Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Justice and Civil Rights
Durbin Discusses Justice Department Priorities with Lisa Monaco and Vanita Gupta, Biden Nominees for Deputy and Associate Attorneys General
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), incoming Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, met with Lisa Monaco and Vanita Gupta, President Joe Biden's nominees for Deputy and Associate Attorneys General. During their Zoom calls, Durbin, Monaco, and Gupta discussed the importance of working closely together on Department of Justice (DOJ) priorities, including reinvigorating DOJ's protection of Americans' civil rights and voting rights, criminal justice reform and implementing the First … Continue Reading
January 26, 2021
Durbin Statement on President Biden's Executive Orders on Racial Equity and Prison Reform
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), incoming Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after President Joe Biden issued memoranda on racial equity and an executive order that will partially eliminate federal use of private prisons: "Today's actions by President Biden reaffirm the federal government's role in combatting systemic racial disparities and discrimination, including the reform of incarceration policies that have disproportionately … Continue Reading
January 26, 2021
Durbin to Judiciary Committee Republicans: Holding Second Hearing for DHS Nominee Mayorkas Would Create Needless Delay, Break Precedent
WASHINGTON - Following a letter from Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee requesting a hearing in the Committee for Alejandro Mayorkas's nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), incoming Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today sent a response rejecting their request. In his letter, Durbin wrote that a second hearing, following the hearing that has already taken place in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, … Continue Reading
January 25, 2021
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats Seek Answers About DOJ's Role in Trump's Scheme to Overturn the 2020 Election
WASHINGTON - Following a report from The New York Times that detailed a plot between then-President Donald Trump and then-Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division Jeffrey Bossert Clark to use the Department of Justice (DOJ) to further Trump's efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), incoming Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led the Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter to … Continue Reading
January 21, 2021
Durbin Discusses Justice Department Priorities with Merrick Garland, Biden Nominee for Attorney General
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), incoming Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today met with Judge Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden's nominee for Attorney General. During their Zoom call, Durbin and Garland expressed their desire to work closely together on Department of Justice (DOJ) priorities, including implementation of the First Step Act, combating white supremacist terrorism, addressing COVID-19 outbreaks in federal prisons, reinstating the longstanding moratorium … Continue Reading
January 19, 2021
Durbin Thanks Capitol Police for Their Heroic Efforts During January 6th Insurrection
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today thanked the Capitol Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police, and other law enforcement agencies that aided the Capitol during the insurrection on January 6. Durbin also looked forward to tomorrow's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. "The Capitol police… were heroic. They were overwhelmed by this massive insurrectionist mob. The Capitol … Continue Reading
January 12, 2021
Durbin, Pressley, Colleagues Announce Plans to Introduce Bill to End Federal Death Penalty
Bill Text (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF) WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07) announced that they will lead more than 70 of their colleagues to soon reintroduce the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2021, bicameral legislation to prohibit the use of the death penalty at the federal level, and require re-sentencing of those currently on death row. The announcement comes with three more people scheduled to be executed in … Continue Reading
January 06, 2021
Durbin Speaks on Senate Floor About Violence at the U.S. Capitol & 2020 Election Certification
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke on the Senate floor ahead of Congress certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election and after a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol building. "The vote we're going to have here is a clear choice of whether we are going to feed the beast of ignorance or are we going to tell the truth to the American people? We saw that beast today roaming the halls. Let's not invite it back," Durbin said. Video of Durbin's … Continue Reading
December 23, 2020
Durbin, Warren, Booker, Colleagues Request Investigation of Trump Administration's Unprecedented Spree of Federal Executions
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in a letter to Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), seeking an investigation of the frenzied and unprecedented "spree of federal executions during [President Trump's] lame-duck period." In … Continue Reading
December 10, 2020
Durbin: Stop Moving Trump Nominees Through the Judiciary Committee
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called out the Republican majority's handling of nominations in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Since 1984, the Committee has only twice ever held a nomination hearing during a lame duck session of a presidential election year and both of those hearings followed the re-election of a sitting president. "Over the past four years, the Republican side has moved at break-neck speed to … Continue Reading
