Durbin, Duckworth Applaud Army Corps FY18 Work Plan & Funding For Completion Of McCook Reservoir

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced their Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Work Plan, which includes $44.352 million for McCook Reservoir to complete construction, $10 million for LaGrange Lock and Dam to move forward on a major rehabilitation, and $1.2 million for various Cook County infrastructure projects: The Army Corps of Engineers' work is critically important for water qu… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Highlight Illinois Priorities Included In Transportation, Housing And Urban Development FY19 Funding Bill

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) applauded the inclusion of several of their priorities for Illinois in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) fiscal year 2019 funding bill. The bill was passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and now heads to the Senate floor for consideration. Illinois priorities in the bill include funding for Core Capacity grants, Amtr… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Nomination Of Martha Pacold, Mary Rowland & Steven Seeger To Serve As U.S. District Judges For The Northern District of Illinois

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after the White House announced the nominations of Martha M. Pacold, Mary M. Rowland, and Steven C. Seeger to serve as District Judges on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, based in Chicago: "We are pleased that the President has nominated these three Illinoisans. They have the qualifications, integrity, and judgment to serve with distinction as district court jud… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, 38 Senators Call On Trump To End Policy Of Separating Children From Their Parents At The Border

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), and 38 of their Democratic colleagues to call on the Trump administration to stop further traumatizing children and end Trump's inhumane policy of separating innocent boys and girls from families who cross the Southwest border seeking asylum in the United States. Citing the American Academy of Pediatrics, the senators stressed the short- and long-term damage … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Senate Dem Caucus Press Speaker Ryan To Immediately Schedule Vote To Restore Net Neutrality

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and the entire Senate Democratic Caucus today urged House Speaker Paul Ryan to schedule a vote on the Senate Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) disastrous decision to repeal the agency's 2015 net neutrality rules. Despite the resolution's bipartisan passage in the Senate 21 days ago, Speaker Ryan has failed to bring the resolution to the House floor for a vote.… Continue Reading

Durbin Introduces Resolution To Reaffirm America's Support For NATO

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced a resolution that would reaffirm America's commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Durbin spoke on the floor about the Trump Administration's contempt for, and undermining of, the organization that includes some of our most important allies in modern history. "In the face of Russian aggression today, instead of fortifying our alliance and coming together in common cause, I'm sorry to report that this… Continue Reading

Durbin Blasts Trump Administration Policy Of Separating Children From Their Families At The Border

WASHINGTON-In a Senate floor speech, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today blasted the Trump Administration's cruel policy of separating children from their parents who arrive at the Southern border of the United States seeking protection from horrific violence in the Northern Triangle region of Central America. "In March, we learned in my office in Chicago about a seven-year-old girl and her mother, who came from the Democratic Republic of Congo…they were separated for f… Continue Reading

Durbin, Brown Urge DeVos To Protect Students & taxpayers In Potential Transfer Of Predatory For-Profit DeVry University To Cogswell Education

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) pressed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to carefully scrutinize Adtalem Global Education, Inc.'s - formerly known as DeVry Education Group - proposed transfer of DeVry University and Keller Graduate School of Management to Cogswell Education, which currently runs Cogswell College. Adtalem has a long record of abuse and mistreatment of students, according to multiple state and federal investigations and lawsuits. And if the tr… Continue Reading

Durbin Leads Call To Reduce Smoking In Movies Geared Toward Children & Teens

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to take action to reduce depictions of smoking, including e-cigarette depictions, in youth-rated movies and ensure responsible and consistent practices. The U.S. Surgeon General has definitively concluded that exposure to smoking in movies leads to youth initiation, but enactment of certain public health policies could reduce youth smoking rates by nearly 20% and prevent one… Continue Reading

Durbin & Markey Introduce New Legislation To Protect Children's Online Privacy

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the collection of personal information by internet companies is encroaching more and more on the privacy of every American, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL)and Ed Markey (D-MA) today announced the introduction of new legislation to strengthen online privacy protections for children when websites collect their personally identifiable information. The Clean Slate for Kids Online Act would give every American the right to have internet companies delete all personal information… Continue Reading

