Durbin Highlights Bipartisan Legislation To Strengthen Rural Health Workforce

CARBONDALE - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) held a news conference to highlight bipartisan legislation to address critical rural health workforce shortages. Introduced last month, the Rural America Health Corps Act would create a new program that builds upon the existing National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program by providing new, dedicated student loan forgiveness funding for health care providers that serve in rural communities. Twenty percent of Americans live in rural communities, yet onl… Continue Reading

Durbin, Dem Senators Press Devos To Provide Automatic Closed School Discharges To Former ITT Tech Students

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), today sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos calling for automatic closed school discharges for former ITT Tech (ITT) student borrowers. The 2016 borrower defense rule-which is still in effect despite DeVos' recently released revised rule eliminating protections for students-provides automatic closed school discharges for borrowers who have… Continue Reading

Durbin, Shaheen, Portman Lead Bipartisan Ukraine Caucus Leadership Letter Urging Trump Administration To Release Obligated Military Security Assistance For Ukraine

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), co-chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, today joined Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Rob Portman (R-OH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Ron Johnson (D-WI) in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney urging the Trump Administration to release obligated military security assistance for Ukraine. The Senators' letter comes in response to media reports that the Administration is holding up the funds, which were approve… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Devos Rule Gutting Student Loan Borrower Defense

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today issued the following statement after Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos eliminated the Obama-era Borrower Defense Rule that protects student borrowers and taxpayers from predatory for-profit schools. The rewritten rule issued by DeVos today also eliminates the restrictions on class action bans and mandatory arbitration clauses that were included in the Obama Rule and pushed for by Durbin. "This rule is another Trump-DeVos giveaway to… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Demand Trump Administration End Remain In Mexico Policy

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and 22 of his Democratic Senate colleagues in calling on the Trump Administration to stop restricting access to the U.S. asylum system by ending its Remain in Mexico policy. The deceptively named Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy blocks legal asylum seekers from being in the U.S. while they await court hearings in their cases, forcing them to wait in dangerous cities in Mexico for extended periods of time. … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $123 Million In Federal Funding For Emergency Preparedness in Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced more than $123 million in federal funding to improve emergency preparedness across Illinois. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded state and local authorities, transportation agencies, and port facility operators in Illinois preparedness grants totaling $123,916,337 to prevent and respond to acts of terrorism and other hazards. "The federal government plays a… Continue Reading

Illinois Congressional Delegation Urges President Trump To Support State's Request For Federal Assistance From Flood Damage

WASHINGTON - The entire Illinois Congressional Delegation sent a letter to President Donald Trump supporting Illinois Governor JB Pritzker's request for federal assistance for the State of Illinois to help 33 counties recover from severe flooding that occurred from February to July. This year's flooding is the longest flood event to ever occur in Illinois. "Many communities experienced power outages, road closures, and significant damage to homes and businesses. More than 1,694 homes and bus… Continue Reading

Durbin, Klobuchar, Senators Press AG Barr To Rescind Decision To Limit Asylum Due To Family Ties

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and 10 of their Senate colleagues to call on Attorney General William Barr to rescind his decision in Matter of L-E-A-, which limits access to asylum for people fleeing persecution abroad because of their family ties. For more than 30 years, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and multiple federal circuit courts have acknowledged that a family group can be a "particular social group" as the basis … Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Senator Isakson's Decision To Resign

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) announced that he will resign at the end of 2019: "Johnny Isakson's departure from the Senate is the loss of a friend and a brave, constructive voice America desperately needs. Johnny stepped up for sensible immigration reform and defied the fire breathers and haters in his own party. I sent him a series of deserved fan letters. "He gathered warring Senator… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $450,000 In Federal Funding To Support Maternal Health In Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has been awarded $450,000 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE MM) Program. The funding will support IDPH efforts to identify, review, and characterize maternal deaths, and identify prevention opportunities. "No nation as rich and advanced as the United States… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Nearly $30 Million For Cancer Research In Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that three Illinois-based organizations have been awarded nearly $30 million from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to support cancer clinical trials and cancer care delivery studies in their communities. "This federal funding will support the important work being done at some of Illinois' best research institutions," Durbin said. "Strong investments in med… Continue Reading

Durbin Presses FDA To Regulate E-Cigarettes In Aftermath Of Vaping Death And Illnesses

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Dr. Ned Sharpless and Center for Tobacco Products Director Mitch Zeller to get off the sidelines and address the public health epidemic of e-cigarettes, especially among children and young people. In a letter to Sharpless and Zeller, Durbin cited the death of an Illinoisan who had recently vaped, and was hospitalized with severe respiratory illness. According to the Ill… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls For An End To Small Refinery Waivers And Restoring Integrity To The Renewable Fuel Standard

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, along with Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), today urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to end the harmful abuse of small refinery hardship waivers under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In a letter sent to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Durbin and his colle… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $17 Million For Metra Improvements

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Metra will receive $17,840,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for rail improvements. The funding will support the construction of a new grade-separated double-tracked rail bridge over Milwaukee Avenue immediately north of the Grayland Metra Station in Chicago. "For many Illinoisans, Metra is the only affordable and accessible transportation option they have," Durbin said. "The funding… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Nearly $2 Million To Protect Southern Illinois Families From Lead Hazards

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that two housing authorities in Southern Illinois will receive a total of $1,943,027 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Lead-Based Paint Capital Fund Program. Under this announcement, the East St. Louis Housing Authority (East St. Louis, IL) will receive $943,027 and the Union County Housing Authority (Anna, IL) will receive $1,000,000 to identify and reduce… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $113.9 Million In HUD Funding To Support Chicago Housing And Community Development

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Chicago will receive $113,932,060 in federal grant funding through four programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In total, Chicago was awarded $78,262,773 through the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program, $6,695,179 through the Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program, $18,935,452 through the HOME Investment Partnerships program, and $10,038,656 th… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Slam Trump Administration Proposal To Weaken Protections Against Discrimination In Health Care

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and 32 of their fellow Democratic senators, have submitted a comment letter for the record to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar criticizing the Trump Administration's proposed rule to weaken critical protections that help address discrimination in health care. The senators outlined several issues with the proposed rule, including how it could harm patie… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls For Investigation Of Trump Admin's Efforts To Use Eminent Domain To Seize Privately Held Land To Build Border Wall

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), have sent a letter to U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro requesting that the U.S. Government Accountability Office investigate the Trump Administration's efforts to exercise the power of eminent domain to seize privately held land to build a border wall at the southern border of the United States. The Senators, who are all opposed to the president's border wal… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Prison Understaffing Crisis Following Epstein Death

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the understaffing crisis at the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which is receiving heightened attention following the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein. The Bureau of Prisons has not had a permanent director since May 2018, a leadership vacuum that Attorney General William Barr has not addressed in his six months on the job. "Attorney Ge… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $1.5 Million In Opioid, Behavioral Health Services For Southern Illinois Community Health Centers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded community health centers in Southern Illinois a total of $1,560,000 through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Integrated Behavioral Health Services (IBHS) Program and the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program. Community health centers are community-based organizations that improve access to affordable, high-qual… Continue Reading