Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues Press Trump Administration for Information on Distribution of Critical Medical Supplies
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and the entire Senate Democratic Caucus, today raised serious concerns about the Trump Administration's reliance on private companies to distribute desperately needed medical supplies during the Coronavirus pandemic. Although the President has declared a national emergency and mobilized the Federal Emergency Management Agenc… Continue Reading
04.09.20
Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Response With Protect Our Care Illinois Chapter
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today discussed the response to the COVID-19 pandemic with the Protect Our Care Illinois Chapter, a leading statewide group of Affordable Care Act (ACA), consumer, and health care advocates. Durbin spoke about the provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that have helped increase health care access and coverage and protect frontline health care workers fighting the pandemic in Illinois. Durbin also discussed what … Continue Reading
04.09.20
Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues Urge Admin to Increase Access to Doctors in Rural and Other Medically Underserved Areas
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and colleagues in both the House and the Senate, wrote a bipartisan, bicameral letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) urging the Administration to resume premium processing for physicians seeking employment-based visas. Doctors on these visas increase access to health care, especially rural areas, through the Conrad 30 program, which allows foreign medical schoo… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Durbin, Peters, Colleagues Urge Trump Administration to Ensure Transit Workers Receive Essential Protective Equipment
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Gary Peters (MI), along with 19 of their Senate colleagues, today urged the Trump Administration to ensure that transit agencies can acquire personal protective equipment for their frontline workers. In a letter to Acting Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) K. Jane Williams, the Senators cited the story of Detroit bus driver Jason Hargrove, who passed away from Coronavirus after he expressed his concern about the disease an… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Durbin, Duckworth Discuss COVID-19 Response with Chicago Mayor Lightfoot
SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) spoke with Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot about Chicago's COVID-19 pandemic response and how they can continue to assist her efforts to protect Illinoisans. Durbin and Duckworth discussed strategies to support minority and women owned businesses, protecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, protecting frontline transit workers and investing in infrastructure to help get people back to work,… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Durbin, Warren, Colleagues Urge Education Department to Protect CARES Act Funds from Predatory For-Profit College Industry
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), sent a letter to the Department of Education requesting clarification on whether it will allow for-profit colleges to be eligible for funding in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which establishes the $14 billion Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to aid students and stabilize colleges and universities impacted by the CO… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Durbin, Duckworth Call for Expanding Coronavirus Testing Capability by Providing Flexibility to Testing Laboratories
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), today called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide additional regulatory flexibility to hospitals and private laboratories to enable scaled-up testing capacity for the novel coronavirus. Even as rapid testing is becoming available, hospitals are still facing delays in obtaining patient results and comme… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Durbin to SBA & Treasury: Prioritize Financial Needs of Small Businesses in Underserved & Rural Communities
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged the Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Department of Treasury to prioritize the financial needs of small businesses in underserved and rural markets when processing and disbursing loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. In a letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Durbin asked the agencies to quickly issue guidance to lenders and agents that clearly outlines how lenders can best s… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Durbin, Duckworth Announce More than $52 Million in Federal Funding to Help Illinois Health Centers Respond to COVID-19
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Illinois will receive a total of $52,697,049 in federal grants to support 45 Community Health Centers (CHCs) in their COVID-19 response efforts. This funding comes from the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that both Durbin and Duckworth voted for to help increase COVID-19 screening and testing needs, acquire medical supplies and protective equipment, and boost telehe… Continue Reading
04.08.20
Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues to HHS: Reopen the ACA Marketplace, Allow More Americans to Get Health Insurance During COVID-19 Pandemic
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and 24 Senate Democrats to urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reopen the Affordable Care Act's online marketplace to allow more un- and under-insured Americans to get health insurance as they face potential health issues related to COVID-19. In a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, the Senators urged HHS to allow Americans to enroll through… Continue Reading
