Durbin Warns Prospective Students About Deceptive For-Profit Colleges

[CHICAGO] - As a new school year begins, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today warned prospective students about the perils of for-profit colleges and called on the U.S. Department of Education to use its full authority to end abusive practices and improve student outcomes. While for-profit colleges enroll only about 10% of all college students, they take in 20% of the Department of Education's federal student aid funds and account for a disproportionate 44% of student loan defaults. "The col… Continue Reading

Following Senators’ Urging, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Announces Additional Action to Protect Consumers from the Dangers of Deadly Powdered Caffeine

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Following calls from a group of United States Senators to ban the retail sale of powdered caffeine and require better product labels, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued warning letters to five powdered caffeine distributors, requiring them to revise their labels to clarify serving sizes, potency, and risks associated with the use of powdered caffeine. After a New York Times report detailed the prevalent use of caffeine inhalers to deliver powdered… Continue Reading

Durbin, Schakowsky, U.S. Army Corps, MWRD, and Other Local Officials Cut Ribbon on Levee 37

[MOUNT PROSPECT, IL] - Hundreds of homes and businesses along the Des Plaines River will be better protected from flooding with the completion of Levee 37 construction, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Illinois Department of Natural Resources and other local officials announced today at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the project. Levee 37 will provide protect… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces More Than $14,000 in Federal Funding to Support Community Policing Efforts in Adams County

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded $14,409 in funding through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program to support law enforcement efforts and improve community policing in Adams County and Quincy, Illinois. The City of Quincy will use their share of the grant to purchase body worn cameras for their police officers. Adams County will use their portion of the funding to purchase radio equipmen… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces Federal Investment in Health Care Services in Quincy

QUINCY, IL - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that many seniors and low-income families in and around Quincy will soon see expanded access to health care services as the result of a federal investment of $650,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to Preferred Family Healthcare (PFH). The grant will help PFH, a federally qualified health care center (FQHC), create a community health center in Quincy, providing a much-needed medical home to medically-unde… Continue Reading

Durbin, Kirk Lead Illinois Delegation Call for Federal Relief for Small Businesses Impacted By Severe Summer Storms

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) were joined by the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation today sending a letter to President Obama asking him to issue a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Declaration for Grundy and Iroquois Counties, which will allow residents and businesses in the region severely impacted by severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes earlier this summer to receive SBA loans. These loans provide assistance to homeowners, r… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Coalition Pressing FDA to Tackle Toxics in E-Cigarettes

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-NM), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) in calling for clear product standards and good manufacturing processes to combat the health risks of toxic substances in e-cigarettes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalizes its first regulations of the aerosol-producing products. The number of e-cigarette… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Kraft Heinz Company to Reconsider Plan to Eliminate 700 Jobs in Illinois

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the CEO of The Kraft Heinz Company to reconsider its decision to eliminate 700 jobs in Illinois. Earlier today, the company announced that it will eliminate 2,500 jobs in the U.S. and Canada. In the event that the decision is not reversed, Durbin urged the company to do more for displaced workers: "This corporate decision creates tremendous social and economic pain for these workers, their families, and the greater North… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces a Nearly $217,000 Investment in East Joliet First-Responder Capabilities

[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 $216,667 grant to the East Joliet Fire Protection District for operations and safety. Today's funding will support and improve the capability of the department to respond to fires and other types of emergencies. "This federal funding will ensure that when fires or other emergencies occur in our communities, our … Continue Reading

Durbin, Kirk: U.S. Department of Agriculture Issues Disaster Declaration & Makes Federal Relief Available for Illinois Farmers

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) announced today that U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack has issued a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for Illinois counties impacted by heavy rainfall earlier this year. The Secretary's action ensures that farmers in all eligible counties will be able to apply for emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), a division of the USDA. "Today's federal disaster declaration will give a helping… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Illinois Company to Keep Tax Address in U.S.

