Durbin Announces $1 Million To Renovate Youth Services Area At Lincoln Library

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today held a news conference at the Lincoln Library to announce $1 million in Congressionally Directed Spending—also known as an earmark—that he secured to renovate the Youth Services space at the Lincoln Library’s downtown location. The funding will be used to upgrade technology infrastructure, create a single public entrance for safety, install modern shelving, acquire materials and supplies, and provide ne… Continue Reading

Durbin, Schakowsky Offer Recommendations For New Department Of Education Mentorship Grant Program

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09) today sent a bicameral letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona applauding the inclusion of a Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) appropriations bill provision that creates a mentorship grant program that mirrors Durbin and Schakowsky’s Mentoring to Succeed Act.  In their letter, the lawmakers highlighted the benefits of mentorship and offered suggestions on developing the mentorship grant … Continue Reading

Durbin, Capito, Booker Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Enhance Reentry Programs, Promote Public Safety

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2024 to reauthorize critical reentry grant programs from the Second Chance Act of 2008, which was most recently reauthorized as part of Durbin’s First Step Act in 2018. The legislation would reauthorize critical programs to reduc… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Social Security Administration Commissioner

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Martin O’Malley to discuss the agency’s service performance and budget.  During their meeting, Durbin and Commissioner O’Malley spoke about the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget request, and how the SSA’s budget has not kept pace with the increase in beneficiaries served—which can pose challenges for timely benefit processing and eligibility determinations. “Millions of I… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Senate Republicans Voting Against The Right To Contraception Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after Senate Republicans voted against the Right to Contraception Act. This bill, which Durbin is a cosponsor of, would protect the rights of patients to access and use contraception and of health care providers to provide contraception and information about contraception. It would codify the right to contraception that the Supreme Court first recognized in G… Continue Reading

Durbin, Rounds Introduce Legislation To Protect Rural Postal Processing Facilities

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) today introduced legislation that would require the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to protect mail processing centers in rural communities by mandating a study on the consequences of downsizing or closing these facilities, which is already required before the closure of a storefront post office, but not for Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs).  The Postal Processing Protection Act would ensure t… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions District Court Nominees In Latest Judiciary Committee Nominations Hearing

WASHINGTON – During today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Adam Abelson, nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Maryland; Joseph Saporito Jr., nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; and Meredith Vacca, nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of New York. Before questioning the second panel of nominees, Durbin first pra… Continue Reading

Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Latest Judiciary Committee Hearing On Four Judicial Nominations

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nominations of Embry J. Kidd, nominated to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit; Joseph Francis Saporito Jr., nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; Adam Abelson, nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Maryland; and Meredith Vacca, nominated to be U… Continue Reading

Durbin Talks High Prescription Drug Prices, Children's Online Safety With FTC Chair Lina Khan

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, met with Lina Khan, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  The two discussed their efforts to prevent Big Pharma from exploiting patent policy to inflate its profit margins at the expense of delivering affordable and accessible medications to Americans.  Pharmaceutical companies often improperly list patents the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Orange Book in an attempt to delay FDA app… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $11 Million In Federal Funding For Multiuse Cycling Trail In Energy, Illinois

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 Transportation (DOT) has awarded $11.145 million in federal funding to the Crab Orchard Greenway Multimodal Network at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge.  The grant, funded through the Fiscal Year 2023 National Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program, will go toward supporting the construction of 12 miles of a multiuse cycling trail near … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Applaud Federal Approval Of Illinois As Participant In Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Medicaid Demonstration Program

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today applauded the federal approval of Illinois as a participant in the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Medicaid Demonstration Program.  This program, created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), provides sustainable funding to reimburse through Medicaid the full cost of services that CCBHCs… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On President Biden's Southern Border Executive Action

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding President Biden’s executive action on the southern border: “Nearly four months ago, Congress had an opportunity to help secure the border with the bipartisan border bill. Instead, in a stunning reversal, my Senate Republican colleagues opposed this bipartisan agreement, refusing to address these pressing issues, completely disregarding their urgenc… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges His Colleagues to Support the Right to Contraception Act Ahead of Vote on Senate Floor

WASHINGTON – During the week marking the 59th anniversary of the landmark Griswold v. Connecticut decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that all married Americans have a constitutional right to use contraception, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged his colleagues to support the Right to Contraception Act when it comes before the Senate tomorrow. This bill, which Durbin is a cosponsor of, would protect the rights of patients to access … Continue Reading

Durbin Urges His Colleagues To Support The Right To Contraception Act Ahead Of Vote On Senate Floor

WASHINGTON – During the week marking the 59th anniversary of the landmark Griswold v. Connecticut decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that all married Americans have a constitutional right to use contraception, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged his colleagues to support the Right to Contraception Act when it comes before the Senate tomorrow. This bill, which Durbin is a cosponsor of, would protect the rights of patients to access … Continue Reading

Durbin Addresses The Supreme Court's Ethical Crisis In A Speech On The Senate Floor

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, addressed the Supreme Court’s ethical crisis and cautioned that we cannot afford further erosion of public confidence in our courts. Durbin’s speech follows Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s refusal to recuse himself from cases concerning the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection. The justice’s refusal comes in response to a letter Durbin and U.S.… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Rep. Kelly Introduce Bicameral Resolution In Observance Of National Gun Violence Awareness Month

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) in introducing a resolution to designate June 07, 2024, as “National Gun Violence Awareness Day” and June 2024 as “National Gun Violence Awareness Month.” Each year, more than 43,000 people in the United States are killed and 76,000 are injured by gun violence, depriving many of a promising future. Designating both a specific day and month to … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Senate Democrats To Call On DOJ To Immediately Launch Full Court Press Against Big Oil To Prevent And Prosecute Collusion And Price Fixing

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and 20 Democratic Senators in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter calling on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to use every tool at its disposal to prevent and prosecute collusion and price fixing in the oil industry.  The letter follows a Federal Trade Commission… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Trump Guilty Verdict By Manhattan Jury

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records: “No one is above the law—not even a former president.  Consistent with the rule of law, a jury of his peers found the former president guilty on all counts.  Today’s verdict is another reminder that Donald Trump is unfit for public service.”   30-… Continue Reading

Durbin Applauds Illinois State Legislature On Passing Budget That Contains Interchange Fee Prohibition Act

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded the Illinois state legislature’s passage of a state budget that included the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act.  This legislation, which—like Durbin’s Credit Card Competition Act—aims to curb the outrageous swipe fees on electronic transactions will prohibit credit card companies and financial institutions from charging merchants interchange fees on sales and excise taxes, as well as gratuities, added to electronic transact… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce That Illinois School Districts Will Receive $48.4 Million In Rebates For EPA Clean School Bus Program

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that 28 Illinois school districts will receive significant rebates, a combined total of more than $48 million, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2023 Clean School Bus Program (CSBP) rebate competition.  The program, a $5 billion effort established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aims to convert the nation’s school bus fleets to low- or zero-emission v… Continue Reading