Press Releases
Durbin: President Trump's Wall Won't Fix Broken Immigration System
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, slammed the Trump Administration's simplistic approach to immigration, arguing that a border wall would do little to stop people overstaying visas, who make up the majority of recent unauthorized immigrants. Senator Durbin recalled that the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in 2013 - which he helped author as a member of the "Gang of 8" - would have increased border … Continue Reading
July 13, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth: Plainfield Tank Car Derailment A Wake-UP Call For DOT
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today called on U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Elaine Chao to do more to prevent railroad tank car accidents like the one in Plainfield, Illinois on June 30, 2017, in which multiple rail cars on a Canadian National (CN) train carrying crude oil derailed, causing an estimated 45,000 gallons of oil to leak out of the tank cars. "We are extremely grateful for the hard work of Plainfield's first … Continue Reading
July 13, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $2 Million In HUD Funding For Housing And Community Development Across Illinois
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded a total of $2,058,130 in grant funding to Illinois agencies through two programs - the Housing Counseling Grant Program and the Service Coordinator Program - to help families, seniors, and people with disabilities who live in insured and assisted apartment housing across the state live more independent lives. "This funding will give … Continue Reading
July 12, 2017
Durbin, Klobuchar, Cardin, Reed Introduce Legislation To Prevent Creation Of Cybersecurity Unit With Russia
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Jack Reed (D-RI) today introduced legislation to prevent the creation of a cybersecurity unit with Russia. The legislation follows the suggestion from President Trump that the United States should partner with President Vladimir Putin of Russia on a joint cybersecurity unit. The No Funds for Cyber Coordination with Russia Act of 2017 says that the President should publicly accepts U.S. intelligence … Continue Reading
July 12, 2017
Durbin Questions FBI Director Nominee Christopher Wray At Judiciary Hearing
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned Christopher Wray, who is nominated to serve as FBI Director, during his confirmation hearing. Durbin pressed Mr. Wray on whether or not he would meet one-on-one with the President in the Oval Office and whether he will create contemporaneous, written reports during his time as FBI Director, should he be confirmed. "We are in an unusual moment in American history where Mr. Comey was fired … Continue Reading
July 12, 2017
Durbin: Illinoisans Agree, Take Repeal Off The Table
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) highlighted the devastation that Republicans' heartless health care repeal plan would unleash on the state of Illinois-including kicking one million Illinoisans of their health insurance and causing further pain to the state economy. In order to provide nearly one trillion in tax cuts for wealthy individuals and big businesses, the Republican repeal bill would throw 22 million people nationwide off health insurance, … Continue Reading
July 11, 2017
Durbin Meets With FBI Director Nominee Christopher Wray
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with Christopher Wray about his nomination to serve as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director. Durbin discussed an array of key issues with Mr. Wray, including his thoughts on Russia's involvement in the 2016 U.S. election, Department of Justice (DOJ) funding for Chicago, criminal justice reform, Mr. Wray's role in the George W. Bush era "torture memos", and the … Continue Reading
July 11, 2017
Durbin Statement On Seventh Circuit Judge Ann Claire Williams Assuming Senior Status
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement upon the announcement that Seventh Circuit Judge Ann Claire Williams, the first African-American judge to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, has assumed senior status. Senior status allows veteran federal judges to retire but continue working with a reduced caseload. "Judge Ann Claire Williams has been an inspirational leader on the bench. She has served the people of Illinois and the 7th Circuit … Continue Reading
July 11, 2017
Durbin, Senators Urge DEA To Lower Opioid Quotas To Combat Prescription Drug Abuse
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) led a group of sixteen senators in sending a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the agency to better prevent painkillers from flooding the market by setting lower opioid production quotas for 2018. Last year, the DEA heeded the senators' call to address America's opioid epidemic by reducing nearly all opioid quotas by 25 percent or more. This was the first reduction of its kind in over twenty years, but DEA-approved opioid … Continue Reading
July 10, 2017
Durbin Calls On Labor Department To Continue Funding Youth Job Training Programs In High Poverty, High Crime Areas
WASHINGTON-In response to drastic cuts to federal job training programs proposed in the President's fiscal year 2018 budget, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor calling for strong investment for youth training programs in communities with high levels of poverty and violence. Durbin argued that these programs help keep at-risk youth safe, improve their future employment outcomes, and make them less likely to engage in … Continue Reading
July 10, 2017
Durbin Joins Bipartisan Letter Urging Ambassador Haley To Pursue Special Investigation Into Deaths Of UN Imvestigators
