Durbin: Senate Republican's Partisan COVID-19 Relief Proposal Is Half-Hearted And Half-Inspired

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) partisan COVID-19 relief proposal as "half-hearted" and "half-inspired," and spoke about the importance of helping unemployed and uninsured Americans, hospitals and health clinics, state and local governments, and small businesses amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Durbin also urged Leader McConnell to start negotiating in good faith - as the Senate did in March when it pas… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Illinoisans To Highlight What Is At Stake If The ACA Is Struck Down By The Supreme Court

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) held a news conference at the International Union of Operating Engineers to discuss the Supreme Court nomination and what is at stake if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were to be struck down. Durbin was joined by two Illinoisans with pre-existing conditions who shared their stories highlighting the importance of the protections provided by the ACA. "We are in the middle of a deadly pandemic that has killed more than 217,000 Americans and infected more th… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges FDA To Enhance E-Cigarette Transparency & Enforcement, Publish List Of Product Applications

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to strongly enforce its own regulations to protect kids from addictive e-cigarettes by publishing a list of products that submitted premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), and remove products that did not submit PMTAs. After years of delayed regulatory oversight, which fueled the explosion in youth e-cigarette use, FDA finally required e-cigarette PMTAs to be submitted for review on September 9. … Continue Reading

Durbin: Affordable Care Act, Women's Right To Privacy & Choice, Election Integrity At Stake With This Supreme Court Nomination

WASHINGTON - On the fourth day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today reiterated what is at stake with this Supreme Court nomination, including the Affordable Care Act, the right to privacy and choice, and the outcome of the election. "We know that this process is really stacked-the President told us so, repeatedly. Where we can't get a direct answer from the nominee,… Continue Reading

Durbin Highlights Montgomery, Illinois Family's Health Care Story As Fourth Day Of Supreme Court Nomination Hearing Begins

WASHINGTON - As the fourth day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett begins today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, shared the health care story of Nate Lau, 8, from Montgomery, Illinois, who has relied upon protections enshrined in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to access critical health care treatments. At three months old, Nate was diagnosed with a condition known as biliary atresia that causes scarring a… Continue Reading

Durbin: Army Corps Gives Final Approval To Begin Quincy Bay Restoration Project

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after being informed by the Army Corps that the Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division has approved the Quincy Bay Restoration Project to receive federal funding through the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program: "I know how important this project is for Quincy and today's news is a major step forward in the effort to restore the Bay. This project will reverse the impact that sedimenta… Continue Reading

Durbin: Affordable Care Act, Gun Safety Laws, Voting Rights, Election Integrity At Stake With This Supreme Court Nomination

WASHINGTON - On the third day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, once again emphasized the dangerous repercussions of filling this judicial vacancy without voters' input as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) just one week after the November 3, 2020, election. Durbin shared the health care story of Buffalo G… Continue Reading

Durbin Highlights Buffalo Grove Resident's Health Care Story As Third Day Of Supreme Court Nomination Hearing Begins

WASHINGTON - As the third day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett begins today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, shared the health care story of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, resident Jared Ray, who has relied upon protections enshrined in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to access lifesaving health care treatments. Earlier this year, Jared, 20, began experiencing increasingly severe headaches. After a month of s… Continue Reading

During First Day Of Questioning, Durbin Highlights What Is At Stake With Nomination Of Judge Barrett To The Supreme Court

WASHINGTON - On the second day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today once again emphasized the dangerous repercussions of filling this judicial vacancy without voters' input as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) just one week after the November 3, 2020, election. Durbin shared the health care story of th… Continue Reading

Durbin Highlights Naperville Family's Health Care Story As Second Day Of Supreme Court Nomination Hearing Begins

WASHINGTON - As the second day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett begins today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, shared the health care story of the Williams family from Naperville, Illinois, who have relied upon protections enshrined in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to access health care. Cathy and Les Williams have four sons. Their eldest, Matt, is 27 and was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes when he was… Continue Reading

