Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Consumer and Financial Protection
New Law Will Give Small Businesses Better Access to Credit and Spur Job Creation
[CHICAGO] - Illinois small businesses will receive a much-needed lifeline that will improve their access to credit and jumpstart job creation following passage of the Small Business Jobs Act, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Melissa Bean said today. The legislation, which President Obama will sign into law on Monday, provides incentives for community banks to extend small businesses the capital they need to grow their businesses and hire additional workers, as well as … Continue Reading
September 07, 2010
Durbin Statement Regarding Mayor Richard M. Daley
[CHICAGO, IL] -- U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today made the following statement in response to a decision by Mayor Daley to not seek re-election: "I spoke with Mayor Daley after his announcement and know this was a personal, family decision. After 21 years as Mayor and almost 40 years in public life, Rich Daley knew it was time. The job of a big city mayor is one of the hardest in America. The fact that Chicago is one of the best, most energized, most attractive places to live in … Continue Reading
June 28, 2010
Durbin Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on Chicago's Handgun Laws
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Supreme Court handed down its opinion in McDonald v. City of Chicago, a decision likely to result in the overturning of longstanding handgun laws in Chicago and Oak Park."Much will be made of the Supreme Court's finding today that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live. But the Court also found that the right to keep and bear arms is not an unlimited right. … Continue Reading
June 24, 2010
Durbin Announces $520,000 in Funding for Pulaski Infrastructure Development
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has invested $520,000 in the Village of Pulaski, Illinois' Industrial Park Infrastructure project. This investment will fund roadway and other infrastructure improvements to serve the SISCO Regional Industrial Park located in Pulaski. The funding is expected save 32 jobs, create an additional 167 jobs and an additional $2 million in private … Continue Reading
June 23, 2010
Durbin Encourages Navistar to Open New Facility in Illinois
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today encouraged the Chairman and CEO of Navistar International Corporation, Daniel Ustian, to locate the company's new facility in Illinois. Because the company's plans to open a new facility in Lisle, Illinois have recently been called into question, Durbin also requested a meeting with Ustain to discuss the ongoing partnership between Navistar and Illinois."I am requesting a meeting to see if there are ways that I or my office can be of … Continue Reading
June 21, 2010
Durbin, Key House Conferees Reach Agreement on Interchange Fees
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that an agreement has been reached with key conferees on the Wall Street reform bill regarding his amendment regulating interchange fees. The agreement makes minor, clarifying changes to the language which passed the Senate 64-33, and responds to concerns raised by state governments regarding their use of prepaid and debit cards distribution of government benefits. "I'm pleased that we were able … Continue Reading
June 21, 2010
Durbin Joins Lawmakers in Calling for Government Review of For-Profit Colleges
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - In light of recent press reports raising concerns about the for-profit education sector U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) today joined other lawmakers in calling for a review of for-profit or "proprietary" institutions of higher education. Specifically, they asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess the quality of for-profit institutions, as well as how much of their revenue is comprised of Federal student aid and other Federal funding … Continue Reading
June 21, 2010
Durbin: New Provisions of FDA Tobacco Law Will Save Lives, Protect Children
[CHICAGO, IL] - Provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that go into effect tomorrow will prevent kids from picking up the deadly habit of smoking, help current smokers quit, and save many lives, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today. The provisions go into effect on the one-year anniversary of the bill's enactment. "The common sense reforms enacted by this law will finally end decades of tobacco industry deceit and targeting of children as 'replacement … Continue Reading
June 17, 2010
Durbin, Lautenberg Warn Tobacco Companies Not to Engage in Misleading Cigarette Advertising
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) today urged four major tobacco companies not to engage in any effort to mislead customers to believe they are buying safer cigarettes. Last year, Congress passed landmark legislation that banned using descriptors in cigarette labeling - such as "light," "mild," or "low-tar" - which insinuate or imply that certain products are healthier or lower risk than regular cigarettes. Research has definitively shown that … Continue Reading
June 11, 2010
Durbin Corrects Banking Lobby's Arguments on Interchange... Again
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - In a letter today to the CEO's of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and the Credit Union Nation Association (CUNA), Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) again corrected arguments the two financial service associations have made against his reasonable reforms of the interchange fee system. "I write to express my disappointment at the claims your associations continue to make in your efforts to block reasonable regulation of the … Continue Reading
