Durbin Joins Warren, Whitehouse, Warnock To Push DOJ, ED For Expanded Outreach On Discharging Student Loan Debt In Bankruptcy

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in sending a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Education (ED) commending the agencies on their progress in helping borrowers who are struggling financially to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy and asking them to continue expanding awareness of the Biden-Harr… Continue Reading

Durbin Applauds President Biden's Formal Apology To Native Communities For Federal Government's Role In Native American Boarding Schools

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded President Biden’s formal apology for the U.S. government’s actions in establishing and running hundreds of Federal Indian Boarding Schools: “Today, President Biden is taking a major step forward in our nation’s reckoning with the deeply painful history of Native boarding school policies that caused irreparable damage to Native communities.  The scars of these unjust, hateful actions—the federal government’s attempts to e… Continue Reading

Durbin Applauds President Biden's Formal Apology To Native Communities For Federal Government's Role In Native American Boarding Schools

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded President Biden’s formal apology for the U.S. government’s actions in establishing and running hundreds of Federal Indian Boarding Schools: “Today, President Biden is taking a major step forward in our nation’s reckoning with the deeply painful history of Native boarding school policies that caused irreparable damage to Native communities.  The scars of these unjust, hateful actions—the federal government’s attempts to e… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Budzinski, Announce $157 Million In Federal Funding For Springfield Rail Improvements Project

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) today announced $157,126,494 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the final segment of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project (SRIP). The multi-phased project is a large-scale effort supported by local, state, and federal funding designed to alleviate rail congestion in downtown Springfield by consolidating train… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $5 Million In Federal Funding For Postsecondary Education Preparedness

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Illinois Student Assistance Commission will receive $5 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). Illinois GEAR UP aims to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. The funding also will provide services, such … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Quigley, Sorensen Announce $33.5 Million In Federal Funding For Peoria And Chicago Airports

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL-05) and Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17) today announced $33,510,000 in federal funding from the Department of Transportation’s Airport Terminal Program. With today’s announced funding, General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport will receive $13,510,000 for the replacement of their air traffic control tower, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport will rece… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Congressional Democrats In Filing Amicus Brief Urging Ninth Circuit Court To Affirm That EMTALA Requires Hospitals To Provide Emergency Stabilizing Care, Including Abortion Care, Preempting Idaho's Draconian Abortion Ban

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined more than 250 Members of Congress in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States, two consolidated cases concerning the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) under consideration by the en banc Ninth Circuit.  EMTALA is a federal law that requires… Continue Reading

Durbin Leads Senators In Demanding Answers From Pfizer, Eli Lilly On New Telehealth Platforms Amid Concerns Of Inappropriate Prescribing

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to the CEOs of Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly demanding answers about the pharmaceutical companies’ recent move to establish new direct-to-consumer (DTC) telehealth platforms.  These new arrangements steer patients toward particular medications and create the potential for inappropriate prescribing that can increase spending for federal health care programs.  As Durbin notes in his letters, federal law, specifically the Anti-Kickba… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Quigley Announce More Than $81 Million In Additional Federal Funding For the CREATE Program

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL-05) today announced $81,301,065 in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) INFRA (Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects) Program for the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program, which aims to reduce traffic delays, increase rail junction safety, and improve mobility throug… Continue Reading

Durbin Announces New Resources To Address Child Lead Poisoning Risks In Chicago

CHICAGO - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined officials from CountyCare, Cook County Health, and the Cook County Department of Public Health to unveil new proactive measures taken by all five Medicaid managed care insurance companies (MCOs) in Illinois in response to a request by Durbin and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) to address lead poisoning risks to children in Chicagoland. In March, Durbin and Duckworth had urged MCOs to step up to address lead poisoning risks… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Members Of Illinois Delegation Announce $15.8 Million In Federal Funding For Chicago Transit Authority Improvements

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), U.S. Representatives Jesus “Chuy” García (D-IL-04), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), and Danny Davis (D-IL-07) today announced that the Illinois Department of Transportation will receive $15,805,600 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for improvements to the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) Forest Park Branch. This track modernization project will lead to increased service reliabi… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Stellantis To Uphold Its End Of The Deal To Reopen Belvidere Plant

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement ahead of United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain’s visit to Belvidere, Illinois, and as UAW calls on Stellantis to uphold its end of the deal to restart the Belvidere Assembly Plant and add on an electric vehicle battery plant to the facility: “Last year, the Belvidere Assembly Plant was idled and more than 1,000 people were out of work. But thanks to direct investment from the Biden-Harris … Continue Reading

Durbin Leads Illinois Delegation In Requesting $50 Million In Reimbursements For MWRD's Work On the Thornton Reservoir

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-IL-04), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), today sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor urging the Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) to include $50 million… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument Commemoration

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) last night attended a ribbon cutting ceremony to designate the 1908 Springfield Race Riot site as a National Monument alongside U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13). This designation ensures the historic site will be preserved to tell the story of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908—a critical event in American history that spurred the creation of the National Association for the Advancemen… Continue Reading

Durbin Stands With Dreamers, DACA Recipients As Oral Arguments Begin In Texas V. US

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and author of the Dream Act, released the following statement as oral arguments begin in Texas v. U.S., which challenges the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: “The American people will see the same playbook from anti-immigrant extremists today that they’ve seen for years. These extremists want to eliminate the DACA progra… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Chicago Cred To Announce Federal Funding To Prevent Gun Violence

CHICAGO  ?  Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Chicago CRED and its founder Arne Duncan, former U.S. Secretary of Education, to announce nearly $4 million in new federal funding CRED will be receiving through the U.S. Department of Justice for a Community Violence Intervention project to reduce gun violence. Chicago CRED will use this federal funding to expand the capacity of community-based organizations that provide community violence inter… Continue Reading

Durbin Files Amicus Brief In Support Of Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and author of the Durbin Amendment, filed an amicus brief in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in support of the recently enacted Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA).  IFPA, which was signed into law on June 7th, bars the charging of interchange fees on the tax and tip portions of credit and debit card transactions.  Last month, the Illinois Bankers Association, alon… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement Marking One Year Since The October 7 Hamas Terrorist Attack On Israel

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement marking one year since the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel: “On October 7, 2023, we witnessed a horrific terrorist attack on Israel when Hamas killed more than 1,000 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages, nearly 100 of whom are still being held in unimaginable conditions.  One fact tells the grim story: more Jews died on October 7 than any time since the Holocaust in a premeditated sla… Continue Reading

Durbin Visits Gibson City Hospital To Highlight Federal Funding For Rural EMS Services

GIBSON CITY – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with leadership staff at Gibson Area Hospital and Health Services (GAHHS) to discuss the recent enactment of Durbin’s Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (SIREN) Reauthorization Act. Thanks to Durbin’s legislation, GAHHS has received nearly $500,000 in SIREN grant funding for their ambulance service.  The SIREN Reauthorization Act extends funding for five additional years for SIREN Act grants to rural fire and EMS agencie… Continue Reading

Durbin, Collins Praise President Biden For Signing Their Bipartisan SIREN Reauthorization Act Into Law

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today praised President Biden for signing their bipartisan SIREN Reauthorization Act into law yesterday.  The legislation will extend funding for five additional years for SIREN Act grants to rural fire and EMS agencies nationwide.  The funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SA… Continue Reading