Durbin, Colleagues Urge USDA, OMB to Boost Public Food and Agriculture Research Funding in Fiscal Year 2025

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today led 13 of his colleagues in sending a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack and Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young urging the agency leaders to increase the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) research budget by at least five percent, plus inflation, for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25).  In their letter, the Senators emphasized the importance of … Continue Reading

Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Ensuring Accountability for Corporate Criminals

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 “Cleaning Up the C-Suite: Ensuring Accountability for Corporate Criminals.”  The hearing follows yesterday’s reintroduction of the Corporate Crime Database Act, which would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to collect, aggregate, analyze, and publish comprehensive data on federal corporate criminal en… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Reintroduce Bill to Bring Fairness to FEMA Disaster Declaration Process

WASHINGTON – Following a continuous stretch of severe weather events in Illinois, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today reintroduced theFairness in Federal Disaster Declarations Act.  The bill would reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster declaration process to make it more transparent and equitable to small and rural communities in larger states like Illinois.  Due to FEMA’s disaster declaration process, states like I… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's Address to the United States Senate

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, today released the following statement after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the United States Senate: “I’m angry that we would consider walking away from Ukraine in this moment in history.  For almost two years, they have fought off one of the most powerful militaries in the world—and given their lives to do it.  And we said that we will stand by their side.  Now, some members of … Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Colleagues to Pass NDAA & National Security Supplemental Request

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, today urged his colleagues to swiftly pass the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference report.  In his remarks on the Senate floor, Durbin emphasized that the package includes critical funding fornational defense, pay raises for service members, and provisions centered on strengthening security partnerships with U.S. al… Continue Reading

Durbin, Blumenthal, Scanlon Reintroduce Corporate Crime Database Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-05) today reintroduced the Corporate Crime Database Act, bicameral legislation that would requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to collect, aggregate, analyze, and publish comprehensive data on federal corporate criminal enforcement actions.  Today’s bill introduction comes ahead of a full Senate Judiciary Co… Continue Reading

Durbin Highlights Recent CODEL to Guatemala, And Honduras, Amid Guatemalan Attorney General's Attempt to Nullify Fair Election

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke on the Senate floor highlighting his recent trip to Guatemala and Honduras with U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and a bicameral group of Senators and Congresswomen where they met with elected officials, the private sector, and civil society leaders.  While in Guatemala, the country’s Attorney General attempted to nullify the results of the country’s recent free and fair elections—prompting strong condemnation from the delegation before natio… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Budzinski Urge ATSDR to Conduct Public Health Assessment on Impact of Decades of Flooding in Cahokia Heights

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), co-founder of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) today sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) urging the agency to conduct a public health assessment on the impact of decades of flooding in Cahokia Heights, Illinois.  “We write to request that the Agency for Toxic Su… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Budzinski Urge ATSDR to Conduct Public Health Assessment on Impact of Decades of Flooding in Cahokia Heights

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), co-founder of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) today sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) urging the agency to conduct a public health assessment on the impact of decades of flooding in Cahokia Heights, Illinois.  “We write to request that the Agency for Toxic Su… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges the Senate to Bring His Credit Card Competition Act to the Floor for a Vote

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged the Senate to bring his Credit Card Competition Act, bipartisan legislation he introduced with U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), to the Senate floor for a vote.  The bill would enhance competition and choice in the credit card network market, which is currently dominated by the Visa-Mastercard duopoly.  During his speech, Durbin applauded key un… Continue Reading

Durbin, Van Hollen, Kaine, Schatz & Colleagues Announce Amendment Requiring That Use of U.S. Supplemental Aid Comply with U.S., International Law

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), as well as Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tom Carper (D-DE), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Ed Markey (D-MA) in announcing that they are working on an amendment to require that the weapons received by any country under the proposed national se… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Kaine in Bicameral Congressional Delegation Visits to Guatemala and Honduras to Discuss Democracy, Stability, Migration, Economic Growth, and Security

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) will join U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, who serves as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, on a congressional delegation visiting Guatemala and Honduras to meet with elected officials, the private sector, and civil society leaders.  Durbin and Kaine will be joined by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Laphonza Butler (D-CA) and U.S. Representatives Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03) and No… Continue Reading

Senate Judiciary Committee Votes to Advance Three Judicial Nominees

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee advanced three judicial nominations to the full Senate, continuing the Committee’s work filling judicial and executive vacancies with highly qualified, diverse candidates who help ensure the fair and impartial administration of the American justice system. “I would like to thank Senators Lankford and Mullin and the White House for their bipartisan commitment to filling these two district court vacancies in Oklahoma. Their willingness to wo… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Call on Biden Administration to Increase Funding for Programs Addressing Root Causes of Gun Violence in FY25 Budget

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today sent a letter to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young urging the agency leader to increase funding for a variety of programs that have been shown to prevent gun violence, including housing and economic development, job opportunities, education, public health, and community policing.  In their letter, the Senators underscored the unacceptable level of gun vio… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Funding for 12 Rail Corridors in Illinois

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration has selected 12 rail corridors in Illinois to each receive $500,000 for expansions and renovations through the new Corridor Identification and Development (CID) Program, which was established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. “Rail corridors serve as vital lifelines, weaving through the very hear… Continue Reading

Durbin Issues Statement Following FDA, White House Delay in Implementation of Menthol Cigarette Rule

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement expressing his frustration that the White House has announced the delay of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation to prohibit the production and retail sale of menthol cigarettes until spring 2024: “With each additional day that menthol cigarettes remain on the market, Big Tobacco profits off the addiction and suffering in America.  For too long, communities of color have been aggressively … Continue Reading

Durbin, Graham Statement on First-Of-Its-Kind War Crimes Charges by DOJ Related to Russian Invasion of Ukraine

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the Department of Justice (DOJ) announcing first-of-its-kind war crimes charges against four Russian men in connection to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:  “Today’s announcement by the Justice Department is a welcome step. The four Russian military personnel charged allegedly interrogated, tortured, … Continue Reading

Durbin Statement on Failed Vote on the Emergency Supplemental to Provide Aid to Israel and Ukraine

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, today released the following statement after Senate Republicans voted against President Biden’s national security supplemental funding request, which includes emergency funds for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and humanitarian crises: “The scale and viciousness of the Hamas terrorist attack against the Israeli people are reprehensible, and today, along with my Democratic colleagues, I voted to … Continue Reading

Durbin Meets with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry and Ambassador Zahran to Discuss Conflict in Gaza and Reopening of Its Hospitals

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Ambassador Motaz Zahran to discuss avenues to reopen key Gaza hospitals under the supervision of a credible, neutral third party in order to help innocent civilians caught in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.  They also discussed ways to govern and rebuild Gaza.  Last week, Durbin spoke by phone with United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss his proposal to reop… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Devastating Impacts of House Republicans' Proposed Cuts to ATF Funding with Director Dettelbach

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, met with Steve Dettelbach, Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), to discuss Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations and their impact on ATF’s overall mission and priorities, including implementation of theBipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). “Director Dettelbach and the public servants at ATF are working … Continue Reading