Durbin Testifies At House Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing On Oversight of For-Profit College Industry

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today testified at the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing entitled "Oversight of For-Profit Colleges: Protecting Students and Taxpayer Dollars." Durbin testified about the continued risk that for-profit colleges pose to students and taxpayers and the need for Congress to finally uphold its oversight responsibilities of this predatory industry.… Continue Reading

Durbin: Public Deserves Transparency From The FAA On Safety Of Boeing 737 Max 8 Series Aircraft

WASHINGTON-Following the two devastating plane crashes involving Boeing's new 737 Max 8 series aircraft, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to immediately provide the public with clear answers about the current safety of this aircraft and to work with both the manufacturer and the airlines to perform a thorough investigation of the aircraft to find and remedy any potential vulnerabilities. In a letter to FAA Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Kelly Introduce Bicameral Bill To Study Effects Of Petroleum Coke

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), along with Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) and Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13), today introduced bicameral legislation that would address the concerns of petroleum coke and pave the way for federal environmental safety regulations on the fuel. The Petroleum Coke Transparency and Public Health Act of 2019 would require the federal government to study the potential health risk… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Talks Legionnaires' At Illinois Veterans' Homes & Ethylene Oxide Emissions With New Illinois Directors Of Veterans' Affairs & Public Health

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today discussed both Legionnaires' disease at Illinois Veterans' Homes (IVH) and ethylene oxide emissions from medical device sterilization facilities in Illinois with Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs (IDVA) Director Linda Chapa LaVia and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. This was the Senators' first call with the newly appointed directors under Governor J.B. Pritzker's Administra… Continue Reading

Durbin, Leahy, Schatz, Senators Demand Answers From DOD On Its Plans To Defund Military Projects To Pay For President Trump's Wall

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense; Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, today led a group of Democratic appropriators calling on the Department of Defense to provide Congress with a list of military projects it intends to defund to pay for President Do… Continue Reading

Durbin, Deutch Introduce Bill To Create Bond Program To Fund Efforts Combating Climate Change

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Ted Deutch (D-FL-22) today introduced the Climate Change Resiliency Fund for America Act, a bicameral bill that would authorize the U.S. Department of Treasury to issue from $200 million up to $1 billion in state and local tax-exempt "climate bonds" annually for any American to purchase and contribute to the government's efforts to combat the impacts of climate change. The legislation would set up a system similar to the war bo… Continue Reading

Durbin: President Trump's Budget Request Asks Congress To Choose - Border Wall Or Medical Research

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today released the following statement after President Donald Trump submitted his fiscal year 2020 budget request to Congress: "After a disastrous 35 day government shutdown, and with the Senate slated to reject his national emergency declaration this week, the fact that President Trump would request $8.6 billion for his beloved border wall - while cutting $5 billion in medical research f… Continue Reading

Durbin, Leahy, Schatz, Ask Gao For Legal Opinion On President Trump's Transfer Of DOD Funds To Build A Wall

WASHINGTON-As the Senate prepares to vote on President Trump's national emergency declaration this week, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense; Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs today asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for a legal opinion on the authori… Continue Reading

Durbin Works with Chicago Public Schools to Ensure Access to Life-Saving EpiPens

CHICAGO - In the midst of nationwide shortages of EpiPens, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to discuss his recent role in ensuring that CPS obtained a much-needed new supply of the life-saving medication. CPS had a supply of 1,200 EpiPens that were expiring on February 28, but due to drug shortages, schools were told the EpiPens would not be replaced in a timely manner. After Senator Durbin's office-working with CPS-engaged directly and repeatedly with t… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Continue To Press For Back Pay For Contractors Who Lost Wages During Trump Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and a bipartisan group of 36 Senators, sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee urging the inclusion of back pay for federal contract workers impacted by President Trump's government shutdown within the upcoming disaster relief package. While federal workers harmed by the government shutdown have since been compensated for their lost wages, federal contract employees -… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On For-Profit Argosy University's Imminent Closure

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement amid growing expectations that for-profit Argosy University's closure is imminent: After wasting millions of tax dollars and crippling thousands of students with debt, another phony for-profit university, Argosy, is expected to imminently close its doors. When will this Administration stop subsidizing these worthless vultures? Earlier today, Durbin led 12 of his Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary … Continue Reading

Durbin, Smith, Sinema, Senators Urge Department Of Education To Immediately Assist Argosy University Students

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tina Smith (D-MN), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) today, along with 10 of their Senate colleagues, sent a letter to the Department of Education urging it to take immediate action to assist students in the aftermath of its February 27 decision to terminate Argosy University's eligibility for federal Title IV financial aid and reports of Argosy's imminent closure. The Senators called on the Department to immediately work with accreditors and states to establish … Continue Reading

Durbin Requests Government Study On Firearms Trafficking To Mexico & Central America

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a request to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to update its January 2016 reports on efforts to combat firearms trafficking from the United States to Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. Additionally, Durbin requested that GAO include in these updated reports an assessment of efforts to combat firearms trafficking to the other Central American countries in the Northern Triangle - El Salvador and Honduras. "Violence perp… Continue Reading

Durbin & Senators Call On IRS To Strengthen Enforcement Of Money Laundering

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) today sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) urging the agency to strengthen enforcement efforts, including focusing on tax code violations and financial crimes that may be linked to money laundering. A recent ProPublica report indicated that in recent years the IRS has been pursuing fewer cases of violations of th… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Death Of McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the death of McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Keltner, who was shot by a gunman at the Extended Stay America in Rockford, Illinois: I am deeply saddened by Deputy Keltner's death and my heart is with his family, friends, and the entire McHenry County Sheriff's Department, and the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force. This is another senseless tragedy, and Illinois has lost one of its finest vet… Continue Reading

Durbin, Coons, Senators Introduce Bill To Limit Use Of Solitary Confinement

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today introduced legislation to reduce the Federal Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) use of solitary confinement and improve conditions for inmates separated from the general prison population. The Solitary Confinement Reform Act limits solitary confinement to the briefest term and under the least restrictive conditions possi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Rubio, Menendez, Schumer Lead 24 Senators In Pressing President Trump To Designate Venezuela For TPS

WASHINGTON - In light of the ongoing violence, deteriorating security situation, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela caused by the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today led 24 Senators in a letter to President Donald Trump requesting that his Administration promptly designate Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to ensure that Venezuelan nationals currently present in the … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Protect Veterans' Economic Security

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and John Cornyn (R-TX), today introduced the bipartisan Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need (HAVEN) Act to protect the economic security and well-being of veterans and their families who rely on disability benefits and may be experiencing financial hardship. Under current bankruptcy law, disability benefits paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of De… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Rock Island Army Corps Commander To Discuss Illinois Infrastructure Priorities

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District including Colonel Steven Sattinger, Commander and District Engineer for the Rock Island District, to discuss the need for continued federal investment in Illinois' water infrastructure and flood risk management for the Upper Mississippi River region. Durbin also discussed the importance of preventing the spread of Asian Carp to the Great Lakes, and rehabilitation of the La… Continue Reading

Durbin Reintroduces Bill To End Student Loan Debt Crisis

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI-02), and a group of 42 members of Congress, reintroduced the Debt-Free College Act, legislation that will reverse the growing student debt crisis in the United States. The bill restores a path to affordable college by providing states incentives through matching grants to increase investments in public higher education and provide students with debt-free college. I… Continue Reading