Press Releases
Durbin Opposes Andrew Wheeler, President Trump's Nominee To Head The EPA
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after voting against President Trump's nominee to be U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Andrew Wheeler: We need someone leading the EPA who will put the health and well-being of the people of this country above the profits of corporate polluters. We need someone who is willing to protect families and communities from toxic chemicals in our air and water by fully enforcing the C… Continue Reading
02.27.19
Durbin, Duckworth Announce Chicagoland Lakefront Protection Project
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a Chicagoland Lakefront Protection project to help protect shorelines under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Beneficial Use of Dredged Material pilot program. Public beaches and shorelines in Evanston, Glencoe, Lake Bluff and North Chicago will receive sand dredged from Waukegan Harbor to better protect nearby homes and businesses. The new pilot program will also provide federal resources to plant t… Continue Reading
02.27.19
Durbin: Republicans Must Work With Democrats To Tackle Climate Change Crisis
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called out his Republican colleagues for continuing to deny the science behind climate change and refusing to work with Democrats on a bipartisan basis to tackle this mounting crisis. Just this week, scientists wrote that evidence showing human activity is the cause of global warming has reached a "gold standard" level of certainty and that "humanity cannot afford to ignore such clear standards." "For the four years the Republic… Continue Reading
02.27.19
Durbin: Pharma Fleecing Of Insulin Must End
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today on the Senate floor announced a new series of awards he will be presenting regularly to the most egregious cases of pharmaceutical greed. The first "Pharma Fleece Award" was given to Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, and Sanofi, the three pharmaceutical companies that manufacture insulin, which has experienced a price increase of more than 600 percent over the past two decades in the United States. The United States represents only 15 percent of the gl… Continue Reading
02.26.19
Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues To Introduce Voter Empowerment Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and six of their Democratic colleagues to introduce the Voter Empowerment Act. This legislation would help protect the voting rights of people across the country by ensuring equal access to the ballot for every eligible voter, modernizing voter registration, and helping to eliminate deceptive practices that deter people from voting. Companion legislation was introduced in the… Continue Reading
02.26.19
Durbin Host Governor Pritzker, Illinois Members For Delegation Dinner
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) hosted Governor J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) and a bipartisan group of members from the Illinois Congressional Delegation for a reception and dinner last night to discuss Illinois priorities in the 116th Congress. Photos of the dinner are available here. The event with Governor Pritzker was attended by 16 members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, including: U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Robin K… Continue Reading
02.26.19
Durbin Honors Victims & Injured Police Of Aurora Shooting
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today in a speech on the Senate floor honored the victims of this month's shooting at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, in which a gunman killed Trevor Wehner, Clayton Parks, Russell Beyer, Vicente Juarez, and Josh Pinkard, and injured Aurora Police Officers Adam Miller, Marco Gomez, John Cebulski, James Zegar, Reynaldo Rivera, and Diego Avila. Looking toward a poster with the faces of the victims, Durbin said, "Look at those faces. Eleven… Continue Reading
02.26.19
Durbin, Portman Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Tackle Pharma Waste In Oversized Prescription Drug Packaging
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced a bipartisan bill that would reduce the egregious wasted spending on discarded medications that are the result of excessively large, single-use drug vials. The Recovering Excessive Funds for Unused and Needless Drugs (REFUND) Act would enable Medicare to recoup money from drug companies who were paid for wasted medications, and provide savings to seniors enrolled in Medicare. "Too many drug companies insist … Continue Reading
02.19.19
Durbin & Delauro Call For OIG Investigation Into Department Of Education's Handling Of Dream Center Transaction, Possible Misuse Of Federal Funds
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) called on the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) to immediately investigate reports that millions in federal Title IV funds have not been paid to students attending Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH) schools operated by a court-appointed receiver and that additional federal funds may have disappeared as a result of questionable sales, consummated with the Department's assis… Continue Reading
02.19.19
Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Seal Order Of Sterigenics
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's (IEPA) decision to issue a Seal Order on Willowbrook, Illinois-based Sterigenics, Inc.: We support the IEPA taking strong action. Ethylene oxide emissions from Sterigenics and the lack of oversight by the U.S. EPA have created a public health emergency that threatened the well-being and safety of Willowbrook, the surrounding com… Continue Reading
