Press Releases
Durbin Calls On Trump Administration To Comply With Court Order, Reunite Families Separated By Trump's "Zero Tolerance" Policy
EAST ST. LOUIS-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on President Donald Trump to immediately announce his intention to fully comply with a federal district court's order to return children separated under his Administration's "zero tolerance" policy to their parents within 30 days, and within 14 days for children under age five, and to regularly update Congress on his progress towards meeting the court's deadlines. Durbin's letter to President Trump follows yesterday's … Continue Reading
June 29, 2018
Senate passes Durbin, Roberts Farm Bill Amendment To Support Rural EMS Agencies
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate passed the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill, which included an amendment by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Pat Roberts (R-KS), and cosponsored by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), to reauthorize a federal grant program that directly supports rural emergency medical services (EMS) agencies in training and recruiting staff, conducting courses to satisfy certification requirements, and purchasing … Continue Reading
June 28, 2018
Senate Appropriations Committee Passes Funding Bill That Includes Durbin Priority Of Increased Medical Research Funding
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced a $2 billion, or 5.4 percent, increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which passed 30-1 out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Over the past five years, Durbin has worked to provide NIH with $10 billion in increased funding, a 34 percent increase. Within this … Continue Reading
June 28, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth, Schneider Urge U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers To Prevent Foxconn Flooding Impact
WASHINGTON - While President Donald Trump breaks ground at the Foxconn project in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) today urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to increase their oversight of the Foxconn project to prevent increased flooding in Lake County, Illinois. The State of Wisconsin has allowed Foxconn to fill in up to 26 acres of wetlands, which would lead to a higher volume … Continue Reading
June 28, 2018
Durbin & Senators Press FDA To Protect Children From Addictive Vaping Products
WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with 13 of his Senate colleagues, sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about JUUL e-cigarette vaping products, and other e-cigarettes with flavors like gummy bear, cotton candy, peanut butter cup, and cookies 'n cream, urging the agency to take swift action against these products that are clearly being marketed to children and teens. The Senators urged the FDA to reconsider its decision to delay a review of … Continue Reading
June 27, 2018
Durbin Statement On Retirement Of Justice Kennedy
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and upcoming vacancy on the Court: I thank Justice Kennedy for his decades of service to the Court and the country. Senator McConnell set the new standard by giving the American people their say in the upcoming election before Court vacancies are filled. With so much at stake for the people of our country, … Continue Reading
June 27, 2018
Durbin Statement On Janus V. AFSCME Supreme Court Decision
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court's decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME): In Illinois, Governor Bruce Rauner has made it clear that he favors corporations and special interests over Illinois workers and their families. He has repeatedly pushed an agenda of hostility to unions. This agenda is hurting workers across Illinois. And now, Governor Rauner has … Continue Reading
June 27, 2018
Durbin Statement On Court Order Blocking Trump Child Separation Policy
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on a preliminary injunction issued by a federal district court judge in San Diego against the Trump Administration's child separation policy: This ruling is clear: the Trump Administration's child separation policy harms kids and must be stopped. It's time to close this embarrassing chapter in our nation's history once and for all. Kids … Continue Reading
June 26, 2018
Durbin: No Law Required Trump's Child Separation Policy, And We Don't Need Any New Laws To Reunite Families
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke on the Senate floor about the Trump Administration's cruel policy of separating children from their parents who arrive at the Southern border of the United States seeking protection from horrific violence in the Northern Triangle region of Central America. Durbin discussed his recent visit to a facility in Chicago that houses children who have been separated from their parents due to the President's 'zero-tolerance' policy … Continue Reading
June 26, 2018
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $4.1 Million in Federal Assistance to Support Quincy Veterans Home, Speak with New IDVA Director
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded $4,156,722 to the State of Illinois to support the cost of 2016 renovations of the domestic water system for legionella control at the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy (IVH) and help support ongoing improvements at the facility. Durbin and Duckworth also spoke today with the new Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, Stephen … Continue Reading
June 26, 2018
Durbin Calls On Accreditor To Investigate Reports Of Misleading Practices By Dream Center Education Holdings
