Durbin, Duckworth Call For Impartial Investigation Into Potential Quid Pro Quo Between Chairman Ajit Pai, Trump Administration, And Sinclair Broadcasting

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined 12 of their Senate colleagues to request the inspector general of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) open and investigation into the objectivity and impartiality of the FCC's review of the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcasting and Tribune Media. "We have strong concerns that the FCC's ongoing review of the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcasting and Tribune Media may be gained by a series of actio… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges Trump's Task Force On Apprenticeship Expansion To Prioritize Opportunities For At-Risk Youth

WASHINGTON - During National Apprenticeship Week, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed President Trump's Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion to identify programs and policies that will help ensure our nation's most at-risk youth have access to pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship opportunities. In a letter to Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, Chair of the President's Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, Durbin urged him to prioritize identifying strategies to incre… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On New GOP Tax Plan That Strips Health Care From 13 Million Americans

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on the latest version of the Senate Republican tax plan, which now repeals the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will strip health insurance from 13 million Americans: Republicans now want to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy by taking health care away from 13 million Americans. Tax breaks for the wealthy, higher taxes on working Illinoisa… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Chicago Rockford International Airport Director, Discusses Continued Federal Investment

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Mike Dunn, director of the Chicago Rockford International Airport Authority to discuss continued expansion of cargo operations at Chicago Rockford International Airport, which is creating thousands of local jobs. "Northern Illinois' economic growth depends on our airports, and Chicago Rockford International Airport is no exception. Thanks to continued federal investment, the ongoing cargo expansion and upgrades at RFD are creating jo… Continue Reading

Durbin, Warren Release Report Highlighting Secretary DeVos' Failure To Cancel Student Loans Of Nearly 90,000 Defrauded Students

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today released a report - "Insult to Injury: How the DeVos Department of Education is Failing Defrauded Students" - detailing how the Department of Education (ED) and Secretary Betsy DeVos have failed tens of thousands of Americans by refusing to cancel the loans of students who were defrauded by predatory colleges. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Sens. Durbin and Warren, along with 13 of their Senate colleagues, in… Continue Reading

Durbin: GOP Tax Plan Will Increase Taxes For Middle-Income Americans & Create $1.5 Trillion Deficit Hole

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today blasted Senate Republicans for ramming through their partisan tax plan, which would hurt working families in Illinois and across the country. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin explained that at the heart of the Republican playbook for how to bankroll massive tax cuts for the wealthy few and the largest corporations is the elimination of three vital tax breaks for working families in this country. The House Republican plan,… Continue Reading

Durbin Warns Against FCC Efforts To Rollback Media Ownership Rules

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke out against the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) efforts to rollback media ownership rules that prevent one company from owning or controlling multiple broadcast stations within a single local media market. Ownership limits were originally created to prevent large companies from having excessive influence in local media markets by protecting local broadcast stations from being controlled by major national networks. If these pr… Continue Reading

Durbin Introduces Legislation To Make The VA Smoke-Free

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Patty Murray (D-WA), announced legislation to prohibit smoking at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The legislation would repeal an antiquated 1992 law that requires the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to furnish and maintain designated indoor or outdoor smoking areas. Supported by the Department of Veterans Affair… Continue Reading

Durbin: GOP Tax Plans Benefit the Wealthy on Backs of Middle-Income Families

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today highlighted how the tax proposals introduced by Republicans in the House and Senate would eliminate numerous deductions and tax benefits used by middle-income families to reduce their tax bills. Along with eliminating the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which is used by roughly 1/3 of Illinoisans, Republicans in Congress are also proposing to eliminate deductions for medical expenses and student loan interest - all to give massive cuts to the… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Confirmation Of John Lausch For U.S. Attorney For The Northern District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after the Senate confirmed the nomination of John R. Lausch to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. "With all the partisanship and division in Washington, it's critical that Chicago's U.S. Attorney be a non-partisan professional-I believe Mr. Lausch is the right person for the job. Senator Duckworth and I were glad to work with the White House on Mr. Lausch's nomination and I'm pl… Continue Reading

