Press Releases
Durbin Calls On Trump Administration To Extend DACA Deadline
CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to extend the October 5th Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal deadline and encouraged eligible DACA recipients to file their renewal applications as soon as possible to make the deadline. Under the arbitrary deadline set by the Trump Administration, current DACA recipients whose status expires between Sept. 5, 2017, and March 5, 2018 must apply to renew their DACA status by … Continue Reading
September 29, 2017
Durbin: We Must Do More For Puerto Rico During Humanitarian Crisis
CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with leaders in the Puerto Rican community to hear about local efforts to provide aid and call on President Trump to speed federal assistance to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. Earlier this week, Durbin joined a group of Senators in a letter to President Trump calling on his administration to issue a full Disaster Declaration for the entire island of Puerto Rico and take a series of steps to coordinate the federal response in Puerto … Continue Reading
September 29, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth Press AG Secretary To Quickly Provide Puerto Rico With Food Aid
CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and five additional colleagues in a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to request that he use all available resources to swiftly provide Puerto Rico with much needed food aid. In the letter, the senators wrote, "The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria has left behind a humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, with millions of people without power and many … Continue Reading
September 28, 2017
Durbin, Brown Caution Purdue University Amid Bid To Purchase Predatory For-Profit College
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today cautioned Purdue University President Mitch Daniels of Kaplan University's shameful record as part of a for-profit college industry that has become known for systemic fraud and predatory practices. In a letter to President Daniels, Durbin and Brown stressed that Purdue's embrace of Kaplan through their bid to purchase the for-profit giant poses major risks for Purdue's current students and the institution's reputation … Continue Reading
September 28, 2017
Durbin, Colleagues Introduce Legislation To Ensure Transparency & Accountability In DEA Quotas For Prescription Opioid Painkillers
WASHINGTON - As the nation suffers from a national public health emergency in the form of an opioid epidemic that took the lives of nearly 50,000 Americans last year, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) today to introduce legislation, the Opioid Quota Openness, Transparency, and Awareness Act (Opioid QuOTA Act), to shed light on the secretive process by which the pharmaceutical companies gain approval to produce the deadly opioid painkillers. The Drug … Continue Reading
September 28, 2017
Durbin Pushes For Protection Against Harmful Pollution In East Chicago
WASHINGTON - Following a recent Chicago Tribune article, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and SunCoke Energy to address SunCoke Energy's Indiana Harbor coke-making facility's violations and contributions to Chicago's air pollution. Indiana Harbor has been cited by the EPA six times since 2010 for violations including high levels of sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and lead. Yet, the EPA has not yet taken action against Indiana Harbor … Continue Reading
September 28, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues To Trump: We Must Do More For Puerto Rico And U.S. Virgin Islands
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and 35 additional colleagues in a letter to President Trump to express deep concern about the situation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In the letter, the senators wrote, "We write to express deep concern about the dire humanitarian situation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria recently … Continue Reading
September 27, 2017
Durbin Statement On Trump Administration Decision To Slash Refugee Resettlement Quota
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, today released the following statement after meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary Elaine Duke, who confirmed that the Trump Administration has decided to allow the resettlement of no more than 45,000 refugees in the United States next year. This will bring the number of refugees allowed into the United States to the lowest … Continue Reading
September 26, 2017
Durbin, Franken, King, Polis, Sinema Introduce Bicameral Legislation To Help Make College Textbooks More Affordable
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN), and Angus King (I-ME) along with U.S. Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO-02) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ-09) today introduced bicameral legislation designed to help students manage costs by making high quality textbooks easily accessible to students, professors, and the public for free. This bill, known as the Affordable College Textbook Act, would create a competitive grant program to support the creation and expand the use of open … Continue Reading
September 26, 2017
Durbin: Latest GOP Health Care Repeal Bill Creates Problems For Every American Family
WASHINGTON-Following announcements from numerous Republican Senators in opposition to their party's latest effort to repeal health care, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on his Republican colleagues to drop their partisan attempt to ram through health care repeal. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin urged Congressional Republicans to instead focus on ways to strengthen America's health care system. As the month of September comes to an end, the U.S. Congress … Continue Reading
