Durbin Grills Justice Department On Politicization Of Immigration Courts

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, today grilled a Justice Department official at a hearing entitled, "Strengthening and Reforming America's Immigration Court System," about the Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions politicizing America's immigration court system at the expense of due process for immigrants. The Justice Department last week halted the Legal Orientation Program (LOP). Created by the Bush Adm… Continue Reading

Authors Of Open Textbooks Pilot Press Secretary DeVos To Properly Implement New Program

WASHINGTON - The authors of the Open Textbooks Pilot included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 spending bill today pressed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to properly implement this new competitive grant program. The Open Textbooks Pilot was based on the Affordable College Textbook Act (S. 1864 and H.R. 3840), which would create a competitive grant program to support the creation and expand the use of open college textbooks-textbooks that are available under an open license, allowing professors, st… Continue Reading

Durbin, Quigley, Duckworth Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation To Map Urban Flooding & Help FEMA Better Assess Risks

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-02) and John Culberson (R-TX-07) today introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Flood Mapping Modernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program Act of 2018 to enhance the mapping of urban flooding to prevent associated damage. The legislation will help give cities and towns the tools they need to address flooding in a local con… Continue Reading

Durbin & Senators Press JUUL Labs, Inc. For Answers On Marketing Addictive E-Cigarette Vaping Product To Teens, Urge FDA To Take Swift Action

WASHINGTON - Today, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with 10 of his Senate colleagues, sent two letters to JUUL Labs, Inc. and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about JUUL e-cigarette vaping products. In the letter to Juul Labs, Inc. Durbin and his colleagues ask a series of questions about how the product is marketed to children and teens, what ingredients are in the flavorings that accompany these devices, and requests that the company take a series of important steps… Continue Reading

Durbin On Tax Day: GOP Tax Bill Exploded Nation's Deficit To Provide Benefits To Large Corporations & Millionaires

WASHINGTON-On Tax Day, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called out the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans for pushing through their partisan tax bill last year outside of regular order and without committee hearings or the ordinary amendment and vote process. Last week, a new, non-partisan analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated that the Republican tax bill will add over $300 billion more to the deficit than the disastrous $1.5 trillion ori… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions National Guard Chief On Troop Deployment To The Border

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, today questioned General Joseph Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard, on the Trump Administration's deployment of National Guard troops to the Southwest border. At the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Durbin pressed General Lengyel on the financial costs of the deployment as well as the impact on readiness. "Many of us were also taken aback when the President tweeted… Continue Reading

Durbin Warns Trump Administration Against Newsprint Tariffs

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the U.S. Department of Commerce to consider the impact on local newspapers of a preliminary plan to impose tariffs on newsprint paper imported from Canada. "I support the Administration's efforts to combat illegal trade practices and ensure American companies are able to operate on a level playing field with their international competitors. However, I am concerned that tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper from Canada ha… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions FCC On Sinclair Dictating Content To Local News Stations While It Weighs Proposed Mega-Merger With Tribune

CHICAGO-Following reports that Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair) required local news anchors at Sinclair-owned television stations across the country to deliver a scripted promotional message on-air, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to carefully consider Sinclair's conduct and the significant harm it poses to the public interest as he weighs the proposed merger between Sinclair and Tribune Media Company (Trib… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Airstrikes In Syria

SPRINGFIELD-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on the airstrikes in Syria announced by President Trump: White House Chief of Staff John Kelly called me personally before the President's announcement, and last Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mattis briefed me on the early planning and involvement of our allies, Great Britain and France. I supported President Obama's decision to retaliate when Assad first used chemical weapons. The Senate Foreign Relation… Continue Reading

FDA Answers Durbin, Brown, Blumenthal Call to Ban Deadly Powdered Caffeine

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will act to ban the retail sale of pure and highly concentrated bulk caffeine products in both powder and liquid forms. In guidance issued earlier today, the FDA has clarified that dietary supplements containing pure or highly concentrated caffeine in powder or liquid forms are unlawful when sold in bulk quantities directly to consumers. Given the fa… Continue Reading

