Springfield, Illinois Student Interns In Durbin's Washington, DC Office

WASHINGTON - Springfield, Illinois, native Mackenzi Matthews spent this summer interning for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), working behind the scenes in the Senator's Capitol Hill office as an intern. Each year, close to 50 interns work in Durbin's Washington, D.C. office. "I started my career on Capitol Hill as a college intern for Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois," Durbin said. "I will never forget that day in February of 1966 when he agreed to hire me as an intern to work in his office. As… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On President Trump's Latest Assault On Refugees

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced it will aim to admit only 18,000 refugees to the U.S. in the coming year and issued an executive order purporting to allow state and local governments to block refugees from being resettled in their communities: "In the midst of the worst refugee crisis in history, the Trump Administration ha… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On President Trump's Latest Assault On Refugees

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced it will aim to admit only 18,000 refugees to the U.S. in the coming year and issued an executive order purporting to allow state and local governments to block refugees from being resettled in their communities: "In the midst of the worst refugee crisis in history, the Trump Administration ha… Continue Reading

Durbin: Appropriations Bills Provide Critical Funding For Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced Illinois priorities included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 funding bills for Interior and Environment; State and Foreign Operations; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Homeland Security; and the Legislative Branch. The bills passed the Senate Appropriations Committee today and will now be sent to the Senate floor for final consideration. "I am proud to secure federal funding for Illinoi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Lee Lead Congressional Effort To Overturn Devos Borrower Defense Rule

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Susie Lee (D-NV-03) today led the introduction of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval on Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' rewritten borrower defense rule that gutted essential protections for student borrowers and taxpayers. CRA resolutions of disapproval allow Congress to overturn regulatory actions of federal agencies with a simple majority vote in both chambers. A time for consideration… Continue Reading

Durbin, Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Brown, Reed, & Merkley Once Again Urge Pharmacies to Stop Selling Tobacco Products Amid Vaping Epidemic

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today sent letters to Walgreens, Rite Aid, Dollar General, and Walmart urging them to stop selling all tobacco products, given their detriment to the public health. Earlier this year, the Senators wrote to these pharmacies to urge each company to end tobacco sales. After the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an impending e… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Senate Passage Of Continuing Resolution

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on Senate passage of the Continuing Resolution (CR), which will fund the federal government through November 21, 2019: "The CR that the Senate passed today is essential to avoiding another devastating government shutdown. Now it is time for Senators on both sides of the aisle to put the appropriations process back on track. We owe it to the American taxp… Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassley Introduce Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform Bill

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the lead sponsors of the landmark First Step Act, today introduced the bipartisan Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2019, which would end the unjust practice of judges increasing sentences based on conduct for which a defendant has been acquitted by a jury. "Under our Constitution, defendants can only be convicted of a crime if a jury of their peers finds they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Press DOD OIG To Investigate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative Funding That Was Held By Trump Administration

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, along with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), today called on the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to review DoD's Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding appropriated by Congress, which was halted for a significant portion o… Continue Reading

Durbin, Menendez, Leahy Respond To Trump Falsehood On Ukraine

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) issued the following joint statement in response to President Donald Trump's reference to a letter they sent to the General Prosecutor of Ukraine in 2018 raising their concerns that the Trump Administration could unduly pressure Ukraine into obstructing the Mueller investigation by withholding funding: "President Trump is desperate to divert attention from his abuse of power. We wrote to the Ukrainian … Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Immigrant Labor And Climate Change At Agriculture Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today, in a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing, asked representatives of the poultry and livestock industry about the need and value of immigrant labor. Durbin made the case that mass deportations and dramatic cuts in legal immigration in America - as proposed by the Trump Administration - would devastate many livestock and poultry processing plants that depend on immigrant labor for operations. "When you go to meat and … Continue Reading

Durbin Calls For Senate Action On Gun Violence At National Rally

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke at the National Rally to End Gun Violence on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol and called for the Senate to vote on legislation that would help reduce the gun violence epidemic. More than 200 days ago, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act (H.R.8) passed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis. Approximately 90 percent of Americans support universal background checks, including the vast majority of gun owners and NRA members. Fe… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Senate Vote To Reject President Trump's Emergency Declaration

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, today released the following statement after the Senate voted, for the second time, to reject President Donald Trump's emergency declaration in order to fulfill his campaign promise of building a wall at the southern border: "For the second time in six months, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate chose the Constitution over the President's so-called 'national emergency' decl… Continue Reading

Durbin, Maloney Introduce Bicameral Bill To Increase Access To Broadband Service For Low-Income Americans

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY-18) today introduced a bicameral bill that would increase access to broadband service for low-income urban and rural Americans. The Promoting Access to Broadband Act would help states increase awareness of, and enrollment in, the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Lifeline program, which aims to help low-income households pay for their telephone and broadband service charges by providing a mon… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Normal Mayor Chris Koos

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with Normal, Illinois, Mayor Chris Koos today to discuss transportation priorities in Central Illinois and the importance of investing in our nation's infrastructure. Durbin discussed Amazon's plans to buy 100,000 electric delivery vans from the Rivian plant in Normal, and progress on the Normal Underpass project to improve safety and help establish a better connection between Uptown Normal and homes on the south side of the railroad tracks. Nor… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Illinois Manufacturing Association To Discuss Trade And Workforce Development

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with representatives from the Illinois Manufacturing Association to discuss the impact of the President's trade war with China and improving workforce development programs. Durbin has supported increased funding for worker training and apprenticeship programs in order to train young workers to fill in-demand jobs in manufacturing and other skilled trades. "It was good to meet with representatives of the Illinois Manufacturing Association t… Continue Reading

Durbin, Engel, Leahy, Malinowski Call For U.S. Ambassador To Hungary To Uphold American Democratic & Security Norms

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), along with U.S. Representatives Eliot L. Engel (D-NY-16) and Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-07), today sent a letter to the United States Ambassador to Hungary, David Cornstein, calling on him to uphold American democratic values and security interests when dealing with the autocratic government of Victor Orban, whose embrace of Russia and antidemocratic actions are cause for considerable concern. Specifically, the members and Senator… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls For House To Begin Impeachment Inquiry Into President Trump

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on Congressional Republicans to speak out against reports that President Donald Trump withheld $250 million in military aid from Ukraine unless the newly-elected Ukrainian president investigated one of President Trump's potential opponents, former Vice President Joe Biden. Durbin also called for the whistleblower complaint to be provided to the appropriate House and Senate committees. Give… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Trump Administration To Withdraw Proposal To Cut Food Assistance From Millions Of Americans

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, joined 14 Senators in raising serious concerns about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) proposed rule to eliminate categorical eligibility, which would take food assistance away from millions of families currently participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In particular, the proposal could restrict access to school meals for tens of thousand… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Nearly $5 Million To Increase Substance Use Disorder Treatments

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services a $4,559,743 federal planning grant to help fight the opioid epidemic by increasing substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services under Medicaid. "We are facing one of the worst drug epidemics in our history," said Durbin. "This critical federal investment will hel… Continue Reading