Press Releases
Durbin: Equity In Great Lakes Restoration Initiative A Key Part Of Protecting Our Lake
CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined the Alliance for the Great Lakes and State Representative Kam Buckner (D-26) in Chicago to discuss efforts to prioritize historically marginalized and underserved communities in projects to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Durbin is calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take concrete steps to prioritize low-income and communities of color within the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) - an inter-agency effort… Continue Reading
06.30.21
Durbin, Duckworth, Underwood Announce $5 Million For Plainfield's 143rd Street Extension Project
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) today announced that the Village of Plainfield has been awarded $5 million in federal funding to construct the eastern extension of 143rd Street, which will help alleviate traffic and improve safety for vehicles traveling through and within the Village. The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program. "This f… Continue Reading
06.30.21
Durbin, Duckworth, Newman Announce $19 Million For Archer Ave Grade Separation Project
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Congresswoman Marie Newman (D-IL-03) today announced $19.13 million in federal funding for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to support the Archer Avenue and the Belt Railway of Chicago (BRC) Grade Separation Project, which will help eliminate road-rail conflicts, avoid first responder delays, and reduce traffic congestion on Chicago's Southwest Side. The funding was awarded through the U.S. Departme… Continue Reading
06.30.21
Durbin Statement On Rate Of DACA Application Processing Under Biden Administration
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead author of the Dream Act, released the following statement regarding the quarterly report on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) requests, which shows that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved only 763 initial DACA applications under the Biden Administration, with nearly 100,000 initial and renewal applications pending: "The slow rate of processing DACA app… Continue Reading
06.29.21
Durbin Visits Metrolink, Discusses Future Of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
ROCK ISLAND - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District's (MetroLINK) Bus Depot to learn about their electric bus fleet and charging infrastructure and call for an increased federal investment in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. MetroLINK's electric bus expansion has been funded by nearly $10 million in federal funding, including a $2.9 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration that Durbin helped secure last year. "… Continue Reading
06.29.21
Durbin, Grassley, Judiciary Committee Members Press BOP For Answers On Inmate Trust Accounts
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today led a bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members on a letter to Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Michael Carvajal requesting answers to reports that BOP's inmate Trust Fund/Deposit Fund program operates with little oversight, enables federal inmates to avoid paying child support and … Continue Reading
06.25.21
Durbin Joins Legislation To Restore And Modernize National Labs For The 21st Century
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) to introduce the Restore and Modernize Our National Labs Act, a bill that would invest $30 billion in deferred maintenance projects and infrastructure improvements at America's National Labs. Argonne and Fermi National Laboratories, based in DuPage County and Kane County respectively, would stand to benefit from this legislation. As leaders in the artificial intelligence, quantum computing, … Continue Reading
06.25.21
Durbin Statement On DOJ Lawsuit Against Georgia Voting Law
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement today after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it would file a lawsuit against the state of Georgia over its new voting law: "I applaud the Department of Justice challenging the new Georgia law restricting the right to vote, particularly for communities of color. We have battled this form of discrimination for decades. It should have no place in our nation.… Continue Reading
06.25.21
Durbin Statement On Visit To El Paso, Texas, With Vice President Harris
EL PASO, TX - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after visiting the southwest border at El Paso, Texas, with Vice President Kamala Harris, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16): "I was last in El Paso two years ago. What I saw at the El Paso Del Norte Processing Center on that day has haunted me ever since. Simply put, the former… Continue Reading
06.25.21
Durbin, Duckworth Announce Nearly $60 Million In Federal Funding For Illinois Rural Communities
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $59,193,800 in federal loans and grants for rural communities in Illinois. The funding, awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program, will go to ten communities in Illinois to rebuild and modernize essential services. "These loans and grants will help rural communities throughout Illinois expand economic opportunities and impro… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Durbin Speaks In Support Of President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke on the Senate floor to discuss President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy. Durbin shared his support for the President's initiative and discussed the deadly toll gun violence has had in Chicago, Illinois. Durbin also called on the Senate to pass background check legislation to prevent guns from ending up in the hands of criminals and mentally unstable people and to confirm David C… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Durbin, Grassley Bill To Put Cameras In Supreme Court
WASHINGTON - Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 15-7 to advance the bipartisan Cameras in the Courtroom Act, introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bipartisan bill would require the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open sessions of the Court, unless the Court decides, by a majority vote of the Justices, that doing so would… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Senate Confirms Candace Jackson-Akiwumi To The Seventh Circuit
WASHINGTON - Today, the Senate confirmed Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit by a bipartisan vote of 53-40. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on her confirmation: "Ms. Jackson-Akiwumi has devoted her life to defending the rule of law, including spending ten years as a federal public defender-representing hundreds of indigent clients at every stage of the legal pro… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Durbin, Grassley, King Introduce Bill To Require Price Transparency In Prescription Drug Advertisements
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and US. Senator Angus King (I-ME) today introduced the Drug-price Transparency for Competition (DTC) Act, a bill that would require price disclosures on advertisements for prescription drugs, in order to empower patients and reduce spending on medications. Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report - requested by Durbin and Grassley - which found direct-to-consumer (DTC) ad… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Durbin Speaks With CDC Director On Public Health Priorities
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke by phone with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky about his public health priorities, including ways to reduce community violence and address children's exposure to trauma, funding to improve maternal health, restricting tobacco companies from marketing e-cigarettes to children, and improving health outcomes for individuals with congenital heart defects. On the call, Durbin discussed… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Nominations Of Chipman To Lead ATF, Jaddou To Lead USCIS, And Strickland To The District Of New Mexico
WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nominations of Margaret Irene Strickland, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico; David H. Chipman, to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Ur Mendoza Jaddou, to be Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ahead of the votes, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged his colleagues to support all thr… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Nominations Of Chipman To Lead ATF, Jaddou To Lead USCIS, And Strickland To The District Of New Mexico
WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nominations of Margaret Irene Strickland, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico; David H. Chipman, to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Ur Mendoza Jaddou, to be Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ahead of the votes, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged his colleagues to support all thr… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Durbin Statement On Biden Administration's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy: "Too many Chicagoans endure the daily stress and fear of gunfire, and too many Monday mornings start with devastating news headlines of the weekend's toll of shootings in our streets and neighborhoods. This violence is heartbreaking, traumatic, and impacting innocent families and children. Addressing the gun viol… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Durbin, Duckworth, Schakowsky, Garcia, Trahan Introduce Mentoring To Succeed Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9), Jesús "Chuy" García (D-IL-4), and Lori Trahan (D-MA-3), introduced the bicameral Mentoring to Succeed Act to provide a strong, sustainable support system through mentorship to ensure that children who experience barriers like poverty, inadequate schooling, disability, adverse childhood experiences, or drug or alcohol abuse, can su… Continue Reading
06.24.21
Durbin, Duckworth Call On President Biden To Extend Pause On Student Loan Payments
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7), and Joe Courtney (D-CT-2), to send a bicameral letter to President Biden calling on him to extend the pause on federal student loan payments until at least March 31, 2022. "The scheduled resumption of student loan payments in October could create a significant drag on our econom… Continue Reading