Durbin, Duckworth Urge Biden To Designate Cahokia Mounds As Unit Of National Park System

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth today sent a letter to President Biden urging him to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to incorporate the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site under the National Park System and offer additional protections for the ancient mounds in St. Clair and Madison counties. In their letter, the Senators call back to Durbin's 2014 request for the National Park Service (NPS) to conduct a reconnaissance study t… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls For Closure Of Guantanamo Bay In NDAA

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke about the importance of closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and announced he had filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to close the facility once and for all. During his speech, Durbin also honored the life and legacy of U.S. Army Major Ian Fishback, who spoke out against America's inhumane treatment of detainees … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, LaHood, Bost, Bustos, Davis Urge FEMA To Review Levee Reimbursement Methodology Across Regions

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL-18), Mike Bost (R-IL-12), Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17), and Rodney Davis (R-IL-13), sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requesting that the Agency's headquarters revisit the formulas being used across its regions to calculate Public Assistant reimbursements with regards to pumping costs. In their letter, the lawmakers said the… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Select Committee Recommending Criminal Contempt Charges Against Former DOJ Official Jeffery Clark

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement in light of news that the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol will vote on a report recommending that the House of Representatives cite Jeffrey Clark for criminal contempt of Congress and refer him for prosecution: "The information uncovered in the recent Senate Judiciary Committee majority staff report, … Continue Reading

Durbin, Collins Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Improve Fairness In Criminal Justice System

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Criminal Judicial Administration Act (CJAA), a bipartisan bill that would improve fairness in the criminal justice system by facilitating court attendance by out-of-custody indigent federal defendants. The bill would authorize federal courts to direct the United States Marshals Service (USMS) to pay for round-trip travel and subsistence for the … Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Verdict In Ahmaud Arbery Trial

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement on the verdict in the trial for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery: "I hope today's verdict can provide some small solace to Ahmaud Arbery's family and friends, but the cold truth is that Mr. Arbery will never have a chance to marry, raise children, or grow old. These murderers carried out a modern-day lynching that snuffed out a promising young life and then wal… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $11 Million In DOJ Awards For Illinois To Advance Community Policing

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Illinois law enforcement agencies will receive a total of $11,076,506 in funding from the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to hire 80 new full-time law enforcement professionals, including 50 in Chicago. This funding is part of a nationwide announcement of $139 million in COPS Hiring Program (CHP) grants to 183 agencies across the nation. "These federal gra… Continue Reading

Durbin, Feinstein, Grassley Press Inspector General, FBI To Act On Larry Nassar Case

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law; and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led a bipartisan group of Senators seeking additional scrutiny of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) approach to child sex abuse cases following its dereliction of duty in the Larry Nassar case. The Senator… Continue Reading

Durbin: Infrastructure Bill Puts Illinois on Path to Lead Nation in EV Manufacturing

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined workers from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134 to discuss how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help Illinois become a leader in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing and the importance of passing the Build Back Better Act to bring even more opportunities to Illinois."Illinois has the workforce, institutions, and leadership to play an important role in the EV revolution and with the passage of the I… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on House Passage of Build Back Better Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act: "In the wake of this pandemic, and in the face of a climate crisis, we must build an economy that puts the needs of people, and our planet, above all else. From helping working mothers feed their kids, to funding education and other innovations that will shape the world those kids grow up in, now is the time to Build Back Better. W… Continue Reading

Durbin, Waters Introduce CLASS Act To Give Students Defrauded By For-Profit Colleges Their Day In Court

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) today reintroduced bicameral legislation designed to strengthen students' ability to hold for-profit colleges accountable in court for their misconduct. The Court Legal Access and Student Support (CLASS) Act would enhance accountability for for-profit colleges and safeguard taxpayer dollars by prohibiting an institution of higher education from receiving Title IV federal student aid funding … Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassley Law Enforcement Bills Signed Into Law

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statements following yesterday's White House signing ceremony for three bills to support law enforcement: S.921, Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers and Employees Protection Act; S.1511, Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021; and S.1502, Confidentiality Oppo… Continue Reading

Durbin: Infrastructure Bill Puts Illinois On Path To Lead Nation In EV Manufacturing

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined workers from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134 to discuss how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help Illinois become a leader in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing and the importance of passing the Build Back Better Act to bring even more opportunities to Illinois. "Illinois has the workforce, institutions, and leadership to play an important role in the EV revolution and with the passage of … Continue Reading

Durbin Delivers Speech At Environmental Law And Policy Center Forum

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined the Environmental Law & Policy Center's (ELPC) monthly forum, ELPC Thinks, to deliver a speech highlighting the impact the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will make by investing in climate solutions, clean renewable energy, and clean transportation solutions. During his speech, Durbin spoke about the rich, natural resources the Midwest is home to, including the Great Lakes, and touched on how the federal… Continue Reading

Durbin, Risch, Leahy, Members Introduce Bipartisan Resolution To Support Upcoming Presidential Election In The Gambia

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) Ranking Member James Risch (R-ID), and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT), along with Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Mike Rounds (R-SD), SFRC Africa Subcommittee Ranking Member, and John Boozman (R-AR), today introduced a bipartisan resolution expressing support for a free, fair, and peaceful December 4, 2021, presidential election in The Gambia. The upcoming election will be … Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Baltic Ambassadors, Discusses U.S.-Baltic Security Cooperation

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the bipartisan Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus, today met with Lithuanian Ambassador Audra Plepyt?, Latvian Ambassador Maris Selga, and Estonian Ambassador Kristjan Prikk to discuss ongoing U.S.-Baltic security cooperation, Russian aggression and Chinese economic threats in the region, and COVID-19 pandemic responses. During their conversation, Durbin welcomed the Baltic States' acceptance of Afghan refugees, a majority of whom … Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Mexican Senators To Discuss U.S.-Mexico Relationship

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with five Mexican Senators who represent the five largest parties in Mexico. During today's meeting, they discussed U.S.-Mexico relations, migration in the region, the need for immigration reform in the U.S., the flow of illegal weapons primarily from the United States to Mexico, and the Mexican Senate's interest in reactivating the U.S.-Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Group between the uppe… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions District Court Nominees In Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned district court nominees at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nominations of Bridget Meehan Brennan, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio; John H. Chun, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington; Charles Esque Fleming, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio; and David Augustin … Continue Reading

Senate Confirms Jonathan Kanter As Assistant Attorney General At DOJ Antitrust Division

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jonathan Kanter to be an Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division by a vote of 68-29. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding Kanter's confirmation: "Mr. Kanter is a distinguished antitrust lawyer with decades of experience in the public and private sectors. He is a highly influential advocate for strong and meaning… Continue Reading

Durbin Honors Senate Tenure Of Patrick Leahy

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today paid tribute to Senator Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) tenure in the Senate following Leahy's announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2022. During his floor speech, Durbin spoke about his friendship with Leahy and thanked him for his leadership in the Senate, particularly on human rights. "I've come to know Pat in my time in the Senate. He is a humanitarian. He is a gifted lawmaker, and a passionate defender of America's natio… Continue Reading