Press Releases
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 … Continue Reading
October 18, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 18, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 17, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 14, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 14, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 13, 2022
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) … Continue Reading
October 13, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 12, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 12, 2022
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, … Continue Reading
October 12, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 12, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 11, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 07, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 06, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 06, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 05, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 05, 2022
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 … Continue Reading
October 04, 2022
Durbin, Duckworth Join Menendez, Velazquez in Bicameral Effort Urging The Biden Administration to Extend Federal Cost Share Waiver and Unlock Federal Resources for Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY-07) in a bicameral effort urging the Biden Administration to direct more resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to all municipalities in Puerto Rico that need assistance following the devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona. Specifically, the lawmakers asked President Biden to grant FEMA … Continue Reading
October 04, 2022
Durbin, Welch Statement on Federal Reserve's New Rule to Ensure Debit Card Competition
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) released the following statement after the Federal Reserve finalized updates to the Board's rule concerning debit card transactions: "For years we have worked to bring fairness and competition to debit and credit card swipe fees, and this is a big step forward. The Federal Reserve's rulemaking is a win for competition and good news for Main Street merchants and consumers who are tired of big … Continue Reading