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) on recent reports that Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), the owner of Art Institutes, misled students about the accreditation status of several of its campuses including the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago and Schaumburg. Durbin's letter to Dr. Barbara Gellman-Danley, President of HLC, comes after a recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, which reported that DCEH failed to … Continue Reading
June 26, 2018
Durbin Calls On Trump Admin To Answer Questions About Children Forcibly Separated From Parents At Border
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed Alex Azar, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for detailed information on the health and well-being of children forcibly separated from their parents as part of the Trump Administration's "zero tolerance" policy. The nation's medical community has uniformly warned about the catastrophic health effects of this Administration's family separation policy on children, and expressed strong … Continue Reading
June 26, 2018
Durbin Statement On Supreme Court Ruling On Trump's Muslim Ban
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to uphold President Trump's revised Executive Order banning travel from certain Muslim-majority countries: I agree with Justice Sotomayor: this decision upholding President Trump's Muslim Travel Ban fails to safeguard the principle of religious neutrality embedded in our Bill of Rights. History will not be kind to this president's policies or the Supreme Court Justices … Continue Reading
June 26, 2018
Senate Passes Durbin Amendment Ensuring Full Funding For La Grange Lock & Dam In Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Bill
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that full funding will be available for the much-needed rehab of Illinois' La Grange Lock & Dam in Versailles, Illinois. Durbin cosponsored a bipartisan amendment to the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 funding bill with Senator John Thune (R-SD), which will free up enough funding in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) to ensure La Grange receives the $28.8 million in funding needed to … Continue Reading
June 21, 2018
Durbin Statement On Supreme Court Ruling On Internet Tax Loophole
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to overturn a 1992 ruling that had given internet-only retailers an unfair advantage over Main Street businesses by prohibiting states from requiring remote retailers to collect taxes already owed the same way local businesses do. "This is good news for main street businesses in Illinois and across America. This ruling clears the way for our retailers to compete on … Continue Reading
June 21, 2018
Durbin: Trump Executive Order On Child Separation Calls For Locking Up Children And Their Families Indefinitely
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate Floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) blasted President Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the Trump Administration's cruel policy of separating children from their parents who arrive at the Southern border of the United States seeking protection from horrific violence in the Northern Triangle region of Central America. Durbin criticized the President's Wednesday Executive Order that doubles down on his "zero-tolerance" policy and … Continue Reading
June 20, 2018
Durbin Announces Summer 2018 Recipients Of The Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced Karla Robles, a rising college senior at Loyola University Chicago, and Ivy Lyons, a rising college senior at Greenville University, as the summer 2018 recipients of the Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program. This scholarship, open to students from Illinois or those studying in Illinois, is an opportunity for the students to receive financial assistance while obtaining a first-hand experience in Senator Durbin's Washington, D.C. office. … Continue Reading
June 20, 2018
Durbin Statement On Trump Order To Continue 'Zero Tolerance' & Detain Children Indefinitely
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after President Trump signed a new executive order attempting to overturn the Flores Settlement, a 1997 court order that set minimum standards for the detention, housing, and release of non-citizen children who are detained by the U.S. government, and requires the government to pursue a general policy of releasing children. Repealing the Flores Settlement was a key component of President Trump's own … Continue Reading
June 19, 2018
Durbin Calls On Republicans In Congress To Tell Trump To End Family Separation Today
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on Senate Republicans to have the courage to speak up against the Trump Administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the border. Durbin made remarks with other members of the Democratic Leadership outside the Senate chamber. President Trump will huddle with Congressional Republicans on Capitol Hill later today. "The President with his lying tweets. The Attorney General hiding behind his Bible. The … Continue Reading
June 15, 2018
Durbin Calls for Additional Action to Address Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Costs
PEORIA - As the costs of prescription drugs continue to rise, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined leaders and doctors at OSF Children's Hospital of Illinois to discuss new efforts to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable and lower prices for consumers. Durbin has introduced legislation to require disclosure of prices in prescription drug advertising to consumers and has co-sponsored a bipartisan bill, approved yesterday in the Senate Judiciary Committee, to combat abusive delay … Continue Reading