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged the President and CEO of Deerfield, Illinois-based CF Industries, Tony Will, to keep the company's corporate tax headquarters in the U.S. rather than move it overseas - but only on paper - in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes - a process known as "inversion". "After benefitting from investments by U.S. taxpayers that helped make your business what it is today, CF Industries' plans to invert and move its tax address outside th… Continue Reading

Durbin, Agricultural Leaders Discuss Great Potential for Trade with Cuba

[NORMAL] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), joined by Ben Barron with the State Department's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and Alexis Taylor with Foreign Agricultural Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, met with local agricultural leaders today to discuss changes made by the Obama administration between the U.S. and Cuba and the potential benefits of lifting the Cuban trade embargo. Since President Obama's announcement late last year on the normalization of relations with C… Continue Reading

Durbin: Senate's Long-Term Transportation Bill Provides Certainty Needed to Create Jobs and Improve Infrastructure

[DECATUR] - Businesses and state governments would have the certainty they need to plan critical infrastructure projects if the long-term bi-partisan transportation bill passed by the U.S. Senate becomes law, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today following a tour of the Midwest Inland Port in Decatur. Since 2009, Congress has passed 34 stop-gap measures to keep the country's major transportation and infrastructure programs from shutting down, with the most recent vote in late July- the thir… Continue Reading

Durbin Visits Villa Park Fire Department, Discusses Importance of Federal Funding for First Responders

[VILLA PARK] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited Villa Park Fire Department today where he saw the Department's new fire truck funded by a $432,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) awarded last year. Durbin met with Villa Park Mayor Deborah Bullwinkel and Fire Chief Ron Rakosnik to discuss the benefits of the AFG program and the new fire engine, which will begin use in the coming weeks. "We must ensure our nation's firefighters and first-respo… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Legislation to Combat Heroin Epidemic

[NAPERVILLE, IL] - In an effort to prevent drug tragedies and combat a nationwide surge of lethal drug overdoses, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with local advocates, law enforcement officials, health professionals, and people recovering from heroin and opioid addiction to discuss ways to combat the problem. Durbin recently co-sponsored bills to expand treatment for heroin addiction and increase access to naloxone - a drug that counters the effects of an opioid overdose - and other dr… Continue Reading

Durbin, Kirk Support Federal Investment in Illinois Biofuels Industry

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) wrote to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today in support of Illinois' application for additional federal funding to advance the deployment of biofuel infrastructure across Illinois. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making up to $100 million available in competitive grants to states that are testing innovative ways to distribute higher blends of renewable fuel. "The continued advancement… Continue Reading

Durbin, Emanuel Announce a $10.2 Million Investment in Chicago Midway Airport

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced today that the City of Chicago, Illinois has received $10,210,000 in funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration for infrastructure improvements and upgrades at Chicago Midway International Airport. Of this funding, $210,000 will be used to purchase additional equipment. In addition, $10 million will be used for noise mitigation efforts near Chicago Midway… Continue Reading

Durbin: Chicago Rockford International Airport's EDA Grant Moves Forward

[ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS] - The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) today announced that the Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD) Midfield Aviation Industrial Park Project has been selected through EDA's competitive application review process for further funding consideration. Subject to the availability of funds, the proposed project will be considered for up to $2.5 million in EDA funding under the Economic Adjustment Assistance Program. The Midfield Aviation Industrial Par… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on President's Clean Power Plan

CHICAGO-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on President Obama's Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon pollution from power plants: The President's Clean Power Plan represents a big, bold step in the right direction, and I hope Republicans in Congress will wake up to the reality of climate change and global warming and join us in taking action. Our generation must take these steps now to protect the world for future generations, and that's going to mean… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Importance of Modernizing Federal Drug Sentencing Policy

[CHICAGO] - With prison populations skyrocketing over the last several decades and almost half of the nation's federal inmates serving sentences for drug offenses, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today discussed the urgent need to reform federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws for nonviolent drug offenses. Durbin discussed the Smarter Sentencing Act, a bipartisan bill he introduced earlier this year, which would modernize federal drug sentencing laws by giving federal judges more discretion in… Continue Reading