Press Releases
Durbin Statement On Hersh Goldberg-Polin
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American Israeli citizen with Chicago ties who was taken hostage during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel: “Hersh Goldberg-Polin was a young man with his entire life ahead of him when he attended a music festival on October 7. When Hamas viciously attacked the Nova music festival, Hersh was horribly injured attempting to help his fellow music festival … Continue Reading
August 29, 2024
Durbin Calls Upon GAO To Revive FDA-DOJ Interagency Enforcement Activities Against Illegal E-Cigarettes
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today sent a letter to the Comptroller General of the United States, Gene Dodaro, urging the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) interagency enforcement activities related to the sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes. Durbin has repeatedly criticized FDA and DOJ for the long-overdue review of pre-market tobacco … Continue Reading
August 29, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth Lead Members Of Illinois Delegation In Urging President Biden To Grant Federal Disaster Declaration For Illinois Counties Following July's Severe Storms, Tornadoes
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today led 16 members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to President Biden urging the White House to grant Governor JB Pritzker’s request for federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help seven Illinois counties recover from storm damage. In July, severe storms passed through the state, with more than 40 tornadoes spinning through … Continue Reading
August 29, 2024
Durbin Statement On Damning Report Finding Continued Widespread FBI Mishandling of Child Sexual Abuse Investigations Following Larry Nassar Case
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a damning report on its audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) compliance with policies in child sexual abuse investigations. The DOJ OIG audit was conducted in response to a request from Durbin and a bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members in 2021. “The … Continue Reading
August 28, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth, Budzinski Secure Funding For Disaster Preparedness In Illinois
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) today announced $118,945 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grants Program going to the University of Illinois. The Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grants Program supports innovative, education-based approaches to address disaster … Continue Reading
August 27, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $57 Million In Funding For Elementary School On North Chicago Naval Base
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced the award of a $57,701,575 grant to North Chicago School District 187 at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois from the Department of Defense (DoD). The project will address facility capacity and condition deficiencies at Forrestal Elementary School. Upon completion, 580 kindergarten through fifth grade students will be supported through the project. Funding for this grant is provided … Continue Reading
August 26, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $1 Million In Funding To Address Lead In Drinking Water
SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), founding member and co-founder respectively of the Senate Lead Task Force, today announced that Illinois will receive $1,093,000 to address lead in drinking water at schools and childcare facilities through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These federal grant dollars will reduce lead exposure where children learn and play, maximizing the investment by impacting more members of the … Continue Reading
August 23, 2024
Durbin Calls Out The Hypocrisy Of Vance's Inflammatory Comments About The City Of Chicago
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called out the hypocrisy of Senator J.D. Vance’s (R-OH) inflammatory comments about the City of Chicago while he simultaneously blocks the confirmation of federal prosecutors, including the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. For months, Durbin repeatedly went to the Senate floor to request unanimous consent (UC) to schedule confirmation votes on two U.S. Attorney nominations … Continue Reading
August 16, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth Applaud Lowered Prices Of 10 Medicare-Covered Prescription Drugs
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today applauded the Biden-Harris Administration for its efforts to negotiate price reductions for 10 of the most expensive and frequently-dispensed drugs in the Medicare program. The Inflation Reduction Act, which Durbin and Duckworth both strongly advocated for, provided the Biden-Harris Administration with the authority to negotiate the drug prices with Big Pharma, resulting in price … Continue Reading
August 16, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $1.5 Million In Funding To Modernize Homes For Illinois Families
SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $1.5 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to finance energy efficient and climate resilient improvements for affordable homes in Illinois under the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP). Funded under the Inflation Reduction Act, GRRP provides funding for direct loans and grants to make improvements to HUD-subsidized … Continue Reading
August 15, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $32.6 Million In Federal Funding For Cancer Research At University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $32.6 million in federal funding for cancer research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This funding, through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Precision Surgical Interventions program, will go towards inventing new imaging techniques to enhance cancer treatments by allowing surgeons to remove all microscopic cancer cells that remain before … Continue Reading
August 14, 2024
Durbin Presses Defense Secretary Austin On Decision To Revoke Guilty Plea Deal For Accused September 11th Plotters
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pressed U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today on his decision to revoke a long-sought guilty plea deal between prosecutors and defendants accused of perpetrating the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. Secretary Austin revoked the deal two days after it was announced despite two years of negotiations, a move that frustrated victims’ families and put them through … Continue Reading
August 12, 2024
Durbin, Klobuchar, Welch, Lead Colleagues In Urging Justice Department To Protect Election Workers Ahead Of 2024 Election
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Peter Welch (D-VT) led a group of 19 Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco urging the Department of Justice to take further action to counter threats targeting election workers ahead of the upcoming election. “We write to express serious concern about ongoing and persistent … Continue Reading
August 12, 2024
Durbin Joins Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center To Urge Online Safety Measures For Children
SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined the Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center (SCCAC) to discuss the importance of keeping kids safe online through bills like Durbin’s STOP CSAM Act and last month’s Senate passage of the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act. The SCCAC coordinates services for victims of child sexual abuse in Logan, Sangamon, Christian, and Menard counties. It follows the national Children’s Advocacy Center model … Continue Reading
August 09, 2024
Durbin Meets With Illinois Pork Producers Association In Springfield
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today met with the Illinois Pork Producers Association to discuss the effects of California’s Proposition 12 on the economics of the pork industry and challenges associated with workforce shortages. Durbin and Chad Lehman, third-generation farmer from Woodford County and past President of Illinois Pork Producers, also spoke about the Senate’s work on the Farm … Continue Reading
August 09, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth, Illinois Delegation Members Push USDA To Boost Farm Conservation Funds For Illinois
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17), and Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), all members of the House Committee on Agriculture, led members of the Illinois delegation in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas Vilsack to express concerns about the low level of … Continue Reading
August 08, 2024
Durbin Admonishes Amtrak For Offering Inadequate Replacement Service For Quincy-Chicago Riders While Train Service Is Suspended
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to Stephen Gardner, CEO of Amtrak, to express his frustration at the suspension of one of two Amtrak roundtrips between Quincy, Illinois, and Chicago as a result of equipment shortages. In his letter, Durbin called on Amtrak to resolve the suspension, which could last up to August 27, as quickly as possible. The affected stops along the partly suspended Chicago-Quincy Carl Sandburg Amtrak route include Macomb, … Continue Reading
August 08, 2024
Durbin Joins Warren To Urge Navient To Reform Flawed Process To Cancel Student Loans Pushed Onto Borrowers Attending Fraudulent, For-Profit Colleges
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), U.S. Representatives Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), and 30 lawmakers in sending a letter urging student loan servicer Navient to reform its flawed process to cancel the private student loans of borrowers who attended fraudulent, for-profit colleges. The lawmakers argued that ??under the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Holder Rule and due to … Continue Reading
August 08, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $15.9 Million In Funding For Clean Manufacturing In Illinois
CHICAGO - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced $15.9 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) coming to Illinois through the Inflation Reduction Act to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products. These awards from the Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—will reduce climate pollution by helping Illinois … Continue Reading
August 08, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $15.9 Million In Funding For Clean Manufacturing In Illinois
CHICAGO - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced $15.9 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) coming to Illinois through the Inflation Reduction Act to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products. These awards from the Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—will reduce climate pollution by helping Illinois … Continue Reading