Senate Votes to Reduce Crop Insurance Subsidies, Save Taxpayer Dollars

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today after the Senate accepted Coburn-Durbin amendment #2439 by a bipartisan vote of 66-33. This amendment is a reasonable step that asks our wealthiest farmers to cover more of their risk by reducing the level of federal premium support for crop insurance participants with an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) over $750,000 by 15 percentage points for all buy-up polic… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces Over $6 Million in HHS Funding for Illinois Community Health Centers

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that 11 Illinois community health centers will receive $6,497,417 in grant funding through the New Access Point (NAP) grant program, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In Illinois, NAP grants will help expand access to care for 79,943 additional patients and will create approximately 5,640 jobs nationwide by establishing new health center service delivery sites. "Community health… Continue Reading

Durbin and Corker's Water for the World Act Passes the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - The Water for the World Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, sending the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. The bill is cosponsored by Senators Reid (D-NV), Roberts (R-KS), Cardin (D-MD), Isakson (R-GA), and Leahy (D-VT). "Access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation is a right that everyone in the world ought to enjoy bu… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces Additional NFL Reforms Related to Bounties and Player Safety

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced that he would withhold a hearing into bounty programs in the NFL and other sports leagues after meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and discussing steps the League will take, at Durbin's request, to protect player safety and football's integrity. "The NFL has taken the issue of bounties in professional football seriously and has been open and willing to take additional steps to protect player safety and footb… Continue Reading

Durbin, Quinn Announce $10.4 Million TIGER Grant for Rail Improvements

[CHICAGO, IL] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the State of Illinois a $10.4 million grant from the fourth round of the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER IV) program. The TIGER grant will complete a $370 million funding package of 15 local projects in the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program. The projects include new track and… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets with Amtrak Chairman Tom Carper as House Delay Threatens Improved Illinois Amtrak Service

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - With only twelve days until the current transportation bill expires, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the House-Senate transportation bill conference committee, today met with Tom Carper, Chairman of the Board of Amtrak, to discuss critical funding for Illinois passenger rail and other transportation projects. "With record ridership numbers every year, Amtrak connects riders to schools, businesses, and communities across the state and throughout the region," … Continue Reading

Durbin, Jackson, Rush and Emanuel Announce Chicago's 95th Street Station to Receive $20 Million Investment Through the TIGER Grant Program Terminal

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Mayor Emanuel announced today that Chicago's CTA has secured $20 million in critical funding which will allow the 95th Street Terminal Improvement Project to proceed. The intermodal project will reduce pedestrian and bus congestion, reduce travel times, improve accessibility, and create jobs on the South Side of the city. "Today's funding through the federal TIGER gr… Continue Reading

Opening Remarks at the First-Ever Congressional Hearing on Solitary Confinement

America has led the fight for human rights around the world. This Subcommittee has tried to play a part in this effort, holding the first Congressional hearings on issues like rape as a weapon of war, and passing legislation like the Genocide Accountability Act. But we also have an obligation to look in the mirror and consider our own human-rights record. Today in the United States, more than 2.3 million people are imprisoned. This is - by far - the highest per capita rate of prisoners in th… Continue Reading

Durbin Chairs First-Ever Congressional Hearing on Solitary Confinement

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) chaired a hearing today on the issue of solitary confinement in the nation's prisons, jails and detention centers. The hearing, held before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, focused on the human rights, fiscal and public safety consequences of solitary confinement. "The United States holds more prisoners in solitary confinement than any other democratic nation in t… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on DREAM Act and Administrative Action to Help Young Immigrants

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that the Obama Administration would halt the deportations of immigrant students who could earn citizenship under Durbin's DREAM Act. "The Obama Administration's decision to extend temporary legal status to DREAM Act students is an historic humanitarian moment. This action will give these young immigrants their chance to come out of the sha… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls on Illinois House Republicans to Demand Speak Boehner Bring Bipartisan Senate Transportation Bill to a Vote