December 09, 2020
Durbin, Booker Call for President Trump to Issue a Commutation Reducing the Sentence of Brandon Bernard, Who is Scheduled to be Executed Tomorrow, December 10
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called on President Donald Trump to issue a commutation reducing the sentence of Brandon Bernard, who is scheduled to be executed tomorrow, December 10. Mr. Bernard was sentenced to death in June 2000 as an accomplice to a crime committed when he was just 18 years old. Five of the jurors who condemned him to death twenty years ago now oppose the imposition of the death … Continue Reading
December 04, 2020
Durbin, Duckworth Join Booker to Introduce Resolution Calling for First United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) to introduce the United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation resolution, urging Congress to form the first commission acknowledging and examining the systemic racism that has disenfranchised Black Americans and other communities of color throughout U.S. history and the racial inequities that persist today. U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced … Continue Reading
November 17, 2020
Durbin: Instead of Negotiating Bipartisan COVID-19 Relief Legislation, McConnell Focused on Confirming More Under-Qualified Judges
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke about the importance of helping unemployed and uninsured Americans, hospitals and health clinics, state and local governments, and small businesses as COVID-19 cases spike across Illinois and the country. Durbin also slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) boycott of negotiations and delay in passing meaningful, bipartisan COVID-19 relief legislation. Instead of focusing … Continue Reading
November 10, 2020
Durbin Slams Republicans On Judiciary Committee For Continuing To Relitigate The 2016 Election And The Mueller Investigation
WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, entitled "Oversight of the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation: Day 4," which featured former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) slammed Republicans on the Committee for continuing their partisan sideshow re-litigating the investigation into 2016 Russian election interference, and ignoring their responsibility to conduct oversight of the Trump … Continue Reading
October 26, 2020
Durbin Votes Against President Trump's Supreme Court Nomination Of Amy Coney Barrett
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after voting against President Donald Trump's nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court: "This is a dark day for the United States Senate. Republicans are defying the rules and traditions of this body in a rush to confirm Judge Barrett in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic and an election. "On Friday and Saturday, more … Continue Reading
October 26, 2020
Ahead Of Confirmation Vote, Durbin Slams Senate Republicans For Jamming Through Supreme Court Nomination Instead Of Focusing On COVID-19 Pandemic
WASHINGTON - Ahead of the confirmation vote for President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today once again slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) single-minded focus on rushing through this nomination process instead of focusing on the urgent needs of the American people, including comprehensive bipartisan legislation to respond to the grave public … Continue Reading
October 22, 2020
Durbin: McConnell Ignoring Grave Threat Of COVID-19 In Order To Rush Through President Trump's Nominee To The Supreme Court
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) single-minded focus on rushing through President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court instead of focusing on a comprehensive bipartisan response to the grave public health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Durbin urged Leader McConnell to start negotiating in good faith - as the Senate did in March when it … Continue Reading
October 21, 2020
Durbin, Duckworth, Senate Democrats To Attorney General Barr: Drop Lawsuit To Gut The Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 17 Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General William Barr, urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to rescind its support of the Supreme Court lawsuit brought by 18 Republican state Attorneys General that seeks to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In the letter, the Senators highlight how health insurance protections for millions of Americans are at stake … Continue Reading
October 16, 2020
Durbin Joins Illinoisans To Highlight What Is At Stake If The ACA Is Struck Down By The Supreme Court
CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) held a news conference at the International Union of Operating Engineers to discuss the Supreme Court nomination and what is at stake if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were to be struck down. Durbin was joined by two Illinoisans with pre-existing conditions who shared their stories highlighting the importance of the protections provided by the ACA. "We are in the middle of a deadly pandemic that has killed more than 217,000 Americans and infected more … Continue Reading
October 15, 2020
Durbin: Affordable Care Act, Women's Right To Privacy & Choice, Election Integrity At Stake With This Supreme Court Nomination
WASHINGTON - On the fourth day of the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today reiterated what is at stake with this Supreme Court nomination, including the Affordable Care Act, the right to privacy and choice, and the outcome of the election. "We know that this process is really stacked-the President told us so, repeatedly. Where we can't get a direct answer from the … Continue Reading