Durbin, Duckworth Discuss COVID-19 Response with Chicago Mayor Lightfoot

SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) spoke with Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot about Chicago's COVID-19 pandemic response and how they can continue to assist her efforts to protect Illinoisans. Durbin and Duckworth discussed strategies to support minority and women owned businesses, protecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, protecting frontline transit workers and investing in infrastructure to help get people back to work,… Continue Reading

Durbin, Warren, Colleagues Urge Education Department to Protect CARES Act Funds from Predatory For-Profit College Industry

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), sent a letter to the Department of Education requesting clarification on whether it will allow for-profit colleges to be eligible for funding in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which establishes the $14 billion Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to aid students and stabilize colleges and universities impacted by the CO… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Call for Expanding Coronavirus Testing Capability by Providing Flexibility to Testing Laboratories

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), today called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide additional regulatory flexibility to hospitals and private laboratories to enable scaled-up testing capacity for the novel coronavirus. Even as rapid testing is becoming available, hospitals are still facing delays in obtaining patient results and comme… Continue Reading

Durbin to SBA & Treasury: Prioritize Financial Needs of Small Businesses in Underserved & Rural Communities

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged the Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Department of Treasury to prioritize the financial needs of small businesses in underserved and rural markets when processing and disbursing loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. In a letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Durbin asked the agencies to quickly issue guidance to lenders and agents that clearly outlines how lenders can best s… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More than $52 Million in Federal Funding to Help Illinois Health Centers Respond to COVID-19

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Illinois will receive a total of $52,697,049 in federal grants to support 45 Community Health Centers (CHCs) in their COVID-19 response efforts. This funding comes from the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that both Durbin and Duckworth voted for to help increase COVID-19 screening and testing needs, acquire medical supplies and protective equipment, and boost telehe… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues to HHS: Reopen the ACA Marketplace, Allow More Americans to Get Health Insurance During COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and 24 Senate Democrats to urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reopen the Affordable Care Act's online marketplace to allow more un- and under-insured Americans to get health insurance as they face potential health issues related to COVID-19. In a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, the Senators urged HHS to allow Americans to enroll through… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Democratic Colleagues Press Trump Administration on Unemployment Insurance Benefits

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and 33 Democratic colleagues today in pressing the Trump Administration to take additional action to ensure workers receive unemployment insurance benefits as quickly as possible. The Senators outlined a number of actions the Administration should take to help states disburse supercharged unemployment insurance: provide technological support, assist states in meeting … Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on GAO Report Underscoring Need to Address Maternal Mortality Crisis

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on maternal mortality, which describes how maternal deaths are tracked, trends and disparities in mortality data, and how federal funding is being used to reduce pregnancy-related deaths. Durbin, along with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and 10 other Senate Democrats, requested the report in 2018 to determine how effectively federal investments… Continue Reading

Durbin to Illinois Hospitals: CARES Act Program Can Provide Immediate Financial Relief

SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) urged Illinois hospitals to take advantage of a Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act program that can provide financial support immediately during the COVID-19 pandemic, following millions of dollars in successful funding requests for both urban and rural hospitals in Illinois. The Medicare accelerated payment program, included in the CARES Act, allows qualifying hospitals-including acute care hospitals, children's hospit… Continue Reading

Durbin, Democratic Colleagues Urge Student Loan Companies to Immediately Provide Relief to Private Student Loan Borrowers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in leading nine of their Democratic colleagues in sending a series of letters to student loan companies asking how they are taking steps to aid private student loan borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In their letters to Wells Fargo, SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae), Navient, Citizens Financial Group, Discover Financial Services, the PNC Financial Services Group, Truist Financial Co… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Additional $8 Million in Federal Funding to Support COVID-19 Response in Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $6.3 million to the State of Illinois and $1.7 million to the City of Chicago to support COVID-19 response. This is in addition to funding previously provided by the CDC, for a total of $23.7 million for Illinois and $12.2 million for Chicago. "Our state and local public health departments are at the forefront of this crisis and this fede… Continue Reading

Durbin, Lankford to HHS: Ensure Rural Hospitals Have Help During Coronavirus Response

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and James Lankford (R-OK) urged Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to ensure rural hospitals have the needed support to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain financial stability to continue serving their communities. Durbin and Lankford highlighted the $100 billion in new funding appropriated by Congress to health care providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and emphas… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Response With Chief of National Guard

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, today discussed the COVID-19 pandemic response with General Joseph Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard Bureau. Durbin received an update about National Guard operations in Illinois, where hundreds of troops are assisting state and local authorities in response to the crisis. Durbin also pressed on the need to provide full benefits to all members of the Guard who are activated. If a… Continue Reading

Durbin, Brown to Financial Regulators: Protect Consumers from Predatory Lending Practices During COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON - Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today pressed the nation's top financial regulators to issue guidance and lending principles that include a heightened emphasis on protecting our nation's ailing small businesses and consumers from predatory lending practices. In a letter to Jerome Powell, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Kathleen Kraninger, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Jelena… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More than $1.6 Billion in COVID-19 Relief Bill Funding for Illinois Transit

SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded the State of Illinois a total of $1,623,200,130 in federal transit formula funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The funding will allow Illinois's transit agencies to continue operations during the COVID-19 response ensuring transportation access to jobs, medical treatment, food, and other essential service… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Bipartisan Letter Urging USDA to Ensure Continuity of Food Supply by Supporting Farmers During COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Hoeven (R-ND), and 30 of their colleagues in writing a bipartisan letter to Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, urging the Administration to ensure the continuity of our country's food supply and to support rural areas during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by providing needed relief to farmers. "We write to ask that you take action to ensure the continuity of our country'… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins AJC to Speak out Against Chinese & Asian American Discrimination During COVID-19 Pandemic

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined AJC Chicago and AJC's Asia Pacific Institute for a virtual panel discussion entitled, "Declaration of Support for the Illinois Chinese-American Community," to speak out against Chinese and Asian-American discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion, which was in partnership with United Chinese Americans (UCA) and Coalition for a Better Chinese-American Community … Continue Reading

Durbin, Warren, Brown, Blumenthal Urge Departments of Education & Defense to Protect Student Borrowers From Predatory For-Profit Schools

SPRINGFIELD - In the wake of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) decision to suspend new G.I. Bill enrollments at several institutions of higher education - including for-profit University of Phoenix and schools owned by Career Education Corporation - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today sent letters to the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Defense urging each Department to take action to prot… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More than $147 Million to Support Community Services in Illinois as Part of COVID-19 Relief Package

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Illinois will receive more than $147 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding was provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which was signed into law last week and will be distributed across Illinois through HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDGB) program and Emerge… Continue Reading

Durbin to Illinois Banks and Credit Unions: Participate in SBA Loan Program to Help Small Businesses

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged the leaders of the Illinois Bankers Association, Illinois Credit Union League, and Community Bankers Association of Illinois to encourage their members to participate in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help ensure that small businesses across the state have access to the resources they need to survive the economic consequences they are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Coronavirus … Continue Reading