciary Committee Advancing Nomination Of Colleen Lawless To Serve As District Court Judge For The Central District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Judge Colleen Lawless to serve as a District Court Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois: "We are pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced the nomination of Judge Colleen Lawless to serve as a District Court Judge for… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With U.S. Sentencing Commission On Implementing Provisions in First Step Act Into Sentencing Guidelines

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with the U.S. Sentencing Commission to discuss policy priorities for the upcoming sentencing guideline amendment cycle, including implementing provisions from Durbin's bipartisan First Step Act. During their meeting, Durbin encouraged the Commission to update the guidelines to reflect the First Step Act's expanded eligibility for "safety valve" relief from mandatory minimum sentences f… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With U.S. Sentencing Commission On Implementing Provisions In First Step Act Into Sentencing Guidelines

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with the U.S. Sentencing Commission to discuss policy priorities for the upcoming sentencing guideline amendment cycle, including implementing provisions from Durbin's bipartisan First Step Act. During their meeting, Durbin encouraged the Commission to update the guidelines to reflect the First Step Act's expanded eligibility for "safety valve" relief from mandatory minimum sentences f… Continue Reading

Durbin, Rubio Applaud Committee Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Extend Authorization on Global Basic Education

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today announced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) advanced their bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development (READ) Act of 2017 for an additional five years to equitably expand access to basic education for children around the globe. The legislation was introduced in the House by Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ). "Given … Continue Reading

Durbin Calls on Senate to Pass Immigration Reform Legislation Before the End of the Year

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and author of the Dream Act, spoke on the Senate floor today about the reported immigration deal between Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), as well as the urgency of passing the Dream Act this Congress to protect Dreamers from deportation. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has allowed hundreds of thousands of Dreamers to thrive in the United States. The… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Senate To Pass Immigration Reform Legislation Before The End Of The Year

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and author of the Dream Act, spoke on the Senate floor today about the reported immigration deal between Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), as well as the urgency of passing the Dream Act this Congress to protect Dreamers from deportation. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has allowed hundreds of thousands of Dreamers to thrive in the United States. The… Continue Reading

Durbin Highlights Resilience of Ukrainian People Amid Putin's War

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus and Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reflected on the resilience of the Ukrainian people and continued allied unity amid Putin's unprovoked and illegal war. Yesterday, Durbin hosted members of the Ukrainian Parliament to receive an update on Putin's war, and discuss calls for a special tribunal to hold Russian leaders accountable for the crime of aggress… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Senate Colleagues To Include Measures To Regulate Dietary Supplements In Omnibus Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today took to the Senate floor to deliver a speech that called on his Senate colleagues to include provisions from his bipartisan Dietary Supplement Listing Act in the end-of-year omnibus appropriations bill. In his remarks, Durbin emphasized that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must exercise more oversight over the dietary supplement industry in order to empower consumers and protect public health. "More than seventy-five p… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Foster Applaud Final Passage Of Bill To Rename Will County Post Office In Honor Of Larry Walsh, Sr.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, and U.S. Representative Bill Foster (D-IL-11) today applauded last night's Senate passage of H.R. 700, legislation to rename the U.S. Post Office facility located at 303 E. Mississippi Ave. in Elwood, Illinois, after former Will County Executive Lawrence M. "Larry" Walsh, Sr. The bill will now head to President Biden's desk for his signature. A longtime farmer, Walsh began his political career in 1970, at … Continue Reading

Senate Confirms Judge Doris Pryor to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after the Senate confirmed the nomination of Judge Doris Pryor to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals by a bipartisan vote of 60-31: "Judge Pryor has significant federal experience and a proven track record of neutral decision-making on the bench. She was unanimously rated 'Qualified' by the American Bar Association, and she has received blue slip… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on Sinema-Tillis Immigration Deal

WASHINGTON - 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 reported immigration deal reached between Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC): "As the author of the original Dream Act more than 20 years ago, I applaud every good faith effort to give these deserving individuals a path to citizenship. I've been in touch with my colleagues and will carefully review thei… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Foster, Underwood Introduce Legislation To Name Fermilab Research Center After Renowned Physicist Dr. Helen Edwards

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, and U.S. Representatives Bill Foster (D-IL-11) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) today introduced legislation to rename Fermilab's Integrated Engineering Research Center (IERC) after the late Dr. Helen Edwards, who worked at Fermilab as a particle physicist for 40 years. The newly-constructed IERC, which was recently authorized for official use, will be home to new office and lab space that will host an interse… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Springfield Naacp And Religious Leaders To Discuss Protecting Historic 1908 Springfield Race Riot Site

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with members of the Springfield NAACP, including President Teresa Haley, and religious leaders to discuss federal efforts to protect the 1908 Springfield Race Riot Site. Durbin and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) introduced the 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument Act to establish the site as a unit of the U.S. National Park Service. In January 2021, Durbin and Duckworth penned a letter to then-President-Elect Bide… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on Senate Passage of Legislation to Avoid a Rail Strike

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Senate passed legislation to avert a potential railroad strike: "While I am disappointed that not enough of my Republican colleagues would support legislation to increase paid sick leave for union rail workers, I'm relieved that we could come together to quickly pass the labor agreement in order to prevent a rail strike-which would have been devastating to the American economy and put mil… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions CFTC Chairman At Agriculture Committee Hearing on Crypto Amid FTX Collapse

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), today, in a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, questioned the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam about the recent collapse of FTX. On November 11, FTX-one of the world's largest crypto trading platforms-filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned. "How long will it take to unpack the FTX mess to understand what happened and where it stands," Durbi… Continue Reading

Following White House Briefing On Ukraine, Durbin Reiterates The Need To Support Our Ally

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, urged his colleagues to continue to support Ukraine amid Putin's unjustified and unprovoked war. During his speech, Durbin reiterated our commitment to Ukraine and emphasized that the NATO alliance is stronger than ever. Yesterday, Senate leadership and key Committee Chairs and Ranking Members were briefed by the White House about Russia's ongoing invasion o… Continue Reading

Judiciary Committee Advances Nominations of Three Circuit Court Judges & Nine District Court Judges

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nominations of Anthony Devos Johnstone, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit; Maria Araújo Kahn, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit; and Julie Rikelman, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit. The Committee also advanced the nominations of Daniel J. Calabretta, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California; Matthew L. Garcia, to be United St… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Statement on Senate Judiciary Committee Advancing Nomination of Lindsay Jenkins to Serve As District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Lindsay C. Jenkins' nomination to serve as a District Court Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Based on recommendations made by the screening committee the Senators established in the Northern District, Durbin and Duckworth forwa… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With NAACP Legal Defense Fund President

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). During today's meeting, Durbin and Ms. Nelson discussed the Committee's efforts to confirm both demographically and professionally diverse judges, as well as Durbin's continued efforts on criminal justice reform and other topics. "It was great to meet with Janai Nelson today, who has a connection t… Continue Reading