Durbin Statement On Poland's Possible Entry Into Visa Waiver Program

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today on the Department of State's announcement regarding Poland's entry into the Visa Waiver Program: For years I have battled in Congress for visa waivers for our Polish visitors. I know so many Polish Americans who simply want their family and friends from Poland to have easier access to visit America. Now I hope we are finally moving forward. I look forward to receiving more information about the State Department… Continue Reading

Congressional Leaders File Bipartisan Amicus Brief In Support Of DACA In The Supreme Court

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19) today led 49 Senators and former Senators and 123 U.S. Representatives and former Representatives in filing a bipartisan amicus brief in the Supreme Court in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on DACA on November 12, 2019. President Trump terminated the DACA program on September 5, 2017, throwing the lives of nearly 800,000 Dreamers… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues Urge Trump Administration To Protect Health Coverage For People With Pre-Existing Conditions

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and 37 other Senators in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions by limiting the proliferation of "junk plans" - short-term insurance plans that can exclude coverage for essential benefits and provide no protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions. … Continue Reading

Durbin Marks The One Year Anniversary Of The Chicago HEAL Initiative With Discussion On Workforce Development In Health Care Professions

CHICAGO - As part of a third day of events to mark the one-year anniversary of the Chicago Hospital Engagement, Action, and Leadership (HEAL) Initiative, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with leaders from Advocate Christ Medical Center to discuss Advocate's Workforce Development Initiative, which provides training and education in health care professions for community members. "Our efforts under the Chicago HEAL Initiative are just the beginning, but I am optimistic about the impact we will… Continue Reading

Durbin Marks The One Year Anniversary Of The Chicago HEAL Initiative With Discussion On Career Development And Trauma-Informed Care In Schools

CHICAGO - As part of a second day of events to mark the one-year anniversary of the Chicago Hospital Engagement, Action, and Leadership (HEAL) Initiative, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), met with leaders from Northwestern Medicine, Lurie's Children Hospital, and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to discuss how the hospitals are collaborating with CPS to support career development and trauma-informed care for students "Our efforts under the Chicago HEAL Initiative are just the beginning, but I am op… Continue Reading

Durbin Marks The One Year Anniversary Of The Chicago HEAL Initiative, Releases Interim Report

CHICAGO - To mark the one year anniversary of the Chicago Hospital Engagement, Action, and Leadership (HEAL) Initiative, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), together with ten Chicago-area hospitals and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA), today released a one-year interim report on the activities undertaken by the hospitals to improve health and reduce violence in underserved communities across Chicago. Launched in October 2018 by Senator Durbin and 10 of the largest hospitals servin… Continue Reading

Durbin, Colleagues To JUUL / Altria: Protect Children Over Profits

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today sent letters to JUUL Labs' new CEO K.C. Crosthwaite and Altria CEO Howard Willard slamming the companies for their role in fueling the youth vaping epidemic and probing the recent corporate marriage of JUUL-the most popular e-cigarette product among children-with Altri… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Sterigenics Closing Willowbrook Facility

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after Willowbrook, Illinois-based Sterigenics, Inc. announced it would close its facility: "This is welcome news for Willowbrook residents, but we remain troubled that the Trump EPA was content remaining on the sidelines instead of taking action on this public health crisis. The agency's lack of urgency to use its authority to issue updated federal emission standards for ethylene oxid… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Celebrate Senate Passage Of Bipartisan Hispanic Heritage Month Resolution

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) continued the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month by co-sponsoring a bipartisan Senate resolution recognizing September 15 through October 15, 2019, as a month to celebrate and honor Hispanic culture in the United States. Led by Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and co-sponsored by 42 other Senators, the resolution was adopted unanimously by the Senate last week. "I'm proud to stand alongside my Senate colleagues to celebrat… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Democratic Colleagues File Paperwork To Force Senate Vote To Reserve Harmful Trump Administration Rule That Rolls Back Pre-Existing Condition Protections