September 25, 2017
Durbin Statement On The Succeed Act
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, released the following statement on new immigration legislation announced today by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and James Lankford (R-OK): I appreciate that my colleagues recognize the need to pass legislation giving a path to citizenship to Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought here as children and grew up in this country-so do 75% of the American people. Unfortunately … Continue Reading
September 25, 2017
Durbin Discusses Latest Disastrous Republican Plan To Repeal Affordable Care Act
CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today discussed the latest Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the impact it would have on Illinois patients and health care providers. Senate Republicans are rushing to vote on the Cassidy-Graham repeal bill this week - despite the fact that final bill text is still not available, last-minute changes are still being made in secret, and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has not had enough time to provide an analysis … Continue Reading
September 21, 2017
Durbin, Brown, Reed, Blumenthal, Markey, Franken Introduce Legislation To Reduce Youth Tobacco Use, Close Tax Loopholes
WASHINGTON-U.S Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D- IL) and U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Al Franken (D-MN) announced the Tobacco Tax Equity Act of 2017 which would help reduce tobacco use by closing loopholes in the tax code that have long been exploited by the tobacco industry to avoid regulation and taxes for their products. This legislation would apply tax parity across all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. … Continue Reading
September 21, 2017
Durbin Urges MLB To Extend Safety Netting At All Ballparks
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today wrote to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, urging him to push for extended safety netting at all 30 major league ballparks. Full text of Durbin's letter: September 21, 2017 Mr. Rob Manfred Commissioner Major League Baseball 245 Park Avenue New York, New York Dear Commissioner Manfred: The latest tragic incident of a young child struck by a foul ball at Yankee Stadium should be a clarion call to professional … Continue Reading
September 20, 2017
Durbin, Scott, Menendez, Young, Donnelly, Duckworth Introduce Bipartisan Legislation To Protect Children In Federally-Assisted Housing From Lead Exposure
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) Todd Young (R-IN), Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today introduced the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2017, which would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to adopt prevention measures and update its lead regulations to protect children from the risk of lead exposure. Since the enactment of federal lead policies in the 1990's, lead poisoning rates have fallen … Continue Reading
September 20, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $7.2 Million For Community Health Center Across Illinois
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded 42 community health centers across Illinois a total of $7,252,595 through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program. Community health centers are community-based organizations that improve access to affordable, high-quality health care in underserved urban and rural communities by integrating … Continue Reading
September 20, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth Join Bipartisan Effort To Extend Critical Funding For Community Health Centers Before End Of Month Deadline
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and a bipartisan group of Senators to call for immediate action to extend critical funding for community health centers before funding runs out at the end of this month. In a letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Chairman and Ranking Member, Durbin, Duckworth, and 68 other Senators expressed their strong support for community … Continue Reading
September 20, 2017
Durbin, Merkley, Cartwright, Cohen Introduce Bicameral Bill To Crack Down On Predatory Lending Practices
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) were joined by U.S. Representatives Matt Cartwright (D-PA-17) and Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) in introducing the bicameral Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act, legislation that would eliminate the excessive rates and fees that many consumers are charged for payday loans, car title loans, and other types of credit. Cash-strapped consumers nationwide pay, on average, annual interest rates of 400 percent for … Continue Reading
September 19, 2017
Durbin Creates Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program For Illinois Students Interning in DC
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced the establishment of the Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program in honor of his former Chief of Staff who passed away in March due to complications with Parkinson's disease. 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. "Ed knew everybody in Washington by … Continue Reading
September 19, 2017
Durbin: Latest Republican Proposal To Repeal Health Care Creates Problems Instead Of Solving Them
WASHINGTON-In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) rebuked Senate Republicans for attempting to ram through the latest version of their Trumpcare health coverage repeal instead of focusing on ways to fix America's health care system. As the month of September comes to an end, the U.S. Congress must reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides health insurance coverage for more than nine million children and pregnant women … Continue Reading