Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Eviction Notice For Public Housing In Cairo

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced an eviction date for the individuals and families living at Elmwood and McBride housing complexes in Cairo, Illinois: It has been more than a year since HUD told 185 families that they must relocate from the Elmwood and McBride housing complexes in Cairo, Illinois, without any clear plan to rehouse those who w… Continue Reading

Durbin, Graham Introduce Bipartisan Election Interference Bill

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today introduced the bipartisan Defending Elections against Trolls from Enemy Regimes (DETER) Act, which will prevent foreign regimes from exploiting our immigration laws to advance their efforts to undermine our democracy. This bill will make "improper interference in U.S. elections" a ground of inadmissibility under U.S. immigration law, and violators would be barred from obtaining a visa to enter the United States. "In 20… Continue Reading

Senate Confirms Brendan Heffner To Be U.S. Marshal For Central District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after the Senate voted unanimously to confirm the nomination of Brendan O. Heffner to serve as United States Marshal for the Central District of Illinois: "Through many years of service to Illinois, Brendan Heffner has demonstrated strong qualifications to serve as United States Marshal. We expect him to serve with professionalism, responsibility, and a clear focus on the mission of the Marsh… Continue Reading

Judiciary Committee Advances Nomination Of Bradley Maxwell To Be U.S. Marshal For Southern District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to advance the nomination of Bradley A. Maxwell to serve as United States Marshal for the Southern District of Illinois: "Through many years of service to Illinois, Bradley Maxwell has demonstrated strong qualifications to serve as United States Marshal. We expect him to serve with professionalism, responsibility, and a clear focus on th… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Committee Passage Of Bill To Protect Special Counsel Investigation

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after the Committee voted 14-7 to pass bipartisan legislation to protect the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller: "Senators of both parties have made comments in the press that the Special Counsel's investigation must be allowed to proceed. We are dealing with a President who has repeatedly attempted to undermine the integrity of that investigation. This m… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Sessions Reversing Course On Plan To Undermine Due Process In Immigration Courts

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, released the following statement after Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at an Appropriations Subcommittee hearing that there would be "no pause" in the Justice Department's Legal Orientation Program (LOP), which provides basic legal information to detained immigrants about their rights and the immigration court process: "Attorney General Sessions' reversal on stopping the LOP is… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On New Air Force Report That National Guard Border Deployment Hurts Readiness, Costs Military Families

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, released the following statement on a new report by the U.S. Air Force entitled, "National Guard Role in Enhanced Border Security," which examined prior deployments of the National Guard to the southern border: "With this report, the Secretary of the Air Force says clearly that playing border politics with the lives of the women and men serving in our National Guard is costly … Continue Reading

Durbin: President Trump Must Solve The Crisis He Created & Support The Bipartisan Dream Act Now

WASHINGTON-Following a federal court ruling yesterday that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program protections must stay in place, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today again came to the Senate floor to call on Republican leaders in Congress to pass the bipartisan Dream Act now. As of March 5, 2018 - the arbitrary deadline that President Trump set for expiration of the DACA program - hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the United States as children, … Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On FDA Announcement Of New Enforcement Actions To Protect Youth & Teens From Using JUUL & Other E-Cigarettes

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement regarding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to issue new enforcement actions on JUUL Labs, Inc. and other e-cigarette companies, in order to better protect children and teens from using addictive and dangerous e-cigarettes: "Today, the FDA heeded my call and announced positive initial steps to protect our kids from the dangers of tobacco products like the JUUL e-cigarette. … Continue Reading

Durbin Enlists Illinois High School Educators To Sound The Alarm On For-Profit Colleges

WASHINGTON - With high school seniors making decisions about their educational futures, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is enlisting the help of Illinois high school principals, counselors, and teachers to warn college-bound students and their families about the risks associated with attending for-profit colleges. In today's letter, Durbin calls on educators to give students "accurate and up-to-date information about their post-secondary education options, including the risks associated with at… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues In Calling On Trump Administration To Halt New Regulation That Would Raise Health Insurance Premiums, Deny Coverage For Pre-Existing Conditions

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and 42 other Senators today to call on the Trump Administration to halt a proposed regulation that would create junk health insurance plans that would return us to the days when insurance companies could refuse to cover people with pre-existing conditions and raise premiums significantly for older Americans. The Senators expressed their op… Continue Reading

Durbin, Democratic 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), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) 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 possible, improves access to mental health servi… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On 7th Circuit Upholding Injunction Against Sessions Threat To Chicago Violence Prevention Funding

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal injunction blocking an attempt by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to deny Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants ("Byrne-JAG") to communities that refuse to cooperate with the Trump Administration's deportation agenda: "The Trump Administration exceeded its legal authority by trying to cut off the federal funds our police use to fight gun vi… Continue Reading

Judiciary Committee Unanimously Approves Nominations Of Michael Scudder & Amy St. Eve For The 7th Circuit Court Of Appeals

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to advance the nominations of Michael Y. Scudder, Jr. and U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve to serve as Circuit Judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, based in Chicago: "Judge St. Eve and Mr. Scudder have the experience, integrity, and judgment that we look for in federal judges, and we expect them to serve with dis… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With DOT Secretary Chao

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after meeting with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Elaine Chao to discuss transportation projects important to Illinois: Investing in our transportation infrastructure creates jobs, revitalizes neighborhoods, and grows small businesses across Illinois. While transportation agencies in Illinois are working hard to improve their infrastructure and services, Washington must also do its part. Tod… Continue Reading

Durbin Grills Justice Department On Politicization Of Immigration Courts

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, today grilled a Justice Department official at a hearing entitled, "Strengthening and Reforming America's Immigration Court System," about the Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions politicizing America's immigration court system at the expense of due process for immigrants. The Justice Department last week halted the Legal Orientation Program (LOP). Created by the Bush Adm… Continue Reading

Authors Of Open Textbooks Pilot Press Secretary DeVos To Properly Implement New Program

WASHINGTON - The authors of the Open Textbooks Pilot included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 spending bill today pressed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to properly implement this new competitive grant program. The Open Textbooks Pilot was based on the Affordable College Textbook Act (S. 1864 and H.R. 3840), which would create a competitive grant program to support the creation and expand the use of open college textbooks-textbooks that are available under an open license, allowing professors, st… Continue Reading

Durbin, Quigley, Duckworth Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation To Map Urban Flooding & Help FEMA Better Assess Risks

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-02) and John Culberson (R-TX-07) today introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Flood Mapping Modernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program Act of 2018 to enhance the mapping of urban flooding to prevent associated damage. The legislation will help give cities and towns the tools they need to address flooding in a local con… Continue Reading

Durbin & Senators Press JUUL Labs, Inc. For Answers On Marketing Addictive E-Cigarette Vaping Product To Teens, Urge FDA To Take Swift Action

WASHINGTON - Today, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with 10 of his Senate colleagues, sent two letters to JUUL Labs, Inc. and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about JUUL e-cigarette vaping products. In the letter to Juul Labs, Inc. Durbin and his colleagues ask a series of questions about how the product is marketed to children and teens, what ingredients are in the flavorings that accompany these devices, and requests that the company take a series of important steps… Continue Reading

Durbin On Tax Day: GOP Tax Bill Exploded Nation's Deficit To Provide Benefits To Large Corporations & Millionaires

WASHINGTON-On Tax Day, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called out the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans for pushing through their partisan tax bill last year outside of regular order and without committee hearings or the ordinary amendment and vote process. Last week, a new, non-partisan analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated that the Republican tax bill will add over $300 billion more to the deficit than the disastrous $1.5 trillion ori… Continue Reading