November 17, 2025

Durbin Secures Support For Illinois Priorities In Newly Enacted Military Construction And Veterans Affairs And Agriculture Funding Bills

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced the various priorities for Illinois he secured in the newly enacted funding bills for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; and Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Related Agencies for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26).

“As the government reopens under a continuing resolution, Congress also passed appropriations bills that bolster our nation’s military readiness, support our veterans, and fund programs that our rural communities rely on,” Durbin said. “The appropriations process is far from over, and Congress must come together to fund the other critical programs that help Illinoisans thrive.”

The two funding bills include the following Illinois priorities secured by Congressionally Directed Spending requests:

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs

  • Forging Equipment Annex, Rock Island, Illinois. $5 million in Minor Construction funds to house the expanding forging capability at Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center. This funding will help build a new annex to support a wide array of weapon systems across all of the services and expand the existing limited forging area consistent with DoD safety and building standards.
  • Marseilles Range Control, Marseilles, Illinois. $3.05 million in Minor Construction funds to renovate and modernize an existing operations and maintenance facility for the Illinois Army Guard. The current facility has no classroom for instruction and is in hazardous condition with no functioning bathroom and electrical problems.
  • National Guard Readiness Center, Peoria, Illinois. $8 million in Major Construction funds for a new readiness center facility for the Illinois Army Guard. The current facilities are rated failing and a new, consolidated single facility will support nearly 300 soldiers. In addition, the State of Illinois has committed to providing $20 million as part of a cost-share effort, reducing the overall financial burden on the federal government.
  • New Weapons Quality Assurance/Calibration Facility, Rock Island, Illinois. $4.25 million in Minor Construction funds for a new building for the Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center. The new building will replace five buildings that are reaching the end of their usefulness.

Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA

  • Hospital Infrastructure Improvements, Watseka, Illinois. $645,000 to the Iroquois Memorial Hospital and Resident Home to update aged and outdated facilities, including HVAC systems and flooring.
  • Intergenerational Center, Fairbury, Illinois. $1 million to the Boys and Girls Club of Livingston County to construct an intergenerational community center to provide programming and services to youth and seniors at the same site.
  • Laboratory Renovation, Pittsfield, Illinois. $1 million to the Blessing Care Corporation to update the laboratory department at Illini Community Hospital to modernize facilities that are more than 80 years old.
  • Medical Technology Upgrades, Lawrenceville, Illinois. $450,000 to provide essential technological upgrades at Lawrence County Memorial Hospital, including improvements in diagnostic imaging, patient monitoring systems, and life-saving equipment.
  • Rural Health Clinic Expansion, West Frankfort, Illinois. $1 million to Southern Illinois Hospital Services to expand the Miners Memorial Rural Health Clinic to provide improvements in both patient rooms and provider workspace.
  • Teledentistry Initiative, Mattoon, Illinois. $110,000 to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center to expand rural telehealth efforts to include teledentistry with an emphasis on underserved children.

The two funding bills include additional Illinois priorities secured through the programmatic appropriations process:

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs

Department of Veterans Affairs

  • VA Medical and Prosthetic Research: $945 million to support ongoing and new research in areas such as toxic exposures, traumatic brain injury, and precision oncology. It also directs the VA to report to Congress on any clinical trials paused or terminated under the Trump Administration’s gutting of research efforts across government.
  • Caregivers Program: $3.5 billion to expand training, benefits, and services for caregivers.
  • State Veterans Homes Construction Grants: $275 million for the VA grant program for state homes that enables Illinois Veterans Homes to continue receiving strong financial support for renovations and new construction.
  • Women Veterans Health: Includes $1.4 billion to advance, promote, and provide specialized care for the health of a growing number of women veterans.
  • Information Technology: Includes $5.9 billion for the VA’s IT systems, to include operations, maintenance, salaries, and other related expenses.
  • Smoke-Free VA: Includes report language supporting VHA’s prohibition on smoking modeled on Durbin’s Smoke-Free VA bill.
  • Lovell Federal Health Care Center: Includes continued funding for the operation of the Lovell Federal Health Care Center, which remains the only fully integrated Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility in the nation.
  • Blood Testing for Retired Military Firefights: Includes report language supporting continued screening, care, and compensation, to include blood testing, for veterans impacted by PFAS exposure during their services, including military firefighters.
  • Lethal Means Safety and Suicide Prevention: Includes report language directing the VA to expand suicide prevention efforts related to safety and storage of firearms.
  • Produce Prescription: Includes report language promoting the VA’s use of “produce prescription,” to improve veterans’ health outcomes by increasing access to healthy, affordable food.

Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA

USDA

  • Bee Genome. $2.5 million to continue sequencing the genome of more than 4,000 domestic bee species, including activities underway at the Peoria USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research and the University of Illinois.
  • Midwest Soybean Germplasm Lab. The bill includes language prohibiting USDA laboratory and facility closures without USDA providing advance Congressional notification and approval, despite President Trump’s proposal to close research labs in three states, including at the University of Illinois.
  • Agricultural Research. $1.79 billion for basic food and agricultural research nationwide, including activities underway at the Peoria USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research and the University of Illinois.
  • Tracking Farm Exports by State. Includes report language requiring USDA to track and publish the top five farm commodities exported, or imported, by state, country of destination, or origin.
  • Extension Design and Demonstration Initiative. Includes report language that directs USDA to meet with stakeholders, such as the University of Illinois, to develop next-generation farm extension programs using high-performance computing.
  • Plant Health, Tree and Wood Pests. $59 million to help identify and contain wood-boring pests threatening tree health across the country, 19 of which have been detected in the past decade, including the Emerald Ash Borer. This funding will allow for the identification and containment of Emerald Ash Borer infestations and increase public awareness of the threat posed by EAB in the 15 states that are battling this invasive species.
  • Animal Welfare. $37 million to implement and enforce provisions of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), including those governing facilities that previously have fallen out of compliance with the AWA.
  • Rural e-Connectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect Program). $51 million to support loans and grants that facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas without sufficient broadband access.
  • Agricultural Extension-Food Safety Outreach Program. $10 million to provide food safety training and tech assistance to owners and operators of small farms, small food processors, and small fruit and vegetable vendors affected by the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011.
  • Food for Peace. $1.2 billion to meet emergency food needs around the world, including due to the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, and conflict, displacement, poverty, and climate change exacerbating needs around the world, despite President Trump’s efforts to eliminate the program.
  • McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. $240 million to support school feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects around the world, particularly for girls, despite President Trump’s efforts to eliminate the program.
  • Local and Regional Procurement. Continues support for the promotion of locally sourced agricultural products, which remain less costly and more accessible when compared to commodities sourced from the United States and shipped overseas.
  • WIC. Provides $8.2 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. The bill also continues full funding for the fruit and vegetable benefits, which President Trump and House Republicans pushed to significantly cut.
  • SNAP. Provides $107 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and acknowledges that USDA has implemented partial SNAP payments for November 2025. The bill also directs USDA to provide the remainder of the allotment “as soon as practicable.” The bill also funds the multi-year SNAP contingency fund.

FDA

  • ALS. Provides no less than $2.5 million to implement the ACT for ALS law championed by Brian Wallach and I Am ALS to enable FDA to fund early-stage clinical trials for new ALS therapies.
  • Youth Tobacco Prevention. Mandates that $200 million of the FDA’s overall $712 million in tobacco user fees be used for enforcement activities related to illegal e-cigarettes, with at least $2 million to be used by the interagency DOJ/DHS/FDA task force to bring all criminal and civil tools to bear against the illegal manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale of e-cigarettes from China and other foreign countries. The bill also provides FDA with statutory authority to allow the agency to detain and destroy seized illegal e-cigarettes at ports of entry, and requires FDA to submit reports to Congress on the progress that the agency is making to educate retailers about which products are lawful for sale and remove all illegal e-cigarette products from the market.
  • Food Safety. Provides $1.17 billion for the FDA Human Foods Program oversee food and nutrition in the United States. The bill also includes report language expressing concern about the frequency of inspections at food facilities.
  • Dietary Supplements. Includes report language calling on FDA to strengthen its enforcement actions against adulterated and misbranded dietary supplements.

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