Durbin To Leader McConnell: Protect Dreamers & Call A Vote On The Dream And Promise Act

WASHINGTON-Ahead of next week's oral argument in the Supreme Court on the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today came to the Senate floor to once again call on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to call a vote on the bipartisan House-passed American Dream and Promise Act, which will establish a path to citizenship for Dreamers and immig… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $13 Million Grant for New Underpass in Normal

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Town of Normal has been awarded $13 million in federal funding for the final design and construction of an underpass under Union Pacific's tracks next to Uptown Station. Today's investment, awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) BUILD grant program, will help establish a better connection between Uptown Normal and homes on the south side of the railroad tracks. "I'm plea… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $14 Million Grant for Carbondale Station

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Carbondale has been awarded $14 million in federal funding for the Carbondale Station Multimodal Project through the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) BUILD grant program. "This federal investment will be a tremendous boost to Carbondale and Southern Illinois. A new multimodal transportation center will help better connect the families, businesses, and students of Carbondale to both local a… Continue Reading

Durbin Once Again Calls On Congress To Pass Legislation To Increase Number Of Green Cards Available, Eliminating The Backlog

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 once again made a unanimous consent (UC) request to immediately pass his Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, which would eliminate the family and employment green card backlog by increasing the number of green cards. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) objected. Along with eliminating the family and e… Continue Reading

Durbin Pushes For 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 highlighted plans to seek Senate passage for 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 list prices of their prescription drugs in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements. Durbin's bipartisan legislation would empower patients and l… Continue Reading

Durbin: NAFTA 2.0 Is A Trojan Horse Giveaway To Big Pharma

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today on the Senate floor, as part of his "Pharma Fleece Awards" series of floor speeches highlighting egregious cases of pharmaceutical industry greed, slammed PhRMA and the Trump Administration for a giveaway tucked into NAFTA 2.0 that will keep drug prices high for Americans. Durbin highlighted provisions in the NAFTA 2.0 trade agreement that cement monopoly protections for pharmaceutical corporations by blocking generic competition, resulting in … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Bustos, Loebsack Announce Addition Of 50 Jobs At Rock Island Arsenal

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA-02), today announced the addition of 50 new human resources professional positions at Rock Island Arsenal (RIA) through the U.S. Army's Civilian Human Resources Agency (CHRA) in order to support the Defense Health Agency (DHA). These positions are in addition to the approximately 160 positions added to CHRA's activity in Rock Island in 2018, an… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues to DOD IG: Investigate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative Funding That Was Held By Trump Administration

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, along with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), today reiterated their call for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to review DoD's Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding appropriated by Congress, which was halted for a signi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Bustos Announce Multi-Year Extension For Quad Cities To Chicago Amtrak Rail Project Funding

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17), announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued an extension for $177 million in Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) funding for the Amtrak route between Chicago and Moline until December 31, 2024. In June, the members sent a letter to DOT Secretary Elaine Chao that urged DOT to extend the deadline for Illinois to use the $177 million in FRA fun… Continue Reading

Durbin, Blumenthal, Brown Call On Devos To Immediately Cooperate With Investigation Into Department's Role In Dream Center Accreditation Misrepresentation

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos calling for her immediate and full cooperation with House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott's (D-VA-03) investigation into the Department's role in Dream Center Education Holding's (DCEH) accreditation misrepresentation at its Illinois Institute of Art and Art Institute of Colorado campuses. DeVos has failed … Continue Reading

Durbin, Kennedy Urge DEA To Use Its New Authorities To Lower Opioid Quotas

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and John Kennedy (R-LA) today, in a letter to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon, called on DEA to use its new authorities-passed into law by Durbin and Kennedy last year-to prevent and limit opioid diversion by properly regulating the pharmaceutical industry and appropriately reducing opioid production quotas for 2020. In its 2020 proposal, DEA explained it would only lower opioid production quotas based upon r… Continue Reading

Durbin Demands CFPB Investigation Of Mismanagement Of Student Loan Forgiveness Program

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along 22 other Democratic Senators, demanded Consumer Financial Protect Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger to investigate student loan servicer Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) for mismanagement of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. "We write to request that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) immediately open an enforcement investigation into the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency's (PHE… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Deadlocked Appropriations Process, Republican Fear-Mongering

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today released the following statement after voting against the motion to proceed to four Senate Appropriations Committee funding bills, including the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee funding bill: "President Trump continues to divert funds from our men and women in uniform and their families i… Continue Reading

Durbin, Kennedy Secure Amendment In Appropriations Bill To Ensure DEA Uses Its Authority To Reduce Opioid Production Quotas For Pharmaceutical Industry

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and John Kennedy (R-LA) today secured an amendment in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Commerce, Justice, and Science funding bill to ensure the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is properly regulating the pharmaceutical industry by providing the tools necessary to limit the over-production of prescription painkillers that fueled the nation's opioid epidemic. The FY 2020 Commerce, Justice, and Science funding bill passed the Senate today along with the… Continue Reading

Senate Passes Domestic Spending Bills With Illinois Priorities Secured By Durbin

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today released the following statement after the Senate passed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 funding bills for Interior and Environment; Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration; and Commerce, Justice, and Science: "As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am proud to secure important federal funding for Illinois in the bills… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Top Venezuelan Diplomat & Foreign Minister For Guiadó Government

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Carlos Vecchio, the top Venezuelan diplomat to the United States under interim President Juan Guaidó's government, and Julio Borges, President Guido's foreign minister. In today's meeting, Durbin offered his continued support for President Guaidó and discussed plans for a managed transition and a timely, open, and fair election. "In today's meeting, I reiterated to Minister Borges and Chargé d'Affa… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Colleagues To Introduce New Bipartisan Bill To Help Reduce Police Officer Suicides

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Chris Coons (D-DE), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to introduce a new bipartisan bill to track law enforcement suicides. The Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act requires the FBI to collect voluntary, anonymous data on police suicides and attempted suicides from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Collecting this data will help inform policy … Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Congress To Pass Legislation To Increase Number Of Green Cards Available, Eliminating The Backlog

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 made a unanimous consent (UC) request to immediately pass his Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, which would eliminate the family and employment green card backlog by increasing the number of green cards. Senator John Thune (R-SD) objected on behalf of Senator Mike Lee (R-UT). Along with eli… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Senate Republicans Voting Against Protecting Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after Senate Republicans voted against a resolution to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions by limiting the proliferation of "junk plans" - short-term insurance plans that are allowed to discriminate against Americans with pre-existing conditions. Durbin, along with every Senate Democrat, was a cosponsor of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to protect Americans with pre-exist… Continue Reading

Durbin, Judiciary Dems Call On Cornyn To Hold Hearing On Green-Card Backlog Legislation

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, along with Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Kamala Harris (D-CA) today called on Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, to hold a hearing on legislation to addres… Continue Reading