Durbin Discusses Supporting Workers With Secretary Of Labor Nominee Julie Su

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su regarding her nomination as Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL). During the meeting, Durbin and Su discussed the importance of investing in workforce development initiatives and apprenticeships, and concerns with retirement plans that offer investments in crypto. In March, Durbin along with Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Tina Smith (D-MN) sent a letter to DOL urging the … Continue Reading

Durbin, Graham Meet With Ukrainian Prosecutor General

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with members of the Committee, hosted Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin to receive an update on Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine, and specifically on reports of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The meeting comes before tomorrow's Senate Judicia… Continue Reading

Durbin Talks Route Safety With Illinois Association Of Letter Carriers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with members of the Illinois Association of Letter Carriers to discuss protecting postal workers from armed robberies while out on their delivery routes. During the meeting, Durbin spoke about his efforts to pressure U.S. Postal Service (USPS) leadership to address the uptick in armed robberies. "Letter carriers perform an essential service of our government, and they deserve to feel safe when they are on the job," said Durbi… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Witnesses During Judiciary Subcommittee On Intellectual Property Hearing On Foreign Threats To U.S. Innovation & Economy

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property (IP) hearing entitled, "Foreign Competitive Threats to American Innovation and Economic Leadership." Today's bipartisan hearing examined the risks posed by nation-state adversaries, especially China, to American innovation and economic leadership. Durbin first mentioned his INFORM Consumers Act, which is des… Continue Reading

Durbin Talks Infrastructure Priorities With Champaign County First

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with representatives from Champaign County First to discuss the region's infrastructure priorities and recent federal funding that Durbin secured for the projects. This includes Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 earmarks for projects in the area: $3.78 million for the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District to increase its electric bus fleet as well as $1 million for mapping the underground geology of the Mahomet Aquifer, the primary sou… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Meet With Association Of Illinois Electric Cooperatives

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth today met with Craig Sondgeroth, President of the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC), and their members who represents 25 different distribution co-ops and five generation/transmission co-ops that serve most of Illinois. During their meeting, the Senators spoke about the $2.3 billion in federal funding, provided by C… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls For Supreme Court Ethics Reform On The Senate Floor

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke on the Senate floor on the need for Supreme Court ethics reform, including a clear, enforceable code of conduct for Supreme Court justices, in light of recent revelations by ProPublicaof Justice Clarence Thomas' previously undisclosed gifts from and transactions with far-right billionaire and Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow. ProPublica found that Mr. Crow has given Justice Thomas ne… Continue Reading

Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Judiciary Committee Hearing On District Court Nominations

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nominations of Jeremy C. Daniel, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois; Brendan Abell Hurson, to be United States District Judge for the District of Maryland; and Darrel James Papillion, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Key Durbin quote… Continue Reading

Durbin: Democrats Won’t Rest Until We Restore Access To Women’s Reproductive Health Care Nationwide

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor on the state of reproductive rights in America and steps he's taking to shine a light on the serious threats to abortion rights nationwide, including his upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the issue. The remarks come after a federal judge in Texas, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, attempted to block the use of the medication abortion pill mifepristone-which the Food … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Democrats To File Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court To Prevent Dangerous Ruling From Restricting Access To Mifepristone Nationwide & Upending FDA Approval Process

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined more than 250 members of Congress in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, in support of the Biden Administration’s appeal of a federal district court ruling that suspends the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) more than 20-year-old approval of mifepristone as well as the decision by the U.… Continue Reading

Durbin, Senate Judiciary Democrats Urge Chief Justice Roberts To Investigate Justice Thomas’ Undisclosed Gifts And Take Action To Prevent Further Misconduct

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts calling on the Chief Justice to investigate a ProPublica report that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted and failed to disclose 20 years' worth of lavish gifts and luxury travel from prominent Republican donor Harlan Crow. In the letter, the Senators announce that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hol… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement After Federal Judge Blocked Access To The Medication Abortion Pill Mifepristone

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today issued the following statement after a federal judge in Texas blocked the use of the medication abortion pill mifepristone-which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved more than 20 years ago as safe and effective: "This evening, a single federal judge in Texas issued a decision that seeks to deny millions of women across the country access to an FDA-approved medication that has bee… Continue Reading

Durbin Visits Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center To Announce $1 Million For Facility Renovation And Expansion

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited Chicago Children's Advocacy Center (CCAC) to discuss the $1 million in federal funding he and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) secured through Congressionally-directed spending in the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Omnibus appropriations bill for CCAC to renovate and expand their facility to better meet the needs of child victims and witnesses of violence and to expand its capacity to provide mental health services. "Too many young people carr… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Reports Of Justice Clarence Thomas’ Acceptance Of Undisclosed Luxury Gifts From Republican Megadonor

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on reports of 20 years' worth of undisclosed gifts and troubling ethical conduct by Justice Clarence Thomas: "The highest court in the land shouldn't have the lowest ethical standards. Today's Pro Publicareport reveals that Justice Thomas has for years accepted luxury travel on private yachts and jets and a litany of other gifts that he failed to disclose. This beh… Continue Reading

Durbin Visits Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry To Announce $700,000 To Expand Services To Food-Insecure Residents In The Region

AURORA - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry to discuss the $700,000 in federal funding he secured through Congressionally-directed spending in the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Omnibus appropriations bill for their new Mobile Meals Program that will expand their services to food-insecure residents in the region. This funding will allow them to purchase a mobile van to distribute meals to residents. "We live in the richest nation in the world, yet over 35… Continue Reading

With Violent ‘Air Rage’ Incidents Still At Elevated Levels, Durbin Joins Colleagues To Renew Bipartisan Push To Ground Unruly Passengers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin joined U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and U.S. Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01) to unveil the bipartisan and bicameral Protection from Abusive Passengers Act. This legislation is designed to improve air travel safety by holding unruly passengers accountable if they assault a crewmember or fellow passenger. Despite the mask mandate on planes ending in April of last year, the Federal Aviation Administration … Continue Reading

Durbin Visits OSF Heart Of Mary Medical Center To Highlight Efforts To Lower The Price Of Insulin And Other Prescription Drugs

URBANA - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center to highlight Democratic efforts to lower the price of insulin and other prescription drugs. Last year, Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which in caps the cost of insulin at $35 per month under Medicare, caps annual out-of-pocket spending for drugs at $2,000 for seniors, enables Medicare to negotiate for lower prices with Big Pharma, and penalizes manufacturers who hike drug prices higher th… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Kelly Urge Office Of Personnel Management To Address Delays In Delivering Federal Retirement Benefits

CHICAGO – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) led nine of their colleagues in sending a bicameral letter to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) urging the agency to address the delay with processing and delivering federal retirement benefits to federal employees.  OPM, which manages government employees’ health insurance and retirement benefit programs, has a substantial retirement claim inve… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Lead Illinois Delegation In Urging President Biden To Grant Federal Disaster Declaration For 5 Illinois Counties Following Severe Weather

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today led every member 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) for five counties. The letter follows tornadoes, high winds, hail, and flash floods that caused widespread damage across Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion, and Sanga… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues To Introduce “No Check, No Sale” Bill To Close The Charleston Loophole

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to introduce the Background Check Completion Act, legislation to close a current loophole that allows gun sales to proceed if a background check is not completed within a certain time period, even if the gun buyer is not legally allowed to purchase a gun. The gap in existing law has allowed thousands of gun sales… Continue Reading