Durbin, Bustos Discuss Impact of Proposed Tariffs with Local Agricultural Leaders

PEORIA - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) today met with local agricultural leaders to discuss how President Trump's threats of a trade war would impact Illinois farmers and rural communities. In response to President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs announced last month, China has announced plans for tariffs on many U.S. commodities, including products that are critical to the Illinois economy, such as soybeans and pork. Illinois is consistently on… Continue Reading

Durbin, Bustos Announce New Guidance from Army to Improve Rock Island Arsenal Competitiveness

ROCK ISLAND - U.S Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) today announced new guidance from the Army that will help manufacturing at the Rock Island Arsenal (RIA) remain competitive with the private sector and maintain a reliable workload. The new guidance will ensure that the RIA is given fair consideration for every Army acquisition purchase and require all private sector companies to look at the RIA's Joint Manufacturing & Technology Center (JMTC) as a pot… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Trump Administration On Its New War On Drugs

Calls for greater oversight of pharmaceutical industry and focus on public health prevention and treatment WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today questioned Kemp Chester, Associate Director of the National Heroin Coordination Group in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and Christina Nolan, U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism entitled "Defeating Fentanyl: Addressing the Deadl… Continue Reading

Durbin Details Mission To Venezuela In Senate Floor Speech

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke about his recent travel to Venezuela, where he met with President Nicolas Maduro, members of the opposition, the President of the National Assembly, the Ministers of Health and Nutrition, business leaders, civil society groups, doctors, and humanitarian organizations. "What I found was in fact a country on the edge of a precipice, facing overlapping economic, humanitarian, and political crises," said Durbin. "Let me be cle… Continue Reading

Democratic Senators Press Secretary DeVos To Publicly Release Documents Being Used By Deadbeat For-Profit Accreditor To Petition For Federal Recognition

WASHINGTON - Following Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' decision to sign an order to restore the federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools' (ACICS), U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to immediately release the documents being used by ACICS to petition for recognition. The order from Secretary DeVos stated that ACICS will retain it… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today questioned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees entitled "Facebook, Social Media Privacy, and the Use and Abuse of Data": "Mr. Zuckerberg, would you be comfortable sharing with us the name of the hotel you stayed in last night?" Durbin asked. "Um, uh, no," Zuckerberg replied. "If you messaged anybody this week, would you share with us the names of the people you messa… Continue Reading

Durbin: The Republicans Who Control Congress Should Ignore Trump, Protect Dreamers

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today again came to the Senate floor to call on Republican leaders in Congress to pass the bipartisan Dream Act now. As of March 5, 2018 - the arbitrary deadline that President Trump set for expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program - hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the United States as children, known as Dreamers, faced losing their work permits and being deported to countries they barely re… Continue Reading

Durbin, Quigley, Clerk Orr and State Election Officials Highlight New Funding for Election Security

CHICAGO - Illinois will receive $13.2 million in new federal funding to strengthen its election security systems, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL-05) announced today along with Cook County Clerk David Orr and Executive Director of the Illinois State Board of Elections Steve Sandvoss. The funding - which is part of the federal omnibus spending bill that was signed into law last month - will provide critical assistance to states that are using outdated and v… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On China's Response To President Trump's Tariffs

WASHINGTON-Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on China's decision to place duties on U.S. imports, including soybeans and pork, in retaliation to President Trump's plan to place tariffs on Chinese goods: "Illinois' farmers now join DACA recipients as the latest victims of President Trump's temper. Illinois is our nation's largest producer of soybeans, and a top producer of pork, and will feel China's retaliation to threats of a trade war more … Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Sinclair Broadcasting Dictating Content To Local News Stations

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on Sinclair Broadcasting Group Executive Chairman David Smith to explain his company's policy regarding mandating content for local news stations, as well as whether employment consequences exist for local news anchors who do not deliver scripted content from the broadcasting giant. A recent report showing local news anchors reading the same script verbatim continues the troubling history of Sinclair dictating content to its… Continue Reading