02.15.19
Durbin & Duckworth Voice Concerns About Trump Administration Siding with Predatory Payday Loan Sharks Over Consumers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined a group of 47 Senators in opposing the latest attempt under Trump Administration leadership to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) payday lending rule. In a letter to CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger, Durbin and Duckworth outlined how eliminating the key protections of the rule will allow the payday lending industry to prey on vulnerable American consumers. The letter was signed by every member o… Continue Reading
02.15.19
Durbin, Schakowsky, Krishnamoorthi Introduce Legislation To Expand Access To Health Care By Creating Public Option
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-08-IL) joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Representative Ben Ray Luján (D-NM-03) to introduce the State Public Option Act to create a Medicaid-based public health care option to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and provide Americans with a new high-quality, low-cost health care choice that will move our system toward universal coverage. "In the last nine years, … Continue Reading
02.15.19
Durbin Statement On President Trump's Emergency Declaration
WASHINGTON-Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today released the following statement after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in order to circumvent Congress and access funds to build a wall on the southern border: President Trump's national emergency declaration serves one purpose and one purpose only: to fulfill his campaign promise to build a big, beautiful wall. While the President claims he wants … Continue Reading
02.14.19
Durbin Statement On Bipartisan Agreement To Fund The Government
WASHINGTON-Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the bipartisan, bicameral conference committee on Homeland Security, today released the following statement after voting for the bipartisan agreement negotiators reached to fund the nine remaining federal departments and their agencies. The bipartisan package rejects President Trump's demand for $5.7 billion for a border wall and makes responsible investments in border security long supported by Democrats. For 35 days, we said t… Continue Reading
02.14.19
Durbin Opposes William Barr For Attorney General
WASHINGTON-Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after voting against President Trump's nominee to be U.S. Attorney General, William Barr. He was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 54-45. I respect Mr. Barr and his family, many of whom also have chosen public service careers. But I carefully reviewed Mr. Barr's record and I concluded that I could not support his nomination. When it comes to Special Cou… Continue Reading
02.14.19
Following FDA Warning, Durbin, Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Brown, & Reed Once Again Urge Pharmacies To Stop Selling Tobacco Products
WASHINGTON - On the heels of an announcement from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that some of our nation's largest health pharmacies have been illegally selling tobacco products to minors, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Jack Reed (D-RI), today sent letters to Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid, and Dollar General urging them to stop selling tobacco products. Last week, the FDA announced that Walgreens was the to… Continue Reading
02.13.19
Durbin Urges EPA To Complete Rule Allowing E15 Gasoline To Be Sold Year-Round
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize a rule allowing the sale of E15 - gasoline containing as much as 15 percent ethanol-to be sold year-round. In a letter to the agency, Durbin urged for a more expeditious effort to complete the new rule by this summer, as President Trump's government shutdown created a month-long delay with the EPA rulemaking… Continue Reading
02.13.19
Durbin, Duckworth Introduce Medicare At 50 Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to introduce the Medicare at 50 Act to give people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old the option of buying into Medicare. Millions of Americans who are approaching retirement or are being forced to retire early due to layoffs or mandatory retirement face increasing health care needs and rising costs. This legislation would ensure that more Americans have the option of parti… Continue Reading
02.13.19
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $101 Million In Continued Funding For Local Homeless Assistance Programs
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that a total of $101,532,628 in grants have been awarded to renew support to more than 400 local homeless assistance programs across Illinois. The funding, which is awarded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Continuum of Care Program (CoC), will support a broad array of interventions designed to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness, particularly those li… Continue Reading
02.12.19
Durbin, Duckworth, Schneider, Foster, Lipinkski, Casten Introduce Bills To Hold EPA Accountable For Poor Oversight Of Ethylene Oxide Emissions
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Dan Lipinski (D-IL-03), and Sean Casten (D-IL-06), today introduced a pair of bicameral bills that would hold the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accountable for its poor oversight of ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions, which have been the source of harmful emissions in Illinois. Durbin and Schneider led the introduction of a bill that… Continue Reading