Durbin Urges His Colleagues To Support The Right To Contraception Act Ahead Of Vote On Senate Floor

WASHINGTON – During the week marking the 59th anniversary of the landmark Griswold v. Connecticut decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that all married Americans have a constitutional right to use contraception, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged his colleagues to support the Right to Contraception Act when it comes before the Senate tomorrow. This bill, which Durbin is a cosponsor of, would protect the rights of patients to access … Continue Reading

Durbin Addresses The Supreme Court's Ethical Crisis In A Speech On The Senate Floor

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, addressed the Supreme Court’s ethical crisis and cautioned that we cannot afford further erosion of public confidence in our courts. Durbin’s speech follows Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s refusal to recuse himself from cases concerning the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection. The justice’s refusal comes in response to a letter Durbin and U.S.… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Rep. Kelly Introduce Bicameral Resolution In Observance Of National Gun Violence Awareness Month

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) in introducing a resolution to designate June 07, 2024, as “National Gun Violence Awareness Day” and June 2024 as “National Gun Violence Awareness Month.” Each year, more than 43,000 people in the United States are killed and 76,000 are injured by gun violence, depriving many of a promising future. Designating both a specific day and month to … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Senate Democrats To Call On DOJ To Immediately Launch Full Court Press Against Big Oil To Prevent And Prosecute Collusion And Price Fixing

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and 20 Democratic Senators in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter calling on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to use every tool at its disposal to prevent and prosecute collusion and price fixing in the oil industry.  The letter follows a Federal Trade Commission… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Trump Guilty Verdict By Manhattan Jury

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records: “No one is above the law—not even a former president.  Consistent with the rule of law, a jury of his peers found the former president guilty on all counts.  Today’s verdict is another reminder that Donald Trump is unfit for public service.”   30-… Continue Reading

Durbin Applauds Illinois State Legislature On Passing Budget That Contains Interchange Fee Prohibition Act

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded the Illinois state legislature’s passage of a state budget that included the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act.  This legislation, which—like Durbin’s Credit Card Competition Act—aims to curb the outrageous swipe fees on electronic transactions will prohibit credit card companies and financial institutions from charging merchants interchange fees on sales and excise taxes, as well as gratuities, added to electronic transact… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce That Illinois School Districts Will Receive $48.4 Million In Rebates For EPA Clean School Bus Program

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that 28 Illinois school districts will receive significant rebates, a combined total of more than $48 million, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2023 Clean School Bus Program (CSBP) rebate competition.  The program, a $5 billion effort established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aims to convert the nation’s school bus fleets to low- or zero-emission v… Continue Reading

Durbin Responds To Justice Alito's Refusal To Recuse Himself In 2020 Election Cases

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito refused to recuse himself from cases concerning the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection. The justice’s refusal comes in response to a letter Durbin and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, sent to Chief Justice John Roberts last week imploring the Ch… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $11.5 Million In Grant Funding For Head Start Projects

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Chicago will receive $11,516,272 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant funding to support the center’s Head Start programming, which offers services for children under the age of five in receiving wrap-around support in early learning and development. “Providing a strong education is one of the greatest gifts we… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $8.6 Million For Medical Research And Health Center Programs In Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $8,602,005 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants to Illinois institutions. A large portion of the funding will be put toward research programs across the state to support medical advancement in various fields, ranging from neurological disorders to cancer research.  This round of grant funding will also support the development of a program for Black asthmatic … Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Impact Of FAA Reauthorization Act On Decatur Airport And Additional Federal Funding For Local Infrastructure Projects

DECATUR – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe to discuss the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2024, which was recently signed into law by President Biden. The legislation, among other things, provides increased investment for Essential Air Service (EAS) program airports, like Decatur Airport. The EAS program was established to ensure that smaller communities maintain a sufficient level of air service. Durbin also discussed additional federa… Continue Reading

Senate Judiciary Democrats Push Bureau Of Prisons To Make Salaries Competitive For Critical Staff

CHICAGO – Led by U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a group of Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats today pressed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to request a special pay rate for critical BOP staff, as well as share results of a study on staffing guidelines. A special pay rate would make salaries more competitive, which would help remedy issues exacerbated by understaffing, including otherwise preventable deaths in custody.  In addition t… Continue Reading

Durbin, Whitehouse Request Meeting With Chief Justice Roberts, Urge Roberts To Ensure Justice Alito Recuses Himself In 2020 Election Cases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, today announced that they sent a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts imploring the Chief Justice take appropriate steps to ensure Justice Samuel Alito recuses himself from cases concerning the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection.  The Senators’ letter comes on the heels of … Continue Reading

Durbin, Rubio Urge Health Resources And Services Administration To Revise NHSC Application Process To Address Health Care Workforce Shortages

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today sent a letter to Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) urging a revision to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) application process to make it more accessible and attractive to all stakeholders as the United States faces a health care workforce shortage.  More than 21,000 primary care, oral health, and behavioral health practitioners across the United States participate in this pro… Continue Reading

Durbin, Coons, Braun Introduce Resolution To Designate May As ALS Awareness Month

WASHINGTON – U.S Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate ALS Caucus, today joined U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Mike Braun (R-IN) to introduce a resolution to designate May 2024 as ALS Awareness Month. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and often known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a debilitating disease that affects 1 in 300 people – approximately 30,000 Americans.  There is no cure for this fatal disease currently. “ALS is a devastating diagnosis—one that is, c… Continue Reading

Durbin Secures Illinois Priorities In Senate's Committee Passed Water Resources Development Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Environmental Justice Caucus, today announced that the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) advanced the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA) out of Committee with several key provisions he secured for Illinois.  These provisions – ranging from adjusting the cost share for the Brandon Road Project to improving water infrastructure in Cahokia Heights, Illinois – aim to accelerate and fund m… Continue Reading

During Appropriations Hearing, Durbin Stresses Importance Of Rejecting Draconian Budget Cuts And Fully Investing In Medical Research At NIH

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, today participated in a subcommittee hearing entitled “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).”  During the hearing, Durbin, a longtime advocate for funding NIH, stressed the importance of rejecting domestic budget cuts—proposed by House Republicans—which… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Stabenow, Peters Secure Increase In Federal Cost Share To Help Protect The Great Lakes In The 2024 Water Resources Development Act

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) today announced that they secured an increase to the federal cost share for the Brandon Road Project in the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (WRDA), which was unanimously passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) earlier this week.  Under the provision, the federal government will… Continue Reading

Durbin, Young Applaud Committee Passage Of Their Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-IN) today applauded the advancement of their Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act, which passed out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) with a strong bipartisan vote of 19-2.  The legislation extends funding for public health efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve childhood survival rates, prevent premature death and disability,… Continue Reading

Durbin, Casten Introduce Legislation To Incentivize Energy Conservation For Additional Consumer Savings

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (D-IL-06) today introduced the Responsive Energy Demand Unlocks Clean Energy (REDUCE) Act, legislation that would allow consumers to sell their energy use reduction into federal wholesale electricity markets by eliminating the “Opt Out” currently employed by 13 states that fully or partially ban “aggregated demand response” from these markets. “Incentivizing consumers to sell their energy reductions into … Continue Reading