Press Releases
Durbin, Democratic Senators Warn CFPB Against Repeal Of Rule Cracking Down On Predatory Payday Lending Schemes
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and 42 of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Leandra English and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney urging them to end any efforts to undermine and repeal the CFPB's payday lending rule, which represents an important step in reining in predatory business practices by payday lenders nationwide that are designed to exploit the financial … Continue Reading
03.27.18
Durbin Discusses New Federal Investments in Medical Research
CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced new federal investments included in last week's omnibus spending bill that will help Chicago's biomedical research institutions continue their important work creating new technologies and finding ways to treat and cure disease. The Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus includes a $3 billion (or nearly 9 percent) increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a $1 billion (or 14 percent) increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Preventio… Continue Reading
03.23.18
Durbin Statement On Omnibus Funding Bill
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement regarding the omnibus funding bill: "While this bill seemingly addresses every subject under the sun, it does not address the looming fate that our Dreamers face in America. I'm disappointed by this, but will continue to fight to protect Dreamers and fix the crisis that President Trump created by shutting down the DACA program. "What this bill does include is important investments for the people of Illinois, including… Continue Reading
03.22.18
Durbin Asks Consent To Pass The Dream Act
WASHINGTON-Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked unanimous consent that the Senate pass the bipartisan Dream Act. Republican leaders and President Trump have rejected multiple bipartisan offers to address the DACA crisis created by the President on September 5th, 2017. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) objected, and instead countered with President Trump's immigration plan, which garnered the least support of any immigration measure considered by the Senate earlier this year, fail… Continue Reading
03.22.18
Ahead of March For Our Lives, Durbin Calls On Republicans To Stand Up To The NRA & Support Meaningful Gun Violence Prevention Legislation
WASHINGTON-As tens of thousands of students and supporters of gun violence prevention prepare to march in Washington D.C., Chicago, and cities and towns across America, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed President Trump and the Republican majority in Congress for still being unwilling to push for any gun reforms that the gun sales lobby opposes. "On March 24, students and Americans of all ages will march in the streets to honor those who have been lost to senseless gun violence and… Continue Reading
03.22.18
Durbin, Dem Senators Press DHS IG To Investigate Allegations Of Separation Of Children From Asylum-Seeking Parents At U.S. Border
WASHINGTON-Following recent reports of the case of a seven-year-old girl and her mother from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who were separated for more than four months after they presented themselves at the U.S. border and sought protection in accordance with the law, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and 23 of his Senate colleagues today pressed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Inspector General to investigate allegations that DHS is separating the chi… Continue Reading
03.22.18
Durbin Joins 32 Members Of Congress In Introducing Bill To Stem Student Debt Relief
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and 31 other members of Congress in introducing the Debt-Free College Act, legislation that will reverse the growing student debt crisis in the United States. The bill restores a path to affordable college by providing states incentives through matching grants to increase investments in public higher education and provide students with debt-free college. According to estimates, Illinois would be one of ten st… Continue Reading
03.20.18
Ahead Of Senate Vote On War Powers, Durbin Calls On Congress To Halt Unauthorized U.S. Military Involvement In Yemen
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Senate to pass a bipartisan joint war powers resolution to end unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen. The Senate is expected to vote on the matter this afternoon. "The obvious question to ask is, in the 16 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places in the world, how many other times have the United States Senate and House of Representatives come together to debate the wisdom of a decision about co… Continue Reading
03.19.18
Durbin Statement On New White House War On Drugs
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement: We cannot arrest our way out of the opioid epidemic-we tried that and ended up with an even bigger addiction problem and the world's largest prison population. Everyone from doctors to law enforcement understands that addiction is a disease, not a moral failing that can be beaten simply by getting 'tough on crime.' The war on drugs didn't work in the 80's, and it won't work now by reviving failed dete… Continue Reading
03.19.18
For Second Year In A Row, Durbin Duckworth, LaHood & Bustos Call On President Trump To Support Peoria Ag Lab And Scrap Plans To Shut Its Doors
CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL-18) and Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) today to call on President Donald Trump to once again scrap plans to close the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria, Illinois - also known as the Peoria Ag Lab. The Trump Administration's fiscal year 2019 budget proposed closing 12 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agriculture Research Service (ARS) laboratorie… Continue Reading