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined a bipartisan group of ten senators in urging the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations to work with the UN Secretary-General to pursue an independent special investigation into the suspicious deaths of two UN investigators killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in March. American Michael Sharp and Swedish-Chilean dual citizen Zaida Catalán were murdered in the Kasai region of the DRC while they were investigating human … Continue Reading
July 10, 2017
Senate Democratic Leaders To McConnell: Drop Health Care Repeal & Sabotage And Instead Work With Dems To Advance Policies To Strengthen Health Insurance Markets
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Leaders Dick Durbin (D-IL), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today released a new letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging him to abandon efforts to repeal and sabotage the Affordable Care Act and instead work on a bipartisan basis to advance policies that would help bring much needed stability and certainty to the health insurance markets. In the new letter, the Senate Democratic Leaders note … Continue Reading
July 07, 2017
Durbin: Senate Republican Health Care Repeal Bill Cruel Prescription for Illinois Families
GRANITE CITY - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today the Senate Republican health care repeal bill will throw 22 million Americans off their health insurance, decimate the Medicaid program, allow insurers to stop offering critical coverage and charge seniors more for their benefits, all in order to finance huge tax cuts to big corporations and the wealthiest individuals. Durbin was joined by hospital and health care leaders at Gateway Regional Medical Center to discuss the local impact of … Continue Reading
July 07, 2017
Durbin Statement On Illinois Passing Budget For The First Time In Three Years
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) issued the following statement after the Illinois House of Representatives voted to override Governor Bruce Rauner's veto of a $36 billion budget package, giving Illinois its first annual budget since 2015. The Illinois Senate voted to override Gov. Rauner's veto on the Fourth of July. Illinois' budget crisis was the longest budget crisis of any state since at least the Great Depression. "Illinois was in a self-imposed, devastating recession due … Continue Reading
July 06, 2017
Ahead Of President Trump's First Meeting With Vladimir Putin, Senate Dem National Security Leaders Write To President Trump Demanding That He Press Putin On Russia's Interference In The 2016 U.S. Election
President Trump's Meeting With President Putin Will Be Their First Individual Meeting Since The U.S. Intelligence Community's Conclusion That Russia Sought To Undermine The Most Central Tenet Of U.S. Democracy - Our Election Despite Russia's Election Interference, The Trump Admin Has Said The President Has No Agenda Going Into Meeting With Putin - Senate Dems Say Not Raising Putin's Election Meddling would be a Dereliction of President Trump's Duty Senate Dems to Pres. Trump: Don't Let … Continue Reading
July 06, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth, Senate Democrats Urge HUD Secretary Ben Carson To Restore Resources That Protect LGBTQ From Housing Discrimination
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and 26 of their colleagues in a letter to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, urging him to reinstate resources that protect LGBTQ people from housing discrimination. These resources, designed to help housing providers comply with HUD's nondiscrimination rules, were removed from HUD's website in recent months. "It is concerning that HUD apparently … Continue Reading
July 05, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $14 Million In Federal Funding For HIV Treatment In Chicago
CHICAGO - 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 the City of Chicago with $14,823,525 in federal funding through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Part A Grant Program. With this funding, Chicago's Department of Public Health will develop and/or enhance access to a comprehensive continuum of high quality, community-based care for low-income people living with HIV. "This critical … Continue Reading
July 05, 2017
Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $3 Million In Federal Funding For Firefighter Resources
CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded a total of $3,122,417 to sixteen communities across Illinois through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program. The AFG Program provides first-responder organizations with the ability to obtain much-needed emergency response equipment, personal protective equipment, firefighting and emergency vehicles and training in an effort to strengthen … Continue Reading
July 05, 2017
Durbin, Bipartisan Senators Introduce Bill To Protect Veterans' Education Benefits
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) in introducing bipartisan legislation that would provide relief to veterans whose Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits are affected by the permanent closure of certain educational institutions. In 2016, ITT Tech filed for bankruptcy and closed all 136 campuses in 38 states - after receiving $917 million in Post-9/11 GI Bill funds - leaving student veterans stranded and unable to … Continue Reading
July 02, 2017
Durbin Calls On Illinois To Refuse Request To Release Illinois Voter Files To Trump Commission On Voter Fraud
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Illinois Board of Elections to utilize every legal authority to protect sensitive voter information being requested by the Presidential Commission on Voter Integrity. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who serves as the vice chair of the commission, wrote on Wednesday to all 50 states and the District of Columbia requesting that all publicly available voter roll data be sent to the White House. "This … Continue Reading