Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Consumer and Financial Protection
Durbin Questions Visa And Mastercard Witnesses At Hearing On Credit And Debit Card Swipe Fees
WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "Excessive Swipe Fees and Barriers to Competition in the Credit and Debit Card Systems," U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Bill Sheedy, Senior Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Visa Inc., about a statement on a January earnings call by Visa Chief Financial Officer Visant Prabhu, that Visa benefitted from inflation. "On a January 27th earnings call, [Visa CFO Visan… Continue Reading
05.04.22
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement At Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Credit And Debit Card Interchange Fees
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "Excessive Swipe Fees and Barriers to Competition in the Credit and Debit Card Systems." This hearing will examine interchange fees and other anticompetitive practices in the credit and debit card industries, and how rising interchange fees lead to higher consumer prices for goods and services and add to in… Continue Reading
04.26.22
Durbin, Braun Introduce Legislation To Improve Safety And Ensure Transparency Of Dietary Supplement Industry
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) introduced the Dietary Supplement Listing Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation to require dietary supplement manufacturers to list their products with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In 1994, Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), which provided FDA with authorities to regulate dietary supplements. However, DSHEA did not require dietary supplement companies to r… Continue Reading
04.26.22
Durbin: Americans Should Know What Is In Dietary Supplements
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke on the Senate floor to highlight the Dietary Supplement Listing Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation he will introduce this week with Senator Mike Braun (R-IN). The legislation will require dietary supplement manufacturers to list their products with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as provide basic, common-sense information about ingredients and labels. This information would then be made available to the public. … Continue Reading
04.15.22
Durbin, Marshall, Welch, Van Duyne Urge Visa And Mastercard To Call Off Planned Swipe Fee Increases On Vulnerable American Families And Businesses
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), and U.S. Representatives Peter Welch (D-VT) and Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) today sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter to the CEOs of Visa and Mastercard urging the companies not to proceed with plans to raise their interchange fee rates. In 2021, according to the Nilson Report, Visa and Mastercard charged merchants a total of $77.48 billion in credit card f… Continue Reading
04.05.22
Durbin Urges New FDA Commissioner To Finally Complete E-Cigarette Review
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke by phone with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf about the agency's delay in comprehensively regulating the e-cigarette marketplace to protect public health. During today's call, Durbin urged new Commissioner Califf to finally conclude FDA's review of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for e-cigarette products, now seven months past the court-ordered deadline for the review. While FDA… Continue Reading
03.15.22
Durbin Calls Out FDA On Senate Floor For Six Month Delay In Regulating E-Cigarettes
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today blasted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failing to meet a court deadline to complete its public health review of e-cigarette premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs). The deadline for FDA to finish reviewing e-cigarette applications was September 9, 2021, more than six months ago. While the FDA neglects its responsibility under the law and court order to regulate e-cigarettes, to… Continue Reading
03.09.22
Durbin, Senators To FDA Commissioner: Agency Is Six Months Past Court-Ordered Deadline To Regulate E-Cigarettes
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today led a bipartisan letter with Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and 13 other Senators to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf urging the FDA to end its delays in reviewing premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for the e-cigarette products that have fueled the youth vaping epidemic. In the letter, the Senators reiterated that the deadline for FDA's review was six months ago as mandated by a U.S. District Cou… Continue Reading
03.09.22
Durbin Statement On Omnibus Provision To Close E-Cigarette Loophole, Regulate Synthetic Nicotine
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today issued the following statement after he led a bipartisan Senate effort to successfully secure a provision in the fiscal year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Bill that will clarify the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) ability to regulate products containing synthetic nicotine as tobacco products. This legislative fix was necessary to close legal loopholes that manufacturers of kid-friendly, flavored e-cigarettes sought to sidestep … Continue Reading
12.09.21
Durbin To Acting FDA Commissioner: Agency Is Three Months Past Court-Ordered Deadline To Regulate E-Cigarettes
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock urging the FDA to complete its review of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for the millions of e-cigarette products that have fueled the youth vaping epidemic. In the letter, Durbin reiterated that the deadline for FDA's review was three months ago as mandated by a U.S. District Court Judge for Maryland. E-cigarette manufactur… Continue Reading