03.15.18
Durbin Joins Colleagues In Calling On Key Senate Committee To Take Action On Legislation To Fund Gun Violence Research At CDC
CHICAGO-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and 25 other Senators in calling on leaders of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee to immediately act on legislation to fund gun violence prevention research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A Republican appropriations rider, first authorized by then-Congressman Jay Dickey (R-AR) in 1996, prohibits the CDC from using federal funds to advocate or promote gun contro… Continue Reading
03.15.18
Durbin Meets With CDC, Continues To Press For Swift Action At IVH Quincy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Dr. Anne Schuchat, Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get an update on the Legionnaires' disease outbreak at the Illinois Veterans Home (IVH) Quincy. Given the failure by the Rauner Administration to adequately address this ongoing crisis, Durbin, along with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), pressed CDC to take a greater leadership role in helping to address the public health crisis at IVH Quincy i… Continue Reading
03.15.18
Durbin, Hassan Call On Ashford University To Halt New GI Bill Enrollments Amid Questions Of Eligibility
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today called on Bridgepoint Education - Ashford University's parent company - to immediately halt new GI Bill enrollments at Ashford until their eligibility is resolved with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). With its future GI Bill eligibility in doubt, Ashford University announced on November 14, 2017, that it would voluntarily "suspend new enrollment of veteran students utilizing GI Bill benefits." Stunningly, accord… Continue Reading
03.14.18
Durbin: President Trump And Congressional Republicans Should Listen To Students, Majority Of Americans And Finally Act To Help Prevent Gun Violence
WASHINGTON-As thousands of students across the United States walked out of their classrooms to demand action on gun violence, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to finally stand up to the gun sales lobby and act to help prevent gun violence and mass shootings in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. The hearing was held in response to the February 14, 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Pa… Continue Reading
03.13.18
Durbin: With Dreamers' Future Uncertain, Senate Must Pass Dream Act Now
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today again came to the Senate floor to call on Republican leaders in Congress to pass the bipartisan Dream Act now. As of March 5, 2018 - the arbitrary deadline that President Trump set for expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program - hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the United States as children, known as Dreamers, faced losing their work permits and being deported to countries they barely re… Continue Reading
03.12.18
Durbin. Kennedy, Feinstein, Grassley Introduce Opioid Quota Reform Bill To Strengthen DEA's Ability To Prevent Opioid Diversion And Abuse
WASHINGTON - In the midst of a prescription opioid, heroin, and fentanyl crisis that is devastating communities of all sizes in every state, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Kennedy (R-LA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced the Opioid Quota Reform Act of 2018. This narrow, bipartisan legislation will enhance the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) existing opioid quota-setting authority by improving tran… Continue Reading
03.08.18
Durbin, Duckworth Press Canadian National Railway For Update On Implementation Of Positive Train Control Safety Technology
WASHINGTON-Following reports that Canadian National (CN) Railway may not meet the statutory deadline to implement positive train control (PTC) safety technology, which could force Amtrak to shut down operations on CN's tracks, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today pressed for an update on CN's current progress on implementing PTC in Illinois as well as an update on what efforts CN is making to improve Amtrak's on-time performance in the state. Shutting down Amtrak se… Continue Reading
03.08.18
Durbin Statement On Trump Tariffs On Steel And Aluminum
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on President Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum: President Trump wants to put China on notice for their abusive trade practices that hurt American workers and industries. I support that. The sweeping tariffs announced today are like dropping a bomb on a flea. Launching an all-out trade war will alienate the allies we need to actually solve the problem of steel dumping, and coul… Continue Reading
03.08.18
Durbin, Dem Senators Push For Student Loan Measures In Banking Bill
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced an amendment to the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) that would improve consumer protections for federal and private student loans. Included in Durbin's amendment is a Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights to improve federal and private student loan servicing, restoration of private student loan dischargeability in bankruptcy, protections for service members and veterans, and protections… Continue Reading
03.08.18
Durbin: Why Hasn't The Gun Violence Debate Reached The Senate Floor?
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on Republican leaders to bring the debate over gun violence to the floor of the U.S. Senate. "97% of the American people believe in universal comprehensive background checks to keep guns out of the hands of those who would misuse them: convicted felons, mentally unstable people," Durbin said. "97%. The overwhelming majority of gun owners feel exactly the same way. So why-why in God's name have we not taken that up since the… Continue Reading