04.07.20
Durbin, Duckworth, Democratic Colleagues Press Trump Administration on Unemployment Insurance Benefits
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and 33 Democratic colleagues today in pressing the Trump Administration to take additional action to ensure workers receive unemployment insurance benefits as quickly as possible. The Senators outlined a number of actions the Administration should take to help states disburse supercharged unemployment insurance: provide technological support, assist states in meeting … Continue Reading
04.07.20
Durbin Statement on GAO Report Underscoring Need to Address Maternal Mortality Crisis
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on maternal mortality, which describes how maternal deaths are tracked, trends and disparities in mortality data, and how federal funding is being used to reduce pregnancy-related deaths. Durbin, along with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and 10 other Senate Democrats, requested the report in 2018 to determine how effectively federal investments… Continue Reading
04.07.20
Durbin to Illinois Hospitals: CARES Act Program Can Provide Immediate Financial Relief
SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) urged Illinois hospitals to take advantage of a Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act program that can provide financial support immediately during the COVID-19 pandemic, following millions of dollars in successful funding requests for both urban and rural hospitals in Illinois. The Medicare accelerated payment program, included in the CARES Act, allows qualifying hospitals-including acute care hospitals, children's hospit… Continue Reading
04.07.20
Durbin, Democratic Colleagues Urge Student Loan Companies to Immediately Provide Relief to Private Student Loan Borrowers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in leading nine of their Democratic colleagues in sending a series of letters to student loan companies asking how they are taking steps to aid private student loan borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In their letters to Wells Fargo, SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae), Navient, Citizens Financial Group, Discover Financial Services, the PNC Financial Services Group, Truist Financial Co… Continue Reading
04.07.20
Durbin, Duckworth Announce Additional $8 Million in Federal Funding to Support COVID-19 Response in Illinois
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $6.3 million to the State of Illinois and $1.7 million to the City of Chicago to support COVID-19 response. This is in addition to funding previously provided by the CDC, for a total of $23.7 million for Illinois and $12.2 million for Chicago. "Our state and local public health departments are at the forefront of this crisis and this fede… Continue Reading
04.06.20
Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Response With Chief of National Guard
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, today discussed the COVID-19 pandemic response with General Joseph Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard Bureau. Durbin received an update about National Guard operations in Illinois, where hundreds of troops are assisting state and local authorities in response to the crisis. Durbin also pressed on the need to provide full benefits to all members of the Guard who are activated. If a… Continue Reading
04.06.20
Durbin, Brown to Financial Regulators: Protect Consumers from Predatory Lending Practices During COVID-19 Pandemic
WASHINGTON - Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today pressed the nation's top financial regulators to issue guidance and lending principles that include a heightened emphasis on protecting our nation's ailing small businesses and consumers from predatory lending practices. In a letter to Jerome Powell, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Kathleen Kraninger, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Jelena… Continue Reading
04.04.20
Durbin, Duckworth Announce More than $1.6 Billion in COVID-19 Relief Bill Funding for Illinois Transit
SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded the State of Illinois a total of $1,623,200,130 in federal transit formula funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The funding will allow Illinois's transit agencies to continue operations during the COVID-19 response ensuring transportation access to jobs, medical treatment, food, and other essential service… Continue Reading
04.03.20
Durbin Joins AJC to Speak out Against Chinese & Asian American Discrimination During COVID-19 Pandemic
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined AJC Chicago and AJC's Asia Pacific Institute for a virtual panel discussion entitled, "Declaration of Support for the Illinois Chinese-American Community," to speak out against Chinese and Asian-American discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion, which was in partnership with United Chinese Americans (UCA) and Coalition for a Better Chinese-American Community … Continue Reading
04.03.20
Durbin, Warren, Brown, Blumenthal Urge Departments of Education & Defense to Protect Student Borrowers From Predatory For-Profit Schools
SPRINGFIELD - In the wake of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) decision to suspend new G.I. Bill enrollments at several institutions of higher education - including for-profit University of Phoenix and schools owned by Career Education Corporation - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today sent letters to the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Defense urging each Department to take action to prot… Continue Reading