Durbin To Highlight Chicagoland Family's Health Care Story During First Day Of Supreme Court Nomination Hearing

WASHINGTON - On the first day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will share the health care story of his constituent, Kenny Murray, who is able to get the care he needs through protections enshrined in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Sue and Ken Murray's second child, Kenny, was diagnosed in utero with multiple complex congenital heart defects. Before his first birthday,… Continue Reading

Durbin: The Affordable Care Act Is At Stake In This Supreme Court Nomination

WASHINGTON - On the first day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called out Senate Republicans' reversal on filling a Supreme Court vacancy in a presidential election year and argued it is a thinly-veiled effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act (ACA) after numerous failed attempts to undo the law in Congress. Durbin emphasized the dangerous repercussions of filli… Continue Reading

Durbin Cosponsors Legislation To Make Payroll Tax Deferral Optional, Including for Military Members And Federal Employees

SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in announcing legislation to make the payroll tax deferral outlined by President Trump optional for any worker whose employer chooses to participate, including federal employees and service members. The legislation, which can be found here, is cosponsored by more than 14 of the Senators' colleagues. "Because Fortune 500 companies and state governments are rejecting President Trump's poorly thought-out pa… Continue Reading

Durbin To Cornyn: Following Bombshell Report, Senate Must Hold A Hearing On Trump Administration's Family Separation Policy

SPRINGFIELD-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today called on U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, to immediately hold hearings in the Subcommittee on the Trump Administration's disastrous zero-tolerance policy, which has forcibly separated thousands of infants, toddlers, and children from their parents at our southern border. Durbin, in a letter to Cornyn, calle… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Illinois Manufacturers Association

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke by phone with members of the Illinois Manufacturers Association (IMA) to discuss the necessity of additional COVID-19 relief and infrastructure investment. Recently, Congress passed a one year extension of surface transportation programs as the FAST Act, the current surface transportation reauthorization bill, expires this year. Earlier this summer, the House passed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package, which included a $500 billion sur… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Call For Inclusion Of PFAs Provisions In Final FY21 NDAA

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, joined Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in leading a bipartisan letter on behalf of 19 other Senators today to Senate and House Armed Services Committee leadership urging the inclusion of several provisions in the final fiscal year (FY) 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to prevent and address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. The NDAA is the annual defe… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $1.18 Million For CTA Safety Improvements

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $1,183,091 in federal funding to support safety improvements for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The funding, awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), will support CTA's Station Third Rail Safety Enhancement Pilot Project, which would add additional safety features on the third rails in the vicinity of station platforms, including non-conductive side boards on both sides of the third rail… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On DOJ IG Report On Trump Administration's Family Separation Policy

SPRINGFIELD-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today released the following statement after a New York Times article reported on a forthcoming Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report on family separation, which Durbin requested in July 2018: "Even these brief excerpts of the DOJ OIG report I requested tell a sickening story of the zero-tolerance policy that forcibly separated thousands… Continue Reading

Durbin, Warren To Federal Prison Authorities: Take Urgent Action To Contain Further Spread Of COVID-19 In Federal Prisons

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to act promptly to reduce the rapid spread of COVID-19 in federal facilities by adopting a public health-driven approach to managing the novel coronavirus, including releasing eligible individuals to home confinement and adopting appropriate and humane procedures to medically isolate or quarantine individuals infected with COVID-19 instead of c… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Illinoisans With Pre-Existing Conditions To Speak Out Against Republican Threat To Overturn Affordable Care Act With SCOTUS Nomination

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, to discuss the Supreme Court nomination and the importance of coverage for those with pre-existing conditions provided under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Durbin was joined by several Illinoisans with pre-existing conditions who shared their stories highlighting the importance of the protections provided by the ACA. One week after Election Day, the Supreme Court will take up a case that will deter… Continue Reading