Durbin, Duckworth, Bustos Call For Immediate Federal Investigation Into Inmate Deaths, Allegations Of Staff Abuses At USP Thomson

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead cosponsor of the First Step Act; U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL); and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) are calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General to immediately open an investigation into allegations concerning a Bureau of Prison (BOP) facility in Thomson, Illinois. In a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, the lawmakers cite a disturbing new r… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $21.2 Million For Head Start Programs In Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $21.2 million in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants to support Head Start services for children under the age of five in receiving wrap-around support in early learning and development. The funding, awarded by the HHS Administration for Children and Families, will go to five organizations across Illinois. "Head Start programs, even through the COVID… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $18.9 Million For Health Care Providers In Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $18.9 million in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants. The funding will go to 15 providers throughout Illinois to invest in groundbreaking research, improved care, and efforts to reduce tobacco use. "Illinois is home to world-class health care providers and biomedical research institutions. If we hope to expand our understanding of diseases, better treat patien… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces $250,000 In Federal Funding For Fox River Restoration

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $250,000 in new federal funding he secured to complete the long-delayed feasibility study for the environmental restoration of the Fox River in Elgin. Durbin secured the funds in the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus appropriations bill to restart and complete the feasibility study for the environmental restoration project, with the collaboration of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Fox R… Continue Reading

Durbin Visits Rockford Family Peace Center, Discusses Center's Key Domestic Violence Work

ROCKFORD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and one of the lead cosponsors of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization Act, today visited the Family Peace Center, which provides coordinated, comprehensive services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, and human trafficking in Rockford, IL. Durbin was additionally joined by Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara and the Center's Executive Director, Jenn… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $500,000 In American Rescue Plan Funds For Metra

CHICAGO - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $500,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding awarded to Metra by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) through the Route Planning Restoration Program to help the transit agency continue to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. "Illinoisans in the Chicago area have relied on Metra's services to get to work and visit the city. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, public transit agencies were hit e… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Notice Inviting Applications For FY22 Open Textbooks Pilot Program

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Education has placed a notice inviting applications for new awards for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) for the Open Textbook Pilot program. The deadline to submit applications is July 25, 2022. The Open Textbooks Pilot, based on Durbin's Affordable College Textbook Act, is a competitive grant program to support the creation and expand the use of open college tex… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $2 Million In Federal Funding For SIU School Of Medicine

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $2 million in new federal funding he secured along with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) to help the SIU School of Medicine to address some of the most challenging health care and workforce issues facing the communities served by the school. Durbin secured $1 million in the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus appropriations bill for a new Regional Center for Equity and Professional Development that will create new pathways and training progr… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Democratic Members Of Illinois Delegation Urge Census Bureau To Incorporate Increased Population Count In Federal Data And Funding Decisions

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today led 13 Democratic members of the Illinois delegation in sending a letter to U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert L. Santos urging him to incorporate the Census Bureau's Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) data into the 2020 Decennial Census after Illinois was shown likely to have been undercounted at a rate of 1.97 percent. The 2020 Census is projected to have undercounted Illinois by 250,000, which i… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Everytown, Discusses Common Sense Gun Legislation

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met virtually with John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety, following this week's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. During their meeting, Durbin and Feinblatt discussed legislative paths forward to curb gun violence, including bills focused on closing gaps in the gun background check system. "I cannot imagine the immense pain the families of those 19 children and two teachers who l… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Toll Of Gun Violence On Children With Chicago-Area Youth & Doctors

CHICAGO - Following the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with Chicago-area youth and doctors from Ann & Robert H. Lurie's Children Hospital to discuss the need to act to protect our children from gun violence and the growing toll of trauma that gun violence is having on a generation of students and young adults. Durbi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $1.7 Million Grant To Rebuild Rail Bridges In Quincy

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $1,769,767 in funding through the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program. This funding will be used to replace two bridge spans on the Burlington Junction Railroad in Quincy, Illinois. Both the Curtis Creek and Ghost Hollow Creek bridges are now more than 100 years old and pose a safety concern that would h… Continue Reading

Durbin, Romney, Casten, Calvert Call For Robust Research Funding in Final Competition Bill

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (D-IL-6) and Ken Calvert (R-CA-42) sent a bipartisan letter to Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) and House-passed America COMPETES Act conferees urging the lawmakers to oppose provisions in USICA that would allocate a high, fixed percentage of future research funding at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) b… Continue Reading

Senate Passes Durbin, Grassley Bipartisan Resolution Celebrating 100 Years Of Diplomatic Relations Between U.S. And Baltic States

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Co-Chairs of the Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus, to celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations with the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The resolution also reaffirms the United States' commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) amid increasing Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. "By passing our biparti… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On DOJ Decision To Again Decline Charges Against Former FBI Agents Who Mishandled Larry Nassar Abuse Case

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the Department of Justice's (DOJ) decision to again decline to bring charges against two former FBI agents accused of mishandling the sex abuse inquiry of former USA Gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar. In September, after a DOJ Inspector General report documented the FBI's failure to investigate reports that Larry Nassar was assaulting young athletes, wh… Continue Reading

Durbin, Cassidy Meet With Major Retail CEOs To Discuss INFORM Consumers Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) met with several retail CEOs to discuss their Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM Consumers) Act, which passed the House as part of the America COMPETES Act and is currently being conferenced with the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA). The bipartisan legislation will combat the online sale of stolen, counterfeit, and dangerou… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues Press Surface Transportation Board On Rail Disruptions

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in a bipartisan letter urging the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to ensure reliable, consistent rail service for American industries and shippers. "We are very concerned over the significant rail service disruptions occurring throughout the U.S. freight rail network. Reports from rail customers, including our manufacturers, farme… Continue Reading

Durbin, Rubio, Colleagues Applaud Senate Passage Of Resolution Condemning Arrest And Detention Of Russian Dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) applauded the Senate's passage of their bipartisan resolution honoring Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza and condemning his unjust detention. The bipartisan resolution pays tribute to Kara-Murza's advocacy for human rights in Russia and support for the anti-war movement. Additionally, it urges the U.S. and its allies to secure his release and that of Alexei Nava… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Violence Prevention, Pandemic Preparedness With CDC Director

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky about the need to address gun violence following the horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Dr. Walensky expressed support to Durbin for the Chicago Hospital Engagement, Action, and Leadership (HEAL) Initiative, which was launched in 2018 by Durbin and 10 of the largest hospitals serving Chicago. The HEAL Initiative… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Secretary Vilsack At Agriculture Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today participated in a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing titled: "Opportunities and Challenges Facing Farmers, Families, and Rural Communities." During the hearing, Durbin highlighted the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for feeding low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities who are served by the Supporting Living Facility program in Illinois. This program has help… Continue Reading