Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Energy and the Environment
Durbin Calls On President Trump To Follow Through On Promise To Prevent Invasive Carp From Entering Great Lakes
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke on the Senate floor about the Brandon Road Interbasin Project (BRIP) after President Trump posted via social media that he will work together with government officials from the Midwest to prevent invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes. In his remarks, Durbin spoke about the necessity of moving the project forward after the Trump Administration halted progress on BRIP to conduct an “administrative review,” despite the … Continue Reading
March 04, 2026
Durbin Meets With Director Of The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Director James Jennings to discuss water infrastructure in Metro East, the Calumet Confined Disposal Facility, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination, and the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. In Congress, Durbin has secured federal funding to address the flooding issues in Metro East, the harms of PFAS, and has continuously worked with the Army Crops on … Continue Reading
February 24, 2026
Durbin Meets With New Fermilab Director
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate National Labs Caucus, today met with Dr. Nobert Holtkamp, the newly appointed Director of Fermilab. During their meeting, Durbin reaffirmed his support for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) 17 National Laboratories, including Illinois’ own Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory. Durbin and Dr. Holtkamp spoke about Fermilab’s flagship research project, the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility/Deep Underground … Continue Reading
January 21, 2026
Durbin Slams Trump’s Child Care Funding Freeze At Rockford YWCA
ROCKFORD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today held a press conference at the YWCA of Northwestern Illinois in Rockford to call out the Trump Administration’s heartless decision to freeze $10 billion in funding for child care, community programs, and financial support for families in five Democratic-led states—including $1 billion for Illinois. The YWCA of Northwestern Illinois serves families who qualify for the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program, which is partially … Continue Reading
December 04, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth, Casten, McClellan Introduce Legislation To Mitigate Negative Impacts Of Natural Gas Pipelines
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), both members of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, and U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (D-IL-06) and Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04) introduced the FERC Greenhouse Gas and Environmental Justice Policy Act of 2025, legislation to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to assess and mitigate the impacts that natural gas pipelines approved by FERC under the Natural Gas Act … Continue Reading
October 24, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Trump Administration Denying Illinois Two Federal Disaster Declarations Following Severe Summer Weather
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after the Trump Administration denied Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s requests for Individual Assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following two bouts of severe storms on July 25-28 and August 16-19: “Denying two disaster declarations for Illinois is yet another troubling example of the Trump Administration putting politics ahead of … Continue Reading
October 21, 2025
Durbin Applauds Senate Ag Committee Passage Of His Shawnee National Forest Conservation Act; Legislation To Protect More Than 13,000 Acres Of Shawnee National Forest
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member Senate Agriculture Committee, applauded the Committee for advancing his Shawnee National Forest Conservation Act, legislation that would establish 12,700 acres of special management areas and 750 acres of wilderness in the Shawnee National Forest. Securing this designation for these acres would offer critical protections. Now that the bill has advanced out of the Agriculture Committee, it could now go to the Senate floor for … Continue Reading
September 25, 2025
Durbin Discusses Critical Bee Research At University Of Illinois
URBANA — U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today held a roundtable discussion at the University of Illinois with scientists, administrators, and beekeepers regarding their bee genomics research—which is sequencing the genomes of more than 4,000 domestic bee species. Over the last five years, Durbin has secured nearly $8 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding for such research, which has critical implications for food … Continue Reading
September 15, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth, Van Hollen, Booker, Blumenthal Slam EPA Administrator For Proposal To Push Back Deadline To Monitor Toxic Coal Ash Sites
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin calling on the agency to preserve existing regulations covering the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR), more commonly known as “coal ash,” and further urged the agency to abandon its proposal to extend the deadline for CCR … Continue Reading
September 04, 2025
Durbin Introduces Legislation To Invest In A Clean Climate Future And Spur Job Creation
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the America’s Clean Future Fund Act, a bill that would spur job creation by investing in a clean energy economy. The bill seeks to drive significant carbon emissions reductions to combat the climate crisis; provide economic transition assistance to environmental justice (EJ) communities, farmers, and fossil fuel-reliant communities; and provide financing for climate resilience and clean energy projects. “The … Continue Reading
