Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Justice and Civil Rights
Durbin Statement On Special Counsel Mueller's Report To Congress
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia's interference in the 2016 election being sent to Congress: "The Special Counsel's findings paint a very different picture than what the President and his Attorney General would have the American people believe. Special Counsel Mueller has provided a detailed and sobering … Continue Reading
April 10, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth Push For Greater Federal Investments In Public Safety & Community Policing
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and a group of 42 Senators today in requesting a minimum of $400 million in federal funding, a 75 percent increase from the current funding level, for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program to help local law enforcement bolster their community policing efforts. The COPS program was designed to advance public safety by addressing the full-time officer … Continue Reading
April 10, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues To Introduce Sweeping Legislation To Address Harassment In The Workplace
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Congresswomen Katherine Clark (D-MA-05) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07) to introduce the Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (Be HEARD) in the Workplace Act. The legislation takes critical steps to ensure businesses have more resources to prevent harassment and workers have more support when they seek accountability and justice, … Continue Reading
April 05, 2019
Durbin Discusses Highway Safety, Trooper Deaths With IDOT
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke to Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Secretary Omer Osman and Paul Loete, Director of IDOT's Office of Highways, to get an update on what IDOT is doing to prevent roadside deaths in the wake of three Illinois state troopers who died this year after being struck by vehicles on the side of the highway. Durbin urged IDOT to spend resources to better educate the public about the state's Move Over law, and offered to assist at the … Continue Reading
April 05, 2019
Durbin: 'Move Over' To Save Lives Of Police & First Responders
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today paid tribute to three Illinois State Troopers who have been killed after being struck by vehicles on the sides of roads and highways this year. Durbin honored Illinois State Troopers Brooke Jones-Story, Jerry Ellis, and Chris Lambert, and recognized the efforts of Lucy Kuelper, the daughter of an Illinois State Trooper who created a Facebook page to raise awareness about Scott's Law, which requires motorists to … Continue Reading
April 04, 2019
Durbin Meets With Jeffrey Rosen, President Trump's Deputy AG Nominee
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with President Donald Trump's nominee to be Deputy U.S. Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen. In today's meeting, Durbin pressed Rosen, who has no prior Department of Justice (DOJ) experience, about his views on immigration, criminal justice reform, and voting rights. "Mr. Rosen has been nominated to serve as the number two person in the Department of Justice. He has no experience … Continue Reading
April 03, 2019
Durbin Presses Carson About Trump Administration's Cuts To Public Housing In East St. Louis
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today, in a Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Services Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing, pressed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson about the Trump Administration's Fiscal Year 2020 budget, which calls for deep cuts in federal funding to HUD's affordable housing programs. Durbin specifically mentioned his concerns about the proposal to eliminate the Public Housing Capital … Continue Reading
April 02, 2019
Durbin, Feinstein, Coons, Harris, Schatz Press GAO For Updated Study On Use Of Solitary Confinement In Federal Prisons
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) today requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a follow-up study on the use of restricted housing within the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). GAO issued a study on the topic in 2013 that provided important insights into BOP's policies on restricted housing. In 2015, BOP released an independent assessment that Durbin had requested, … Continue Reading
April 02, 2019
Durbin: Senate Republicans Changing Rules To Pack Federal Courts With Ideological Nominees
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed Senate Republicans for their proposed Senate rules change, which would further erode the rights of Senators by limiting the debate time on most nominations. If Senate Republicans' attempt to change the rules is successful, most nominations, including lifetime appointments to the federal district court bench, would be subject to up to only two hours of post-cloture debate time on the … Continue Reading
April 02, 2019
Durbin: End Forced Arbitration & Give Students Defrauded by For-Profit Colleges Their Day In Court
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today, discussed the need to end the use of forced arbitration clauses, a legal strategy used by many industries, including the for-profit college industry, to restrict people's ability to pursue legal claims in court. Durbin, along with U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA-43), has introduced the Court Legal Access & Student Support (CLASS) Act, a bicameral bill designed to strengthen students' … Continue Reading
March 27, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth Join Entire Senate Democratic Caucus To Introduce For The People Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and every member of the Senate Democratic Caucus to introduce the For the People Act - a sweeping package of comprehensive reforms that would fix our broken politics and make government work for the people. The landmark legislation, a companion to H.R. 1 in the U.S. House of Representatives, aims to restore the promise of American democracy by making it … Continue Reading
March 27, 2019
Durbin, Schneider Introduce Legislation To Combat White Supremacist Terrorist Threat
WASHINGTON - Following the massacre at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) today introduced bicameral legislation to address the growing threat of white supremacists and other violent right-wing extremists. The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act would enhance the federal government's efforts to prevent domestic terrorism by requiring federal law enforcement agencies to … Continue Reading
March 25, 2019
Durbin Statement On Special Counsel Mueller's Report
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia's interference in the 2016 election being sent to U.S. Attorney General William Barr: "Now that Special Counsel Mueller has submitted his report, it is essential that Attorney General Barr make the full report public and that he provide its underlying evidence to Congress. It is also … Continue Reading
March 25, 2019
Durbin Statement On AG Barr's Report To Congress
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding U.S. Attorney General William Barr's submission to Congress of a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia's interference in the 2016 election: "Attorney General Barr has the authority to make the full Mueller findings public with minimal redactions. He must do so as quickly as possible. The 'summary' document he … Continue Reading
March 22, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth Announce Nearly $5 Million In Federal Funding To Help Improve Infant Health Outcomes And Reduce Racial Disparities In Illinois
WASHINGTON - 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) awarded five organizations in Illinois a total of $4,990,000 in federal funding to help reduce racial disparities in infant health. Today's funding, awarded through HHS's Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating Disparities in Perinatal Health program, will seek to improve health outcomes before, during, and after pregnancy, and reduce racial and … Continue Reading
March 22, 2019
Durbin Informs Illinois Religious Institutions Of Nonprofit Security Grant Funding
CHICAGO - Following the massacre at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters to religious institutions and houses of worship across Illinois to make them aware of an important federal funding opportunity for nonprofit organizations to ensure they have the necessary resources to improve their security. Durbin helped secure $60 million in nonprofit security grant funding for the … Continue Reading
March 15, 2019
Durbin, Grassley Bill Will Require Supreme Court To Allow Cameras In The Courtroom
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reintroduced legislation today to require open proceedings of the Supreme Court to be televised. The bipartisan Cameras in the Courtroom Act would require the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open sessions of the Court, unless the Court decides, by a majority vote of the Justices, that doing so would constitute a violation of the … Continue Reading
March 13, 2019
Durbin & Senators Reintroduce Bill To Protect Children's Online Privacy
WASHINGTON - As the collection of personal information by internet companies is encroaching more and more on the privacy of every American, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) today reintroduced legislation to strengthen online privacy protections for children when websites collect their personally identifiable information. The Clean Slate for Kids Online Act would give every American an enforceable … Continue Reading
March 08, 2019
Durbin Statement On Death Of McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the death of McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Keltner, who was shot by a gunman at the Extended Stay America in Rockford, Illinois: I am deeply saddened by Deputy Keltner's death and my heart is with his family, friends, and the entire McHenry County Sheriff's Department, and the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force. This is another senseless tragedy, and Illinois has lost one of its finest … Continue Reading
March 07, 2019
Durbin, Coons, Senators Introduce Bill To Limit Use Of Solitary Confinement
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today introduced legislation to reduce the Federal Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) use of solitary confinement and improve conditions for inmates separated from the general prison population. The Solitary Confinement Reform Act limits solitary confinement to the briefest term and under the least restrictive conditions … Continue Reading