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the House-Senate Conference Committee on the next transportation bill, today called on Republican Members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation to demand that House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) call for a vote on the bipartisan transportation bill which passed the Senate by a vote of 74-22 and would create or save 67,900 jobs in Illinois. "It is increasingly clear that the only way to complete a multi-year transportation bil… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets with Quad Cities Airport Director to Discuss Support for Regional Transportation Initiatives

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Bruce Carter, Director of Quad Cities International Airport and Chairman of the American Association of Airport Executives, to discuss regional transportation and infrastructure priorities. A photo of today's meeting is available here. Carter has served as director of the Quad City International Airport since 1999. "Quad City International Airport is a critical transportation link for central Illinois, serving residents and v… Continue Reading

Durbin: Senate Committee Approves Provisions That Would Require Postal Service to Prove Cost Savings Before Closing Quincy and Rockford Mail Processing Facilities

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today said that the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which he is a member, has approved a bill that includes his provision requiring the Postal Service to conduct a new audit that shows cost savings before moving forward with plans to close or consolidate facilities that were recently found to be efficient. The provision, originally included in the comprehensive postal reform legislation passed by the Senate in April of this year, would af… Continue Reading

Durbin, Kirk Praise the Establishment of a Public Charter School in North Chicago

[NORTH CHICAGO] - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) announced their support for the establishment of the LEARN Public Charter School in North Chicago on the edge of Great Lakes Naval Station. The Senators congratulated the Navy, the LEARN Charter School Network, the Illinois State Board of Education and the community of North Chicago for their efforts in working together to establish the elementary charter school, which is scheduled to open on September 4, 2012 in Nor… Continue Reading

Durbin Unveils 2013 Financial Services, General Government Appropriations Bill

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG), today unveiled the subcommittee's appropriations package for fiscal year 2013. The bill covers $22.99 billion in discretionary spending for the nation's consumer and financial watchdogs; the Treasury Department; the Federal Courts; District of Columbia; White House operations; and over two dozen independent agencies. "This year's appropri… Continue Reading

Durbin: Attorney General Again Confirms Obama Administration Will Never Seek to Transfer Guantanamo Bay Detainees to Thomson

[WASHINGTON, DC] - In response to questions from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder again confirmed that the Obama Administration will never seek to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to Thomson Correctional Center. Durbin is currently working with the State of Illinois and the Obama Administration to reprogram already appropriated funding within the Department of Justice (DOJ) that can be used to purchase the pris… Continue Reading

Durbin, Reed, Welch to Banks: Time to End Egregious Fees on Campus Debit Cards

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) today called for an end to egregious fees - some as high as $50 - that are charged to students in some campus debit and prepaid card programs. In a letter to fifteen major financial institutions, the Members of Congress expressed serious concerns about campus card fees that often cut into students' taxpayer-subsidized federal student financial aid and called… Continue Reading

Durbin to Chair Hearing on Solitary Confinement

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, announced today that he would hold the first-ever congressional hearing on the issue of solitary confinement at 10:00am ET on Tuesday, June 19. The hearing will focus on the human rights, fiscal and public safety consequences of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, jails, and detention centers. During the last several decades, t… Continue Reading

Senators Ask That Decisions to Include Tobacco in Tariff Reductions be Reconsidered as Part of Trade Agreement

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and John Kerry (D-MA) today wrote to United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk to express their strong support of the USTR's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement Tobacco Proposal, but also urged the USTR to reconsider the decision not to exclude tobacco products from future tariff reductions. As the TPP Agreement is being negotiated, the Obama Administration h… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces Nearly $1 Million in DOT Funding for Springfield Airport

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $945,000 in funding to the Springfield Airport Authority. This funding will be used to rehabilitate existing apron pavement at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, IL. "Today's grant will help maintain an airport that is vital to the city of Springfield," said Durbin. "The new improvements will allow the airport to continue to serve Central Illinois… Continue Reading