Durbin Calls On Justice Department To Reconsider Its Approach To Ongoing Detention At Guantanamo Bay

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today urged Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland to ensure that the Department of Justice's (DOJ) approach to ongoing detention at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay reflects the values of our nation. In a letter to AG Garland, Durbin argued that indefinite detention is antithetical to the ideals of liberty that the United States was founded upon and called on Garland to reconsider DOJ's approach to… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Assassination Of Haitian President Moise

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement on the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse: "The criminal assassination of Haitian President Moïse will only further the country's political and security crises. I'm calling on the UN and OAS to hold emergency meetings on the situation in Haiti this week and establish a peacekeeping force to help stabilize the nation and create conditions for an overdue election. The U.S. shoul… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Build Back Better Event With President Biden

CRYSTAL LAKE - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after joining President Biden during his trip to Illinois, including an event at McHenry Community College in which the President discussed his "Build Back Better" agenda to help working families in Illinois and around the country: "President Biden's American Families Plan would make education more affordable and provide economic security to Illinois families. Universal access to high-quality Pre-… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues Call On Inter-American Commission On Human Rights To Complete Investigation Of Death Of Cuban Political Reformer Oswaldo Paya

WASHINGTON - Ahead of the ninth anniversary of Cuban political reformer Oswaldo Payá's suspicious death, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ted Cruz (R-TX), urged the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to advance its efforts on this case without further delay. In 2013, Durbin sent a letter to previous Commission Executive Secretary Emilio Icaza originally urging the C… Continue Reading

Durbin, Democrats Urge Education Department To Expand Debt Relief For Student Loan Borrowers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and 21 of their Senate colleagues in urging Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to expand student debt relief in the Department's upcoming higher education rulemaking In a letter to Secretary Cardona, the members highlighted the need for polices that improve and expand our existing student loan repayment and forgiveness programs to ensure borrowers can access the relief they are owed. Specifically, th… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Department Of Education OIG Report On Dream Center Schools

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Education Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report on the Trump Department of Education's handling of the conversion and closure of Dream Center schools. The report found that under the direction of Principal Deputy Undersecretary Diane Auer Jones, the Department of Education failed to comply with its own internal procedures in order to assist in finding a buyer for the finan… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Supreme Court Decisions In Voting Rights & Donor Disclosure Cases

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court's 6-3 decisions in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta: "Today, the conservative 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court issued two decisions: making it harder to vote in an election in one, and making it easier to hide major donors in the other. These decisions ultimately target the … Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassley Statement on Justice Department Responsiveness To Committee Members' Oversight Requests

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, released the following statement regarding a virtual meeting today between members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland about the Department of Justice's (DOJ) responsiveness to committee members' oversight requests: "Today's discussion was a step in the right direction… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On House Vote Creating January 6 Select Committee

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after the House voted to create a January 6 select committee to investigate both the security failings of the January 6 attack as well as the circumstances leading up to the insurrection: "Our Capitol Police officers-to whom we entrust our lives every day-members of the D.C. Metro Police, and the other heroes who defended the Capitol on January 6 deserve justic… Continue Reading

Durbin: Equity In Great Lakes Restoration Initiative A Key Part Of Protecting Our Lake

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined the Alliance for the Great Lakes and State Representative Kam Buckner (D-26) in Chicago to discuss efforts to prioritize historically marginalized and underserved communities in projects to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Durbin is calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take concrete steps to prioritize low-income and communities of color within the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) - an inter-agency effort… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Underwood Announce $5 Million For Plainfield's 143rd Street Extension Project

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) today announced that the Village of Plainfield has been awarded $5 million in federal funding to construct the eastern extension of 143rd Street, which will help alleviate traffic and improve safety for vehicles traveling through and within the Village. The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program. "This f… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Newman Announce $19 Million For Archer Ave Grade Separation Project

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Congresswoman Marie Newman (D-IL-03) today announced $19.13 million in federal funding for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to support the Archer Avenue and the Belt Railway of Chicago (BRC) Grade Separation Project, which will help eliminate road-rail conflicts, avoid first responder delays, and reduce traffic congestion on Chicago's Southwest Side. The funding was awarded through the U.S. Departme… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Rate Of DACA Application Processing Under Biden Administration

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead author of the Dream Act, released the following statement regarding the quarterly report on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) requests, which shows that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved only 763 initial DACA applications under the Biden Administration, with nearly 100,000 initial and renewal applications pending: "The slow rate of processing DACA app… Continue Reading

Durbin Visits Metrolink, Discusses Future Of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

ROCK ISLAND - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today visited the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District's (MetroLINK) Bus Depot to learn about their electric bus fleet and charging infrastructure and call for an increased federal investment in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. MetroLINK's electric bus expansion has been funded by nearly $10 million in federal funding, including a $2.9 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration that Durbin helped secure last year. "… Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassley, Judiciary Committee Members Press BOP For Answers On Inmate Trust Accounts

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 led a bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members on a letter to Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Michael Carvajal requesting answers to reports that BOP's inmate Trust Fund/Deposit Fund program operates with little oversight, enables federal inmates to avoid paying child support and … Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Legislation To Restore And Modernize National Labs For The 21st Century

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) to introduce the Restore and Modernize Our National Labs Act, a bill that would invest $30 billion in deferred maintenance projects and infrastructure improvements at America's National Labs. Argonne and Fermi National Laboratories, based in DuPage County and Kane County respectively, would stand to benefit from this legislation. As leaders in the artificial intelligence, quantum computing, … Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On DOJ Lawsuit Against Georgia Voting Law

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement today after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it would file a lawsuit against the state of Georgia over its new voting law: "I applaud the Department of Justice challenging the new Georgia law restricting the right to vote, particularly for communities of color. We have battled this form of discrimination for decades. It should have no place in our nation.… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Visit To El Paso, Texas, With Vice President Harris

EL PASO, TX - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after visiting the southwest border at El Paso, Texas, with Vice President Kamala Harris, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16): "I was last in El Paso two years ago. What I saw at the El Paso Del Norte Processing Center on that day has haunted me ever since. Simply put, the former… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Nearly $60 Million In Federal Funding For Illinois Rural Communities

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $59,193,800 in federal loans and grants for rural communities in Illinois. The funding, awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program, will go to ten communities in Illinois to rebuild and modernize essential services. "These loans and grants will help rural communities throughout Illinois expand economic opportunities and impro… Continue Reading

Durbin Speaks In Support Of President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke on the Senate floor to discuss President Biden's Gun Crime Prevention Strategy. Durbin shared his support for the President's initiative and discussed the deadly toll gun violence has had in Chicago, Illinois. Durbin also called on the Senate to pass background check legislation to prevent guns from ending up in the hands of criminals and mentally unstable people and to confirm David C… Continue Reading