Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Justice and Civil Rights
Durbin, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Allow Sexual Assault & Harassment Survivors To Seek Justice & Accountability
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), along with U.S. Representatives Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17), Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9), and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7) to announce the bipartisan, bicameral Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault & Harassment Act to empower sexual assault and harassment survivors. The legislation would stop perpetrators from being able … Continue Reading
July 14, 2021
Durbin Gives Remarks In Judiciary Committee Hearing For Circuit & District Judicial Nominees And Executive Nominee
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the nominations hearing for Myrna Pérez, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit; Jia M. Cobb, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia; Sarah A.L. Merriam, to be United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut; Florence Y. Pan, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia; … Continue Reading
July 13, 2021
Durbin Presses For Increased Transparency And Competition To Lower Prescription Drug Prices
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Protection hearing titled, "A Prescription for Change: Cracking Down on Anticompetitive Conduct in Prescription Drug Markets." During his questioning, Durbin discussed his longstanding efforts to bring transparency and competition to the pharmaceutical industry in order to lower drug prices … Continue Reading
July 13, 2021
Durbin: Congress Has A Responsibility To Gather A Full Accounting Of What Happened On January 6
WASHINGTON - Days after the fence around the U.S. Capitol building was removed and six months after the January 6 insurrection, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today once again slammed Senate Republicans' refusal to support the bipartisan January 6 commission, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and applauded Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats for creating a select committee to investigate both the security … Continue Reading
July 12, 2021
Durbin: Congress Must Address Gun Violence In Chicago And Across The Country
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke on the Senate floor about President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy and what must be done to help prevent mass shooting tragedies in Chicago and across the country. "Did you hear that? This year, 23,000 gun violence deaths in America…Sadly, virtually every weekend is a mass shooting in the City of Chicago," Durbin said. "No other nation on Earth experiences this massive … Continue Reading
June 30, 2021
Durbin, Grassley Statement on Justice Department Responsiveness To Committee Members' Oversight Requests
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding a virtual meeting today between members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland about the Department of Justice's (DOJ) responsiveness to committee members' oversight requests: "Today's discussion was a step in the right … Continue Reading
June 24, 2021
Durbin Speaks In Support Of President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke on the Senate floor to discuss President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy. Durbin shared his support for the President's initiative and discussed the deadly toll gun violence has had in Chicago, Illinois. Durbin also called on the Senate to pass background check legislation to prevent guns from ending up in the hands of criminals and mentally unstable people and to confirm David … Continue Reading
June 24, 2021
Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Durbin, Grassley Bill To Put Cameras In Supreme Court
WASHINGTON - Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 15-7 to advance the bipartisan Cameras in the Courtroom Act, introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bipartisan bill would require the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open sessions of the Court, unless the Court decides, by a majority vote of the Justices, that doing so … Continue Reading
June 24, 2021
Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Nominations Of Chipman To Lead ATF, Jaddou To Lead USCIS, And Strickland To The District Of New Mexico
WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nominations of Margaret Irene Strickland, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico; David H. Chipman, to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Ur Mendoza Jaddou, to be Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ahead of the votes, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged his colleagues to support all … Continue Reading
June 24, 2021
Durbin Statement On Biden Administration's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy: "Too many Chicagoans endure the daily stress and fear of gunfire, and too many Monday mornings start with devastating news headlines of the weekend's toll of shootings in our streets and neighborhoods. This violence is heartbreaking, traumatic, and impacting innocent families and children. Addressing the gun … Continue Reading
June 23, 2021
Durbin: The Fight For Voting Rights Did Not End With Yesterday's Republican Filibuster
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today slammed Senate Republicans for filibustering the For The People Act, a bill that would strengthen voting rights, secure our elections, reform our broken campaign finance system, and combat corruption through improving ethics laws for federal government officials. "Welcome back to the fight to preserve voting rights that has never ended. It didn't start on … Continue Reading
June 23, 2021
Durbin Calls For Unanimous Passage Of Bipartisan & Bicameral Legislation To Sustain Crime Victims Fund
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today on the Senate floor requested unanimous consent to pass the bipartisan VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act, which would strengthen the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) by fixing how the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) is funded. Specifically, the bill would redirect monetary penalties from federal deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements into the CVF to increase funding for state … Continue Reading
June 23, 2021
Durbin Calls On His Senate Colleagues To Support Judicial Nominations Of Candace Jackson-Akiwumi & Deborah Boardman
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called on his colleagues to support two judicial nominees who are being considered on the Senate floor this week: Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, nominated to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals; and Judge Deborah Boardman, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. "Ms. Candace Jackson-Akiwumi spent ten years as a federal public … Continue Reading
June 23, 2021
Durbin Gives Opening Remarks In Judiciary Committee Hearing For Judicial & Executive Nominees
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the nominations hearing for Gustavo A. Gelpi, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit; Angel Kelley, to be United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts; Christine P. O'Hearn, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey; Helaine Ann Greenfeld, to be an Assistant Attorney General, Office of … Continue Reading
June 22, 2021
Durbin Statement On Senate Vote On For The People Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement today after the For The People Act, a bill that would strengthen voting rights, secure our elections, reform our broken campaign finance system, and combat corruption through improving ethics laws for federal government officials, failed to advance on the Senate floor: "Democracy is at its strongest when every eligible voter has access to the ballot. By … Continue Reading
June 22, 2021
Durbin Questions Witness At Hearing on Federal Crack And Powder Cocaine Sentencing
WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled, "Examining Federal Sentencing for Crack and Powder Cocaine," U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Regina LaBelle, Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, whether there is any scientific basis for the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Durbin's Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 dramatically reduced this crack-powder … Continue Reading
June 22, 2021
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement At Hearing On Federal Crack And Powder Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the "Examining Federal Sentencing for Crack and Powder Cocaine" Judiciary Committee hearing. During his opening statement, Durbin highlighted how the crack-powder cocaine disparity continues to disproportionately impact African-Americans, without any apparent public safety benefit. Durbin also discussed the bipartisan Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust … Continue Reading
June 21, 2021
Ahead Of Vote, Durbin Discusses Importance Of For The People Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) took to the Senate floor today to discuss his support for the For The People Act, a bill that would protect Americans from deliberate voter suppression laws by establishing minimum uniform federal standards for voter registration and casting a ballot. Since the January 6th insurrection, many Republican state legislatures have pushed through a wave of voter suppression laws on the basis of false theories of widespread voter fraud-many of … Continue Reading
June 17, 2021
Durbin Attempts To Pass Bipartisan & Bicameral Legislation To Sustain Crime Victims Fund
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today on the Senate floor requested unanimous consent to pass the bipartisan VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act, which would strengthen the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) by fixing how the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) is funded. Specifically, the bill would redirect monetary penalties from federal deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements into the CVF to increase funding for state … Continue Reading
June 16, 2021
Judiciary Committee Democrats Urge DOJ To Provide Committee OLC Memo On President Trump's Obstruction Of Mueller Investigation
WASHINGTON - Today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) led all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on a letter to Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland expressing serious concerns about the Trump-era Department of Justice's (DOJ) apparent misrepresentations to a federal court regarding the March 24, 2019 Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memorandum on President Trump's obstruction of Special Counsel Mueller's investigation. In their letter, Durbin and Senate Judiciary Committee … Continue Reading