Durbin, Senators Reintroduce Military And Veterans Education Protection Act With Groundbreaking Support From Veterans Service Organizations

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senators Tom Carper (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Jon Tester (D-MT) today to reintroduce the Military and Veterans Education Protection Act, legislation that would close a loophole that allows for-profit schools to avoid having to secure at least 10 percent of their revenue from non-federal sources. "This bill is one of many commonsense reforms we need to bring greater accountability to a for-profit industry that en… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Zenith Education Campus Closures

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after learning that Education Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) Group's Zenith Education will close all but three of the remaining campuses of the collapsed for-profit chain, Corinthian Colleges. In 2015, ECMC Group spent $24 million for 56 Everest and WyoTech campuses and online programs - which accounted for 40,000 students - that were on the verge of immediate closure by the predatory Corinthian Colleges. … Continue Reading

Lawmakers Call For Reversal Of Administration Decision To Expose Thousands To Dangerous Deportations

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), ranking member of the Immigration Subcommittee, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) today led a letter from 58 members of the Senate and House, calling on the Trump Administration to reverse its recent decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Nicaragua and Sudan, which will remove their legal protection, tear families apart, and expose them to potential deportatio… Continue Reading

Durbin, Schatz, Degette Reintroduce Legislation To Raise Smoking Age To 21

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO-01) reintroduced the Tobacco to 21 Act, bicameral legislation that would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. Five states, the District of Columbia, and more than 200 localities in an additional 13 states have raised the minimum tobacco age of sale to 21 - including Chicago, Lake County, and ten other localities in Illinois. Studies have shown that three-… Continue Reading

Durbin Marks Critical Win In Fight For Increased Medical Research Funding In Defense Authorization

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), vice chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement on the National Defense Authorization Act conference report, which removed four provisions which posed a direct threat to the Pentagon's Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program: There comes a point in your life where you get a diagnosis-or news about someone you love-and all you can do is hope and pray that someone, somewhere has done im… Continue Reading

Durbin: GOP Must Stand Up To Gun Sales Lobby & Act To Prevent The Next Slaughter

WASHINGTON-Following the tragic mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, that killed at least 26 people and injured 20 more, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called on his congressional Republican colleagues to work with Democrats on a bipartisan basis to reduce gun violence. The only vote the U.S. Senate has held this year on guns has been to overturn a regulation to keep guns out of the hands of individuals with mental illness. "It is so sad that when… Continue Reading

Durbin: GOP Tax Plan Leaves Illinois Middle Income Families Behind

CRYSTAL LAKE - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined local stakeholders to discuss how the House Republicans' new tax plan would hit Illinois families especially hard, while mostly benefitting corporations and the wealthy. The House Republican proposal reduces the top corporate tax rate while gutting the state and local tax (SALT) deduction - a move that could increase taxes on nearly one-third of all taxpayers in Illinois. The SALT deduction is used by 44 million people nationwide, inclu… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Trump's Opioid Commission Recommendations

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after President Trump's commission on the opioid crisis released a draft report of more than 50 recommendations needed to curb the opioid epidemic. The prescription opioid and heroin crisis kills nearly 100 Americans every day. "The President's Opioid Commission has provided an important roadmap-including the removal of an outdated Medicaid rule that restricts access to addiction treatment, and mandatory train… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Republican Tax Plan

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on the tax plan released this morning by House Republicans: This plan gives massive tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest individuals while middle class families are left behind. It is based on the mistaken belief that cutting taxes for the wealthiest will benefit everybody else-an assumption that has been proven false each and every time it's been tested. Eliminating state and local tax deductions… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Facebook, Twitter, & Google On Extremist Content And Russian Disinformation

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today questioned executives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google at a hearing of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism entitled "Extremist Content and Russian Disinformation Online: Working with Tech to Find Solutions". The hearing examined how entities affiliated with the Russian government used social media to spread disinformation and sow division during the 2016 U.S. election, and the use of social media to spread terrorist … Continue Reading