Durbin Presses FDA And Drug Manufacturer For Information On Epipen Shortages

CHICAGO-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Pfizer's Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc. for information regarding the ongoing challenges that families nationwide are facing with respect to obtaining EpiPens. Last month, FDA added EpiPen 0.3 mg and EpiPen Jr. 0.15 mg, as well as generic versions of these products, to its list of drug shortages, due to supply disruptions and manufacturing delays at Meridian Medical Technologies. "Our federal… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Ask Illinois Superintendents About E-Cigarette Use By Middle And High School Students

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) are reaching out to Superintendents across the state and requesting information regarding what Illinois middle and high schools are experiencing with respect to student use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and vaping products, such as the JUUL vaping device. Nationwide, between 2011 and 2015, the use of these dangerous and addictive nicotine products among high school students increased more than ten-fold-from 1.5 percent to 16 … Continue Reading

Durbin Remarks At Oxford University On The State Of American Politics

U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) delivered the following remarks today at the Oxford Union at the University of Oxford on the state of American politics in the Trump era: I want to thank the Oxford Union for inviting me to join you this fine evening. You know, it can do funny things to one's ego to be invited to speak at the Oxford Union. When I received your invitation, I showed it to my wife, Loretta, and said, "Can you believe it? The oldest, most revered debating society in… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Kelly Introduce Resolution Establishing "National Gun Violence Awareness Month"

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL) led 14 other Senators and 25 other Representatives to introduce a resolution in the House and Senate establishing the weekend of June 1-3, 2018 as "National Gun Violence Awareness Weekend" and designating June as "National Gun Violence Awareness Month." Every day in America, an average of around 300 men, women, and children are shot, nearly one-third of them fatally. Establishing a month to b… Continue Reading

Durbin Blasts Maduro For Expelling U.S. Diplomats From Venezuela

U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today blasted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for expelling America's two highest ranking diplomats in the country, Todd Robinson and Brian Naranjo, on nonsense charges designed to distract from his own government's corruption. Maduro staged an election over the weekend that banned key candidates and parties and has been internationally discredited as a sham. Last month, Durbin traveled to Caracas to warn Maduro that the snap election called by … Continue Reading

Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Bipartisan Bill To Address Flow Of Opioids In American

In the midst of a prescription opioid, heroin, and fentanyl crisis that is devastating communities of all sizes in every state, the Senate Judiciary Committee today passed narrow, bipartisan legislation that will enhance the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) existing opioid quota-setting authority by improving transparency and enabling DEA to adjust quotas to prevent opioid diversion and abuse. The Opioid Quota Reform Act of 2018 was introduced by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Ke… Continue Reading

Durbin Again Asks Consent To Pass The Dream Act

Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked unanimous consent that the Senate pass the bipartisan Dream Act. Republican leaders and President Trump have rejected multiple bipartisan offers to address the DACA crisis created by the President on September 5th, 2017. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) objected. "On September 5, 2017, President Trump announced his repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. As a result of that, hundreds of thousands of immigran… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Trump Administration's Cruel Crackdown On Children Fleeing Persecution

U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, today grilled members of the Trump Administration from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on its treatment of unaccompanied children apprehended at the U.S. border who are fleeing horrific violence in Central America, and its cruel policy of family separation at the U.S. border, which will result in a dramatic i… Continue Reading

Durbin, Booker, Harris, Lewis, Jackson Lee Statement On House Vote On "Prison Reform"

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Kamala Harris (D-CA), and U.S. Representatives John Lewis (D-GA) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) released the following statement on the FIRST STEP Act, a so-called prison reform bill that will be voted on in the House of Representatives later today: "Make no mistake: the FIRST STEP Act is not meaningful criminal justice reform, and would be a step backward from our shared goal of ending America's mass incarceration crisis. The bill faces … Continue Reading

Durbin Sounds The Alarm On DeVos-Orchestrated Takeover Of The Department Of Education By The For-Profit College Industry

Following reports that the U.S. Department of Education is unwinding the unit tasked with investigating fraud at for-profit colleges and universities, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed President Trump and Secretary Betsy DeVos for their orchestrated takeover of the Department of Education by the predatory for-profit college industry. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin blasted Secretary DeVos for dismantling the Enforcement Unit that was set-up in 2016 to prevent future fraud by… Continue Reading