July 31, 2025
Durbin Introduced Legislation To Protect More Than 13,000 Acres Of Shawnee National Forest
WASHINGTON - This week, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Shawnee National Forest Conservation Act, legislation that would create 12,700 additional acres of special management areas and 750 acres of wilderness in the Shawnee National Forest. Securing this designation for these acres would offer critical protections to the area. “The Shawnee National Forest welcomes thousands of visitors each year, who take advantage of the beautiful views and hiking trails. It’s … Continue Reading
April 01, 2025
Durbin, Rounds Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Retain International Graduates With Advanced STEM Degrees
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) today introduced bipartisan legislation that would streamline the path for advanced Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) international graduates who studied at our nation’s universities to remain in the United States. Last year, nearly half of U.S. graduate students in key fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and … Continue Reading
April 01, 2025
Durbin Meets With Argonne National Lab Director As Trump Administration Threatens Future Of Scientific Research
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Dr. Paul Kearns, Director of Argonne National Laboratory to discuss the future of scientific research as the Trump Administration takes aim at federal research institutions. During their meeting, Durbin and Dr. Kearns spoke about the disastrous impact of the Trump Administration’s funding cuts and freezes to scientific research. Durbin and Dr. Kearns also discussed Illinois’ position as a leader in quantum computing … Continue Reading
March 12, 2025
Durbin Meets With Renewable Fuels Association
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today met with members of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) to discuss federal actions needed to help ethanol production in Illinois and nationally. Durbin has been a long-time supporter of biofuels production in Illinois. Attending the meeting was a representative from Big River Resources, which operates an ethanol plant in Galva, Illinois. “Today, I sat … Continue Reading
February 26, 2025
Durbin Exposes Trump's Phony "Energy Emergency," Which Will Only Cut American Jobs And Enrich Big Oil Billionaires
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) disparaged the Trump Administration’s fabricated “energy emergency,” which President Trump declared in a vile effort to use additional presidential authority to fast-track the construction of oil pipelines and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, among many other pro-fossil fuel projects. The false emergency is a thinly veiled effort to appease President Trump’s wealthy donors at the expense of the … Continue Reading
February 26, 2025
Durbin Talks Transformers, Clean Energy With IMEA/IMUA
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with members of the Illinois Municipal Electric/Utilities Association (IMEA/IMUA) to discuss clean energy tax credits and addressing the supply chain issues that have led to a shortage of transformers, which are an essential component of electrical infrastructure that adjusts the voltage of currents moving through electrical wires. Due to a sluggish supply chain, building sectors and utilities are grappling with an … Continue Reading
February 07, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues To Demand Answers About Trump's Efforts To Restrict & Undermine NSF-Funded Scientific Research
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), along with 22 of their colleagues, in sounding the alarm over the Trump Administration injecting partisanship into scientific studies, obstructing critical research, potentially derailing the careers of promising American researchers, and attempting to undermine the U.S. scientific research ecosystem. With several major sources of federal research … Continue Reading
January 03, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $856 Million In Federal Funding For Disaster Relief In Illinois
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $856,307,000 in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support communities in Illinois with unmet disaster recovery needs that were majorly impacted by disasters that occurred in 2023 and 2024. “Over the past two years, Illinois communities have experienced their share of major disasters and have worked tirelessly to recover,” said … Continue Reading
December 19, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth, Foster Celebrate Passage Of Resolution 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 (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Bill Foster (D-IL-11) today applauded the House and Senate passage of their bicameral resolution, included in the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, 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 IERC is home to new office and lab space that hosts an … Continue Reading
December 19, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth, Stabenow, Peters Secure Increase In Federal Cost Share To Help Protect The Great Lakes In Final 2024 Water Resources Development Act
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) lauded the inclusion of their provision to increase the federal cost share for the Brandon Road Project in the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA), which passed the Senate last night. Under the provision, the federal government will pay 90 percent of the operation and maintenance costs for Brandon Road after … Continue Reading