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senate Democrats, led by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), in filing paperwork that will force a Senate vote to protect people with pre-existing conditions from yet another attempt by the Trump Administration to gut the Affordable Care Act. Senate Democrats filed a discharge petition on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would roll back President Trump's 1332 waiver rule-a rule which would sabotage Americans… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces Summer 2019 Recipient Of The Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced Elizabeth Flores, a college senior from Chicago, was the recipient of the Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program for summer 2019. This scholarship, open to students from Illinois or those studying in Illinois, is an opportunity for the students to receive financial assistance while obtaining a first-hand experience in Senator Durbin's Washington, D.C. office. The program was created in honor of Durbin's former Chief of Staff who passed away… Continue Reading

Chicago, Illinois Student Interns In Durbin's Washington, DC Office

WASHINGTON - Chicago, Illinois, native Rasa Kerelis spent this summer interning for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), working behind the scenes in the Senator's Capitol Hill office as an intern. Each year, close to 50 interns work in Durbin's Washington, D.C. office. "I started my career on Capitol Hill as a college intern for Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois," Durbin said. "I will never forget that day in February of 1966 when he agreed to hire me as an intern to work in his office. As a stud… Continue Reading

Springfield, Illinois Student Interns In Durbin's Washington, DC Office

WASHINGTON - Springfield, Illinois, native Mackenzi Matthews spent this summer interning for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), working behind the scenes in the Senator's Capitol Hill office as an intern. Each year, close to 50 interns work in Durbin's Washington, D.C. office. "I started my career on Capitol Hill as a college intern for Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois," Durbin said. "I will never forget that day in February of 1966 when he agreed to hire me as an intern to work in his office. As… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On President Trump's Latest Assault On Refugees

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced it will aim to admit only 18,000 refugees to the U.S. in the coming year and issued an executive order purporting to allow state and local governments to block refugees from being resettled in their communities: "In the midst of the worst refugee crisis in history, the Trump Administration ha… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On President Trump's Latest Assault On Refugees

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced it will aim to admit only 18,000 refugees to the U.S. in the coming year and issued an executive order purporting to allow state and local governments to block refugees from being resettled in their communities: "In the midst of the worst refugee crisis in history, the Trump Administration ha… Continue Reading

Durbin: Appropriations Bills Provide Critical Funding For Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced Illinois priorities included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 funding bills for Interior and Environment; State and Foreign Operations; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Homeland Security; and the Legislative Branch. The bills passed the Senate Appropriations Committee today and will now be sent to the Senate floor for final consideration. "I am proud to secure federal funding for Illinoi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Lee Lead Congressional Effort To Overturn Devos Borrower Defense Rule

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Susie Lee (D-NV-03) today led the introduction of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval on Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' rewritten borrower defense rule that gutted essential protections for student borrowers and taxpayers. CRA resolutions of disapproval allow Congress to overturn regulatory actions of federal agencies with a simple majority vote in both chambers. A time for consideration… Continue Reading

Durbin, Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Brown, Reed, & Merkley Once Again Urge Pharmacies to Stop Selling Tobacco Products Amid Vaping Epidemic

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today sent letters to Walgreens, Rite Aid, Dollar General, and Walmart urging them to stop selling all tobacco products, given their detriment to the public health. Earlier this year, the Senators wrote to these pharmacies to urge each company to end tobacco sales. After the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an impending e… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Senate Passage Of Continuing Resolution

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on Senate passage of the Continuing Resolution (CR), which will fund the federal government through November 21, 2019: "The CR that the Senate passed today is essential to avoiding another devastating government shutdown. Now it is time for Senators on both sides of the aisle to put the appropriations process back on track. We owe it to the American taxp… Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassley Introduce Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform Bill

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the lead sponsors of the landmark First Step Act, today introduced the bipartisan Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2019, which would end the unjust practice of judges increasing sentences based on conduct for which a defendant has been acquitted by a jury. "Under our Constitution, defendants can only be convicted of a crime if a jury of their peers finds they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However… Continue Reading