May 27, 2010
Durbin to Visa and MasterCard: Stop Threatening Small Banks
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - In a strongly worded letter to the CEOs of Visa and MasterCard, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) told the credit card giants to stop threatening small banks with interchange fee changes and to commit not to take any steps that would purposefully disadvantage small card issuers. Visa and MasterCard began making these threats after Durbin successfully added a bipartisan amendment to the Wall Street reform bill to help reduce the interchange fees … Continue Reading
May 25, 2010
Durbin Sends Letter to Wall Street Reform Conferees on Interchange Amendment
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - In a letter to the Senate Conferees for the recently passed Wall Street reform bill, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) pressed members to include his amendment to help reduce the interchange fees that small businesses pay on every credit and debit card sale. Durbin's bipartisan amendment, which passed the Senate by a vote of 64-33, would enable small businesses and merchants to lower their costs and provide discounts for their customers. … Continue Reading
May 21, 2010
Durbin: Senate Passes Reform Bill that Puts Main Street Before Wall Street
[CHICAGO, IL] - American consumers are on track to see the strongest consumer financial protections in the nation's history as a result of legislation to bring accountability to Wall Street, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today. The Restoring American Financial Stability Act, which was approved by the Senate last night by a vote of 59-39, also includes a Durbin-authored amendment to help reduce the interchange or "swipe" fees that small businesses pay on every credit and debit … Continue Reading
May 14, 2010
Durbin to Banking Associations: Your Members Deserve an Accurate Representation of My Swipe Fee Amendment
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to the Independent Community Bankers of America and the Credit Union National Association today, expressing disappointment with the two large banking associations and urging a change of course in their tactics and message to their membership. The letters follow the passage of an amendment Durbin proposed which would address the high interchange swipe fees and anti-competitive restrictions … Continue Reading
April 28, 2010
Durbin Announces a Nearly $1 Million FEMA Grant for Fire Prevention and Safety Research at University of Illinois
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has awarded a $999,801 grant to the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for fire prevention and safety research. "Our nation's firefighters are called upon day after day to protect America's citizens," Durbin said. "As these brave men and women put themselves in harm's way, we … Continue Reading
April 23, 2010
Durbin: Reform Bill Empowers Consumers Against Excesses of Wall Street
[CHICAGO, IL] - A bill to bring accountability to Wall Street will give American consumers the strongest consumer financial protections against abusive lending practices in history, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today. The measure, set to be debated next week in the Senate, also includes strict new regulations to stop Wall Street from gambling America's financial security. The Wall Street reform bill would create a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, housed in the … Continue Reading
April 09, 2010
Healthcare Reform News Conference in Normal, IL
This past week was historic for our country. The passage of the new health reform law is a great step forward. It is an expression of our commitment to ensuring that every Illinoisan and every American have the best health care possible. And it couldn't have come too soon. Our nation's healthcare crisis is pricing more and more people out of coverage. Over the past decade, family health insurance premiums for Illinois's workers rose five times more quickly than median earnings. … Continue Reading
March 09, 2010
Durbin, Costello: Time for Federal Government to Take Responsibility and Fully Assess Risk of Metro East Flood
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Congressman Jerry Costello (D-IL) today called on the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Craig Fugate, and the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Jo-Ellen Darcy to produce information that led to the determination that levees in the Metro East area could not be certified. Both Fugate and Darcy pledged to investigate the recent lack of information, work with local officials to assemble an adequate amount … Continue Reading
February 19, 2010
Durbin Announces Nearly $3 Million in Recovery Act Funding for Rural Water Projects in Illinois
[WASHINGTON, D.C] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $2,895,000 in loans and grants funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for two rural Illinois water system improvement projects. Today's announcement is part of a nationwide announcement of $128.1 million in funding for water and environmental projects that will help provide safe drinking water and protect the environment … Continue Reading
January 30, 2010
Governor Quinn, Senator Durbin Announce Exelon Corporation Joining FutureGen Alliance
CHICAGO - January 30, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin today announced that the Exelon Corporation will join ranks alongside some of the world's largest energy corporations as a member of the FutureGen Alliance. Exelon's membership signals critical support ahead of the U.S. Department of Energy's (USDOE) pending decision to move ahead on FutureGen construction."As one of the nation's largest electric utilities and energy providers, Exelon's partnership on this project … Continue Reading