Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Response At State Veterans Homes With IDVA Director

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today discussed ongoing efforts to mitigate and prevent COVID-19 at State Veterans Homes in Illinois with Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs (IDVA) Director Linda Chapa LaVia. Durbin discussed recent reports about a COVID-19 outbreak at the State Veteran Home in Manteno, Illinois, and also received an update on how IDVA is testing all residents in all homes and offering testing to all employees. "I spoke with Director LaVia today to hear how they… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Colleagues To Press Labor Department To Speed Up Unemployment Disbursements And Address System Shortfalls

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) in urging the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to speed up Unemployment Insurance (UI) disbursements and to work to address system shortfalls that have contributed to the delays in workers getting their benefits. In a letter sent to DOL Secretary Eugene Scalia, the Senators expressed serious concern regarding the significant delays in the processing of UI claims that are preventing workers from r… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Discuss COVID-19 Impact with Illinois Municipal League

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today spoke with the Illinois Municipal League about the financial strains the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on state and local governments. On the call, Durbin and Duckworth discussed provisions in the recently introduced Heroes Act that would offer fiscal relief to localities of all sizes to replace the over $10 billion drop in state and local revenues expected by next July. The bill also proposes changes to the Federal Re… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Discuss COVID-19 Impact with Illinois Municipal League

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today spoke with the Illinois Municipal League about the financial strains the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on state and local governments. On the call, Durbin and Duckworth discussed provisions in the recently introduced Heroes Act that would offer fiscal relief to localities of all sizes to replace the over $10 billion drop in state and local revenues expected by next July. The bill also proposes changes to the Federal Re… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Introduce Resolution To Reaffirm U.S. Commitment To Global Effort To Find COVID-19 Vaccine

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today led 39 of his colleagues in introducing a resolution that encourages U.S. engagement with the international community on the COVID-19 response given the Trump Administration's failure to participate in global summits on vaccines and therapeutics. The resolution focuses on the indisputable facts that only with concerted global collaboration and coordination can the COVID-19 pandemic be addressed, and that the U.S. has failed so fa… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Telehealth Funding For Chicago Area Health Care Providers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that three Chicago-area health care providers have been awarded federal funding to provide telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding, which was awarded through the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau, was appropriated by Congress as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. "This federal funding will allow more patients to b… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Congressional Call For Federal Civil Rights Investigation Into Death Of Ahmaud Arbery

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and more than 80 of their colleagues in the House and Senate in calling on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to launch a criminal civil rights investigation into the death of Ahmaud Arbery and an independent investigation into local authorities' handling of the case. The lawmakers urged DOJ to investigate these matters swiftly and thoroughly so th… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Worker Protections With National Domestic Workers Alliance Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) discussed the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on domestic workers with the Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-Jen Poo. During the call, Durbin spoke about the importance of enacting hazard pay for essential workers, including domestic workers, and ensuring that mixed-status households and undocumented workers receive Economic Impact Payments and have access to COVID-19 medical treatment. "In the midst of the coronavirus pande… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Relief With Illinois Public University Presidents

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke with nine Illinois public university presidents to discuss federal support for higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the call, Durbin heard from university presidents about their concerns with unexpected revenue shortfalls and the pandemic's effect on enrollment. Durbin discussed provisions in the CARES Act that offered $137 million in assistance to Illinois public universities and their students, his support for the Supporting State… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Davis, LaHood Discuss COVID-19 Response With Illinois Hospitals

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) and Darin LaHood (R-IL-18) today, on a call with more than 30 CEOs of Illinois hospitals and leaders of the Illinois Health & Hospital Association and Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network, discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois and how hospitals are fighting the pandemic on the ground. The bipartisan members of Congress thanked the hospital repres… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $14 Million To Expand Behavioral Health Services, Strengthen COVID-19 Respnose

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that four treatment providers and community health clinics in Illinois will receive a total of $14 million in federal grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to expand behavioral health care services and help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants - which are partially funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act - will be used to i… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Urge HHS To Provide Transparency On Distribution Of Remdesivir

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today led 12 of his Senate colleagues in sending a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeking transparency and information regarding the distribution process for the COVID-19 therapeutic remdesivir. Durbin and the Senators cited significant concerns raised by hospitals, health providers, patients, and medical societies regarding the opaque process under which the federal government is determining distribution of remdesivir, a… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Senate Colleagues To Support The HEROES Act

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged his Republican colleagues to support the Heroes Act, Congressional Democrats' proposal for the next coronavirus economic stimulus package. The legislation increases aid for our health care system and state and local governments, extends unemployment insurance benefits, helps keep laid-off workers on their employer health plans, provides additional direct payments, and extends hazard pay to e… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Democratic Caucus To Fight For American's Health Care & Slam Republican Efforts To Rip Coverage From Millions Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined the entire Senate Democratic caucus to file an amicus brief in the case of California v. Texas (formerly Texas v. Azar), the case brought by several Republican Attorneys General and supported by the Trump Administration, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court and represents a direct threat to the Affordable Care Act and health care coverage for hundreds of millions of Americans. Senate Democrats argue t… Continue Reading

Durbin Honors Aurora "Cross Man" Greg Zanis On Senate Floor

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) honored the life of Aurora, Illinois, resident Greg Zanis, who was known as "The Cross Man". Zanis passed away last week after a fight with terminal cancer. For 20 years, Zanis hand-made and personally delivered 27,000 handmade memorials - wooden crosses, Stars of David, and crescent moons - at sites of mass shootings or natural disasters to honor the fallen. "You may never have heard his name, but chances are, you sa… Continue Reading

Durbin: Congress Must Support The Immigrant Health Heroes On The Frontlines Of COVID-19

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, thanked the health care heroes on the front lines of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlighted one special group of health care workers - immigrants. Durbin also called on his colleagues to support the bipartisan Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, legislation to quickly address the plight of immigrant doctors and nurses w… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues To Introduce VoteSafe Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and U.S. Representatives James Clyburn (D-SC-6) and Marcia Fudge (D-OH-11) to introduce the VoteSafe Act, legislation to expand voting options and improve the safety and accessibility of polling places across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Voting is foundational to our democracy, and during an election year, the coronavirus pandemic has created additional obstacles to reachin… Continue Reading

Durbin: We Need Federal Workplace Safety Standards To Protect Workers And Consumers During COVID-19

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today participated in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that examined Republican proposals to give businesses liability immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the hearing, Durbin said that protecting health and safety must be the first priority, not giving corporations immunity when people get sick or when workers are forced to work in unsafe conditions. "I wish this hearing was entitled 'why has our government failed to pro… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Introduction Of Democratic Coronavirus Economic Stimulus Package

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding introduction of the Heroes Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressional Democrats' legislation for the next coronavirus economic stimulus package: "Tragically, more than 80,000 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19, and more than 30 million Americans have lost their jobs in the economic fallout. Working families are struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof o… Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassley, Booker Call On Ninth Circuit To Uphold Congressional Intent Of First Step Act Provision In Bipartisan Amicus Brief

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), lead authors and sponsors of the First Step Act - landmark criminal justice reform legislation - today submitted a bipartisan Amicus Brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States of America v Alan L. Mapuatuli, a case related to the reduction of the second strike and third strike drug mandatory minimums. The bipartisan Brief argues that Congress intended the First Step Act (FSA) to appl… Continue Reading