Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Education
Durbin Announces Nearly $1 Million in Recovery Act Funding for New Carbon Sequestration Training Center at U of I
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the University of Illinois was the recipient of $994,991 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for the development of a carbon sequestration training center in Champaign, Illinois. The center will be run by the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium and will facilitate the understanding of technologies required for site development, operations, and monitoring of commercial carbon capture … Continue Reading
08.20.09
Former Rockford Mayor John McNamara Named to Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that John McNamara, former Rockford Mayor and Vice President for College Development at Rockford College, has been named to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. The committee is an independent and bipartisan source of advice and counsel on student financial aid policy for both Congress and the U.S. Secretary of Education. "John's long history of public service and current position as a… Continue Reading
08.13.09
Employees with Disabilities--An Untapped Resource
Prepared for delivery by Senator Richard Durbin I want to thank Dr. Richard Wilson for that generous introduction and for his outstanding leadership as president of this great institution. Illinois Wesleyan University is one of the real jewels of our state. Thanks to the university for hosting us today and to Carl Teichman for inviting me to join you. I also want to acknowledge my friend Mike Matejka with the Great Plains Laborers District Council, his wife, Kari Sandhaas and … Continue Reading
08.04.09
Durbin: Senate Approves Nearly $8.5 Million for Illinois Agriculture Projects
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today said that the Senate has approved $8,478,000 for Illinois projects with the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development and FDA includes funding for the following Illinois projects and programs: • Biotechnology Research Development Corporation (BRDC), Peoria. $3,500,000 in funding to facilitate the devel… Continue Reading
07.31.09
Durbin Announces Senate Committee Approval of $7 Million for Campus Safety
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $7 million in funding for colleges and universities to support their emergency management and campus safety efforts. The money will be used for a program passed into law last year and based on Durbin's legislation, the Campus Law Enforcement Emergency Response Act, which will help ensure that all colleges and universities develop emergency response procedures and c… Continue Reading
07.30.09
Durbin: Senate Committee Approves $5.2 Million in Health and Education Projects for Illinois
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which he is a member, has approved $5.2 million in federal funding for health and education projects in Illinois. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 appropriations bill for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations includes funding for the following projects: • Alivio Medical Center, Cicero: $500,000 in funding for a … Continue Reading
07.30.09
Durbin Extends Impact Aid Funding Formula for Schools Serving the Great Lakes Naval Base
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Impact Aid Coalition, today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a Durbin authored amendment that will extend the practice of allowing the five public schools serving the Great Lakes Naval Training Base to pool their students to maximize federal education assistance through the Impact Aid program. This amendment - added to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Labor, Health and Human Services and Educat… Continue Reading
07.23.09
Durbin Introduces Legislation to Ease Nationwide Nursing Shortage
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation to ease our nation's nursing shortage which is expected to exceed one million by 2020. The Nurse Training and Retention Act would build on the current healthcare workforce by creating incentives for healthcare worker to become nurses and for current nurses to become nurse faculty. "Everyone depends on nurses for quality patient care, yet the healthcare system in America lacks an adequate suppl… Continue Reading
07.09.09
Durbin Introduces Bill to Promote Economic Opportunities for Women, Address Global Poverty
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced bipartisan legislation today that will promote economic and educational opportunities for women in developing countries. The Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive or GROWTH Act will support a variety of programs designed to improve the economic standing of women. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is the bill's lead cosponsor. "There is a critical link between improving the lives of women an… Continue Reading
07.09.09
Durbin: Senate Appropriations Committee Approves More Than $11 Million for Illinois Projects
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today said that the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Durbin is a member, has approved $111,037,000 for energy- and water-related projects in Illinois. The Fiscal Year 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bill includes funding for the following projects: Army Corps of Engineers: • Carlyle Lake, Carlyle. $5,171,000 in funding for operations and maintenance at Carlyle Lake, the largest man-made lake in Illinois, with over … Continue Reading
