Judiciary Committee Advances Four Bipartisan Bills Supporting Law Enforcement During Police Week

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today announced that the Committee advanced four bipartisan bills, by voice vote, that will help support law enforcement officers and their families by providing more support for mental health needs and helping to make sure officers have the resources and training they need to provide safe and effective community policing. Key Durbin quotes: "Being a police officer has always been a challenge. … Continue Reading

Senate Commemorates National Police Week

WASHINGTON - Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously adopted a resolution marking National Police Week and reiterating support for the men and women in law enforcement. The bipartisan resolution was led by 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. It was also cosponsored by 84 of their Senate colleagues. "I could not be more grateful for the bravery federal, st… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Senate-Passed Supplemental Aid For Ukraine

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, today released the following statement after the Senate passed an emergency funding package to assist Ukraine following Russia's unjustified and unprovoked war. The legislation provides funding for military and humanitarian aid, public health and medical support for Ukrainian refugees, and emergency food aid around the world. "The $40 billion in emergency aid will help Ukraine withstand the next br… Continue Reading

Durbin Applauds Inclusion Of Important Dietary Supplement Provisions In Bipartisan Senate Committee's FDA User Fee Package

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) applauded the inclusion of a modified version of his Dietary Supplement Listing Act of 2022 in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee's recently-released draft Food and Drug Administration (FDA) User Fee package. The Dietary Supplement Listing Act of 2022 requires dietary supplement manufacturers to list their products with FDA. In 1994, Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), … Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassley, Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill To Broaden War Crimes Jurisdiction

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Representatives David Cicilline (D-RI) and Victoria Spartz (R-IN), introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act, legislation that updates the current war crimes statute to enable prosecution of war criminals in the United States regardless of th… Continue Reading

Foreign Relations Committee Advances Durbin, Grassley Bipartisan Resolution To Celebrate 100 Years Of Diplomatic Relations Between U.S. And Baltic States

WASHINGTON - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today advanced 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 Eur… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With eBay CEO To Discuss INFORM Consumers Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with eBay's CEO, Jamie Iannone, to discuss his 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 dangerous consumer products by ens… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With eBay CEO To Discuss INFORM Consumers Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with eBay's CEO, Jamie Iannone, to discuss his 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 dangerous consumer products by ens… Continue Reading

Durbin: I'm Calling On FDA To Immediately Halt Its Enforcement Discretion And Remove All Unauthorized E-Cigarettes From The Market

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today blasted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failing to meet a court deadline to complete its public health review of e-cigarette premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs). The deadline for FDA to finish reviewing e-cigarette applications was September 9, 2021, more than eight months ago-leaving dangerous, kid-friendly e-cigarettes available on store shelves to hook children. On Friday, F… Continue Reading

Senate Confirms Rachelle Crowe To Serve As U.S. Attorney For The Southern District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON - Tonight, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Rachelle L. Crowe to serve as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement on her confirmation: "We are pleased that the Senate has confirmed Rachelle Crowe to serve as U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Illinois. After seven years without a confirmed… Continue Reading

During National Police Week, Durbin Meets With Illinois Law Enforcement Leaders

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met virtually with Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly, Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria, Swansea Police Chief Steven Johnson, incoming Champaign Police Chief Timothy Tyler, Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain, and Carbondale Police Chief Stan Reno. During their meeting, Durbin thanked the law enforcement leaders for their service and discussed with them the need to provide funding and… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Funding For Fermilab LBNF/DUNE With Secretary Of Energy

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm about federal funding requests for the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility/Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (LBNF/DUNE), a project run by Fermilab in Illinois. In March, Durbin secured $189 million for LBNF/DUNE in the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) omnibus appropriations bill. On the call, Durbin explained the importance of Fermilab's research and urged the Secretary to join … Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Loukas Kozonis, Guest To Greek Prime Minister's Joint Meeting Of Congress

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Loukas Kozonis, his guest to today's Joint Meeting of Congress by His Excellency Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic. Mr. Kozonis is a resident of Bannockburn, Illinois, founding member of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), and Vice Chair of the Chicago-Athens Sister Cities Committee. Durbin was a member of the leadership escort committee for today's Joint Meeting. "It was a great h… Continue Reading

Durbin, Rubio, Members Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Condemning Detention Of Russian Dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, Call For His Release

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) introduced a 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 allied states to secure his immediate release, and calls for the U.S. government to… Continue Reading

Following Buffalo Shooting, Durbin Announces Upcoming Judiciary Committee Hearing On Domestic Terrorism

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered a speech on the Senate floor decrying another weekend of mass gun violence across the country, including a racially-motivated attack at a Buffalo, New York supermarket that killed ten, and shootings that claimed the lives of parishioners at a California church, shoppers at a Houston flea market, and five people in Chicago, including 16-year-old Seandell Holliday who was killed in M… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Will County To Talk Federal Funding For Opioid Intervention, Infrastructure, And Local Programs

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met virtually with representatives from the Will County Board to discuss how increased federal funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is helping Will County and to thank Durbin for the Congressionally directed spending he secured for Will County in the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill. Included in the omnibus bill at Durbin's request was $300,000 for the expansi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Leahy Seek Clarification Of Administration's Position On Use Of Torture-Derived Evidence

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, are calling on the Biden Administration to uphold U.S. obligations under the Torture Convention by putting an end to the repeated efforts by Guantanamo military commission prosecutors to use evidence derived from torture. Guantanamo Bay military commission prosecutors again argued in court that evidence obtained … Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Colleagues To Urge Department Of Homeland Security To Help State And Local Governments Improve Election Security

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) this week joined U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Gary Peters (D-MI) in leading 11 of their colleagues in urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help states effectively use funding from the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program and the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) to improve election security. "We write to urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take steps to ensure that state and local gover… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On DOT To Prevent Cape Air From Terminating Passenger Flights To Quincy

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg urging him to ensure that Quincy Regional Airport maintains passenger air service through the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Essential Air Service (EAS) program. The letter follows Cape Air's recent filing with DOT notifying that the airline plans to halt passenger flights to Quincy Regional Airport. In his letter, Durbin emphasizes the ripple effect the decisio… Continue Reading

Durbin Highlights Federal Efforts To Address Skyrocketing Cost Of Insulin For Patients

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined doctors and families impacted by diabetes to call for the passage of federal legislation to reduce the price of insulin for patients. Durbin is an original co-sponsor of the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would cap the monthly cost of insulin at $35 per month for patients. Approximately eight million Americans-a quarter-million in Illinois-rely on insulin to manage their blood sugar levels. However, studies show that more than one-quarter… Continue Reading