Durbin, Senators Press President Trump To Protect Utah National Monuments

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today led 15 of his Senate colleagues in urging President Trump to maintain the current boundaries and management plans for the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments in Utah. Durbin and his colleagues wrote President Trump today following reports by both The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal that Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke recommended modifying certain national monuments, including shrinking the boundaries of… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $3.8 Million In HUD funding To Support Northern Illinois Housing And Community Development

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Northern Illinois communities will receive $3,880,550 in federal grant funding through three programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In total, Northern Illinois communities were awarded $2,957,019 through the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program, $182,521 through the Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program, and $741,010 through the HOME Investment P… Continue Reading

Durbin Releases Report on Trump's ACA Sabotage Efforts, Promotes November 1 Open Enrollment

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released a new report which details the Trump Administration's deliberate, year-long efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the impact of this sabotage on patients and families in Illinois. "1,000 Cuts: A Report on the Trump Administration's Health Care Sabotage" highlights the steps President Trump has taken since Inauguration Day to undermine and create uncertainty in our health care system, including last week's executive order a… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $2.5 Million In HUD Funding To Support Peoria Area Housing And Community Development

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Peoria area communities will receive $2,575,764 in federal grant funding through three programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In total, Peoria area communities were awarded $1,932,441 through the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program, $137,451 through the Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program, and $505,872 through the HOME Investment Partnerships p… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $3.4 Million In HUD funding To Support Central Illinois Housing And Community Development

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Central Illinois communities will receive $3,436,353 in federal grant funding through two programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In total, Central Illinois communities were awarded $2,679,744 through the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program and $756,609 through the HOME Investment Partnerships program. In addition to this funding, the Illinois Hou… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $7.4 Million In HUD Funding To Support Metro East Housing And Community Development

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Metro East communities will receive $7,429,063 in federal grant funding through two programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In total, Metro East communities were awarded $5,895,762 through the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program and $1,533,301 through the HOME Investment Partnerships program. In addition to this funding, the Illinois Housing Devel… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $138.9 Million In HUD Funding To Support Chicagoland Housing And Community Decelopment

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Chicagoland communities will receive $138,961,000 in federal grant funding through four programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In total, Chicagoland communities were awarded $99,228,739 through the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program, $8,773,255 through the Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program, $23,005,466 through the HOME Investment Partnership… Continue Reading

Durbin Backs Fix To Bill That Weakened DEA Opioid Oversight

WASHINGTON-Following a recent article by The Washington Post exposing the lobbying effort that led to a weakening of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) ability to go after pharmaceutical drug distributors at the height of our nation's opioid epidemic, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to co-sponsor legislation that would overturn two key provisions of the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016 that have made it more … Continue Reading

Durbin Introduces Bill To Curb Gun Violence From Stolen Firearms

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation to reduce gun violence by cracking down on thefts from federally-licensed firearms dealers. A companion measure was introduced in the House by Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL) in July. It is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). "The 96% of Americans who support backg… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Committee Approval Of John Lausch For U.S. Attorney For The Northern District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after voting in support of the nomination of John R. Lausch to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois during today's Senate Judiciary Committee mark up. Mr. Lausch's nomination passed unanimously out of committee and will next be voted on by the full Senate. "From the outset, Senator Duckworth and I made clear to the White House that we expected Zach Fardon's successor to be selected… Continue Reading

Sessions Refuses To Deny He Colluded With Texas AG To Shut Down DACA

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to detail any communications with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or any other Attorneys General-who had threatened to file a partisan lawsuit challenging the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, prior to Sessions' announcement that the Trump Administration was ending the program. "That kind of legal discussions, I believe, would be part of the work product of the Att… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls Out AG Sessions For Attempting To Eliminate Vital Federal Funds From Chicago's Gun Violence Prevention Efforts

WASHINGTON-During today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) assailed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for threatening to cut off Chicago's access to federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) funding unless local police forces commit to assist the Department of Homeland Security in its enforcement of federal civil immigration laws. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice placed new and onerous conditions on local law enforcement'… Continue Reading

Durbin: GOP Tax Plan Needs To Look Beyond Board Room And Make Real Investments In The Middle Class

WASHINGTON-In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged his Republican colleagues to put partisanship aside and work with Democrats to craft a fiscally responsible tax reform plan that helps working class families, instead of hurting them. The Republican plan proposes several changes to individual taxes, including eliminating the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, a deduction that is used by one-third of all taxpayers to reduce their tax bill. U… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On State AG's Suit Against Secretary DeVos' Failure To Enforce Gainful Employment Rule

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) issued the following statement after 18 State Attorneys General, including Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, today filed suit against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for her delay of and failure to enforce the Gainful Employment (GE) rule. The GE rule is meant to ensure that career education programs prepare their students for jobs that allow them to earn enough to pay off the debt they accumulate to attend the program. To deter… Continue Reading

Durbin: Republican Tax Plan Will Hurt Illinois Families

CHICAGO - President Trump and Congressional Republicans' new tax plan would benefit the wealthiest of Americans and corporations while hurting Illinois working families, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today. The plan proposes several changes to individual taxes, including eliminating the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, a deduction that is used by one-third of all taxpayers to reduce their tax bill. In 2018 under the Republican plan, half of all tax breaks will go to the top 1% wealt… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Trump Decertifying Iran Nuclear Deal

CHICAGO-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), who led the effort to secure the Iran Nuclear Agreement in the Senate in 2015, released the following statement: "Thanks to the Agreement and its inspectors, Iran is further away from a nuclear weapon than at any point in more than a decade. It has agreed to never pursue a nuclear weapon and to continue intrusive inspections around the clock. That's good for America's security and the security of our allies in the Middle East. "President … Continue Reading

Durbin's Statement On Trump's Executive Order On Health Care

CHICAGO-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after President Trump signed an executive order further targeting and destabilizing the Affordable Care Act: "Make no mistake-after spending nine months repeatedly trying and failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump is sabotaging America's health care system and hurting working families to make a political point. His tactics are well documented: President Trump issued an Executive Order instructing federa… Continue Reading

Durbin Visits Marion VA, Receives Update On Ongoing Investigation

MARION - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited Marion VA Medical Center and met with leadership and concerned staff to discuss the ongoing investigations related to mismanagement and retaliation against whistleblowers, and the potential impact on patient safety and care. Following Durbin's calls for an investigation, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has sent a number of national offices to the Marion VA for a series of reviews, interviews, and briefings. "We owe each and every v… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Administration Immigration Wishlist

CHICAGO-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, released the following statement: The Administration passed the buck to Congress when it announced the end of DACA. There will be time to debate these deeply flawed immigration principles after Congress addresses the DACA crisis that the Administration itself created. Many of these proposals already face bipartisan opposition in the House and Senate and it would be wrong t… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Airlines To Implement Additional Practices To Aid Those Devastated By Hurricanes Maria And Irma

CHICAGO-In the wake of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed the passenger and cargo air carrier industry to increase their efforts to ensure they are doing everything they can to aid our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) as they recover from the devastation. Passenger airlines took the first step to cap air fares for direct flights off the islands, but Durbin pressed the passenger carriers to consider additional… Continue Reading