12.09.21
Durbin Meets With President Biden's Nominee To Lead FDA, Robert Califf
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met virtually with President Biden's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Robert Califf. During their meeting, Durbin pressed Dr. Califf on his thoughts regarding FDA's overall tobacco strategy and its delays in several public health oversight policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use; Durbin's bipartisan drug pricing legislation, the Drug-price Transparency for Competition (DTC) Act; how to help terminally ill … Continue Reading
09.10.21
Durbin Presses Acting FDA Commissioner Woodcock To Finish Review Of E-Cigarette Products
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke with Acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Janet Woodcock to receive an update on yesterday's announcement that FDA has rejected millions of e-cigarette applications for failing to show a public health benefit, but would delay a final decision on whether or not e-cigarette top sellers - like JUUL - can remain on the market. Durbin pressed Woodcock for swift action on JUUL and other flavored e-cigarette produc… Continue Reading
09.09.21
Durbin Statement On FDA Review Of E-Cigarette Products
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would delay a final decision on whether or not e-cigarette top sellers - like JUUL - can remain on the market: "While I am pleased FDA has rejected all e-cigarette applications to date for failing to show a health benefit, it is unacceptable to delay evaluation of e-cigarettes most responsible for hooking children, like JUUL. FDA's years… Continue Reading
07.22.21
Durbin Meets With Baseball Safety Advocates & MLB Commissioner Manfred To Discuss Fan Safety
WASHINGTON-This week, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with a group of baseball safety advocates and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to discuss fan safety at Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) games. In separate meetings, Durbin discussed the implementation of extended protective netting at many ballparks around the country and applauded MLB for asking teams to extend netting after the 2019 season. "In 2019, it was clear something had to be done to protect… Continue Reading
07.14.21
Durbin, Senators Introduce Bill To Protect Consumers From Shady, High Cost Lending
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today introduced legislation that would cap fees and interest on consumer loans at an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 36 percent-the same limit currently in place for loans marketed to military service members and their families. Studies show that while lenders today offer easy credit, these transactions often come with high interest rates, steep… Continue Reading
05.05.21
Durbin, Reed, Doggett Introduce Bill To Stop Tax-Dodging Corporate Inversion Schemes
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Jack Reed (D-RI), along with U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-35) today announced the introduction of a bill to stop business practices known as inversions - corporate deals that allow U.S. companies to shift their corporate citizenship from the United States to a low-tax foreign jurisdiction, while keeping their executives and headquarters in the United States. This is accomplished by merging with a foreign company that can be as little … Continue Reading
03.03.21
Durbin and Welch to Visa and Mastercard: Call off Swipe Fee Increase While Small Businesses and Consumers are Hurting During Pandemic
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) today sent a letter to the CEOs of Visa and Mastercard urging the companies not to raise interchange fee rates during the pandemic. Recently, theWall Street Journal reported that Visa and Mastercard are planning for swipe fee rates increases to proceed in April 2021, after delaying them for a year as previously requested by Durbin and Welch. These fee in… Continue Reading
12.09.20
Durbin, Warren, Nadler Introduce the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2020
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), today introduced the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2020, bicameral legislation to simplify and modernize the consumer bankruptcy system to make it easier for individuals and families forced into bankruptcy to get back on their feet. "As we grapple with the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, American families will … Continue Reading
07.29.20
Durbin Discusses Bankruptcy Reform During COVID-19 Pandemic With Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined a webcast hosted by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) and National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) to speak about the need for Congress to pass bankruptcy reform in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. For years, Durbin has worked on common sense consumer bankruptcy reforms. During the call, Durbin discussed his support for several bankruptcy reforms in the House-passed HEROES Act. Durbin is the lead sponsor of two … Continue Reading
03.11.20
Durbin, Cassidy Introduce Bill To Ensure Greater Transparency For Third-Party Sellers Of Consumer Products Online
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced legislation to combat the online sale of stolen, counterfeit, and dangerous consumer products by ensuring transparency of large-volume third-party sellers in online retail marketplaces. The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM Consumers) Act would direct online retail marketplaces that include third-party sellers of consumer products to authenticate the ide… Continue Reading