Durbin, Duckworth Introduce Bill To Support NPS Management Of Pullman Historical Park

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today introduced a bill that would ensure protections for National Park Service (NPS) to acquire land and enter into cooperative agreements at Pullman National Historical Park in order to advance park management. The legislation, the Pullman National Historical Park Act 2019, would ensure protections for the Pullman area and provide NPS more flexibility to work with historic buildings and assets that it does not own, but th… Continue Reading

Durbin to BOP Director: Why Is DOJ Undermining The First Step Act?

WASHINGTON-In today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Dr. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) discussed the Trump Administration's implementation of the recently-enacted Grassley-Durbin First Step Act. Durbin pressed Dr. Hawk Sawyer on his concerns that DOJ is actively undermining the First Step Act and fighting to oppose retroactive Fair Sentencing Act relief for eligible individual… Continue Reading

Durbin Shares Illinois Constituent Story To Highlight Stakes In Fight Against Republicans' Attacks On Families' Health Care

WASHINGTON-In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called out President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans for their continued efforts to destabilize and undermine America's health care system. Durbin also shared the story of an Illinois constituent, Stefanie from Oak Park. Stefanie's son just graduated college and has a history of mental health and substance abuse issues. Because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), her son is able to stay on her health insurance… Continue Reading

Durbin To Trump: You Should Care More About Children Than Lobbying Pressure From Big Vape

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today in a speech on the Senate floor slammed President Donald Trump for seemingly reversing course on a planned e-cigarette flavor ban. Durbin called out the President for caving to lobbying pressure from Big Tobacco and Big Vape, breaking his promise to protect our nation's children from a lifetime of nicotine addiction. For years, e-cigarette use among children has skyrocketed nationwide, leading the Trump Administration to finally … Continue Reading

Durbin To Trump On E-Cigarette Flavor Ban Inaction: You Broke Your Promise

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to President Donald Trump slamming his Administration for seemingly reversing course on a planned e-cigarette flavor ban. For years, e-cigarette use among children has skyrocketed nationwide, leading the Trump Administration to finally announce-on September 11, 2019-that it would soon ban all non-tobacco e-cigarette flavors "within weeks." Now, more than two months later, it appears that President Trump is planning… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Trump Administration Delay Of E-Cigarette Flavor Ban

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after it was reported that President Donald Trump is reversing course on a planned e-cigarette flavor ban. For years, e-cigarette use among children has skyrocketed nationwide, leading the Trump Administration to finally announce-on September 11, 2019-that it would soon ban all non-tobacco e-cigarette flavors "within weeks." Now, more than two months later, it appears that President Trump is plan… Continue Reading

Top Senate Democrats Demand Answers From Pentagon On Continued Delay Of Ukraine Military Aid

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee; Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; and Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper demanding answers regarding the Trump Administration's con… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On USDA Second Round Of Trade Aid Payments

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, today released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcement of the second tranche of 2019 Market Facilitation Program payments to assist American farmers affected by the Trump Administration's trade policies: "Illinois soybean farmers have been badly hurt by the President's nearly two-year trade war with China. Worse yet, when you look … Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Continue To Press Pompeo On Determination To Exclude Saudi Arabia From Child Soldiers List

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and U.S. Representatives Ami Bera (D-CA-07), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-07), and Ted Lieu (D-CA-33) today lead several of their colleagues in a bicameral letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his reported decision to exclude the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the State Department's list of countries known to recruit and use child soldiers in the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, despite State Department experts' findings that s… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls For Increased Funding For Scientific Research

URBANA-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined researchers at the University of Illinois to discuss his efforts to restore the United States' commitment to breakthrough scientific, biomedical, and agriculture research. Research and development (R&D) funding in the United States has been lagging in recent decades. During the 1960s, the United States invested 17 percent of its discretionary budget on research and development-that number has now decreased to just nine percent. This steady … Continue Reading

Durbin, Murray Continue To Seek Status Of Group Discharge Applications Submitted By State AG's

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Patty Murray (D-WA) today requested the U.S. Department of Education provide an update on group discharge applications filed by State attorneys general on behalf of thousands of defrauded students who are eligible for federal loan discharge under the borrower defense provision of the Higher Education Act. The Department's response to the same request Durbin, Murray, and 20 of their Senate colleagues sent in June was "unacceptable." The applicati… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Unveil Bipartisan Bill To Examine Scope Of Insulin Affordability Crisis And Bring Relief To Americans With Diabetes

WASHINGTON - In association with World Diabetes Day, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) in introducing bipartisan legislation to create a national study to more fully understand the scope of the insulin affordability crisis in America and its impacts on rationing and patient health outcomes. One recent study found that one in four Americans with diabetes is rationing their… Continue Reading

Durbin, Lee Introduce Smarter Sentencing Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mike Lee (R-UT), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation that would modernize federal drug sentencing polices by lowering certain mandatory drug sentences. "Mandatory minimum penalties have played a large role in the explosion of the U.S. prison population. These mandatory minimums have too often led to sentences that are unfair, fiscally irresponsible, and a threat to public safety," Durbin said. "The First Step… Continue Reading

Durbin, Booker, Harris Introduce New Legislation To Combat Overuse Of Solitary Confinement In Immigration Detention

WASHINGTON - Following reports from the Project on Government Oversight, The Washington Post, NBC News, and others that illustrated that solitary confinement is significantly overused in federal immigration detention, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Kamala Harris (D-CA) today introduced legislation to combat the rampant and unnecessary overuse of solitary confinement in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operated and ICE contract facilities. "Research shows… Continue Reading

Illinois Congressional Delegation Presses USDA To End Hostility Toward State's Food Stamp Program At Senior Living Facilities

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of Illinois Congressional Delegation members today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue urging the Department to continue its decades-long practice of authorizing and re-authorizing supportive living facilities (SLFs) as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to ensure consistent nutritional support for 8,000 low-income elderly and disabled individuals in Illinois. The members, in their letter, cite … Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Director Of Bureau Of Prisons, Dr. Hawk Sawyer, To Discuss Criminal Justice Reform

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Dr. Kathleen Hawk Sawyer to discuss the Trump Administration's implementation of the recently-enacted Grassley-Durbin First Step Act, inadequate BOP staffing, and the overuse of solitary confinement. Durbin also received an update on the activation of the Federal penitentiary in Thomson, Illinois. "BOP plays a critical role in implementing the objectives … Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Statement On DOD OIG Decision To Not Investigate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative Funding Delay

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, along with Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), today released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced that it would not investigate DoD's d… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Congress To Pass Legislation To Require Disclosure Of Prescription Drug Prices In TV Ads

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today made a unanimous consent (UC) request to immediately pass his bipartisan Drug-price Transparency in Communications (DTC) Act, a bill he introduced in May with Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Angus King (I-ME), and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that would require pharmaceutical companies to disclose the prices of their prescription drugs in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements. Durbin's bipartisan legislation would e… Continue Reading

Durbin Votes Against President Trump's Nominee For DHS, Chad Wolf

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today spoke against the nomination of Chad Wolf to be the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Under Secretary for Policy. Reports indicate that President Donald Trump will appoint Mr. Wolf as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security if he is confirmed as Under Secretary. Mr. Wolf was confirmed by a vote of 54-41. "So is Chad Wolf the r… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Urge Trump Administration To Improve Trade Assistance To Illinois Farmers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with 15 other Senators, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue, urging USDA to improve its trade assistance program to better support farmers based on harm and pursue a focused trade policy to rebuild the markets American farmers have lost. Yesterday, Durbin, along with members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, released a new report that details h… Continue Reading