07.09.09
Durbin: Senate Appropriations Committee Approves $3.3 Million for Illinois Projects
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today said that the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Durbin is a member, has approved $3,300,000 for projects in Illinois. The Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill includes funding for the following projects: • Haymarket Center, Chicago. $700,000 to allow the Haymarket Center to develop and implement a workforce development initiative. This project will provide transitional employme… Continue Reading
06.25.09
Durbin: Senate Committee Approves $3.45 Million for Illinois Projects
[Washington, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $3.45 million for projects in the state of Illinois in the Commerce, Justice and Science spending bill. The Fiscal Year 2010 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill includes funding for the following projects in Illinois: Department of Justice • Ceasefire at the University of Illinois, Chicago. $500,000 in funding for the Chicago Project for Violence… Continue Reading
05.21.09
Durbin Introduces Bill to Boost College Enrollment for Low-Income Students
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and Congressmen Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Vern Ehlers (R-MI) introduced bipartisan legislation today to help improve college access for low-income students. The Pathways to College Act would create a competitive grant program to help low-income school districts implement programs designed to increase the number of students who are entering and succeeding in college. "When schools focus on college … Continue Reading
05.14.09
Durbin Commends Inclusion of Study Abroad in House Foreign Relations Act
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today made the following statement the announcement that the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Act was included in wide-ranging legislation in the House of Representatives to improve and support U.S. foreign policy efforts. The House Foreign Relations Authorization Act - introduced by Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - would establish the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation as a new executive… Continue Reading
05.07.09
Durbin On President Obama's Budget
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the budget President Obama delivered to Congress today restores responsibility and makes critical investments in the future of the country. The President's budget will cut taxes for 4.8 million families across the state; give $1.2 billion for Illinois schools, students and teachers; and direct $4.5 billion to help families pay for college. "We've inherited a mess - the result of mistaken policies, misplaced … Continue Reading
04.20.09
Durbin Announces Illinois Approved for $1.4 Billion in Recovery Act Education Funding
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that $1.4 billion in Recovery Act funding is now available for Illinois to use to fill shortfalls in the state's education budget and to improve educational outcomes for Illinois students. "Investing in our children's future is an investment in our nation's future," said Durbin. "At a time when states face difficult choices about filling increasing budget gaps, today's funding will increase access to edu… Continue Reading
04.15.09
Durbin Announces More Than $650,000 in Recovery Act Funding for Impact Aid in Illinois
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $654,425 in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the repair and modernization of two Illinois school districts. Today's funding is part of an announcement by the Department of Education making $39.6 million in Impact Aid Construction grants available nationwide for communities with military bases, Indian reservations and other federal property that do not generate local tax revenues… Continue Reading
04.01.09
Durbin Announces Over $1.8 Billion in Recovery Act Funding Now Available for Illinois Schools
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that $1,871,685,355 in Recovery Act funding is now available for states and schools to lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save hundreds of teaching jobs around Illinois. "Investing in our children's future is an investment in our nation's future," said Durbin. "At a time when states face difficult choices about filling increasing budget gaps, today's funding will increase ac… Continue Reading
03.26.09
Durbin Introduces Bipartisan DREAM Act to Help Students Earn a Path to Legal Residency
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) today introduced the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act - a narrowly tailored, bipartisan measure which would permit undocumented students to become permanent residents if they came here as children, are long-term U.S. residents, have good moral character, and attend college or enlist in the military for at least two years. "Our immigration laws prevent thousand… Continue Reading
03.13.09
Durbin Announces $2 Million for Statewide Teacher Training Initiative
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said today that the omnibus appropriations bill signed into law by President Obama this week includes at least $2 million for the Teaching with Primary Sources program in Illinois. Durbin said the $2 million will come from the Library of Congress for continuation of teacher training initiatives in Illinois. Teaching with Primary Sources is a teacher training initiative that instructs educator… Continue Reading