Durbin Calls For Justice Thomas's Recusal In Any Supreme Court Case Involving First Liberty Institute

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement calling for Justice Clarence Thomas’s recusal from any case involving First Liberty Institute following ProPublica reporting that Ginni Thomas praised the conservative legal organization for “fill[ing] the sails of many judges” by working against commonsense ethics reform: “The reported comments by Ginni Thomas are deeply problematic. She’s testified before Congress… Continue Reading

Durbin Introduces Bill To Halt U.S. Investment In Venezuela's Energy Sector Until Legitimate Election Results Are Respected

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced a bill terminating all U.S. petroleum cooperation and petroleum-related trade with Venezuela until the legitimate results of the recent Venezuelan election are respected.  On July 28, more than 10 million Venezuelans peacefully voted in the presidential election, with results meticulously compiled by credible election monitors showing an overwhelming victory for opposition candidate, Edmundo González, over President Nicol… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Over $32 Million In Federal Funding For Pedestrian And Bicyclist Safety

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $32,165,705 in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Safe Street and Roads for All grant program. This funding will go towards pedestrian, bike, and transit infrastructure and safety measures including bike lanes, speed reduction tactics, and intersection improvements.   The DOT’s Safe Street and Roads for All program, established through the Bipartisan … Continue Reading

Durbin Highlights Lower Drug Pricing Under Medicare For Illinoisans

CHICAGO – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined health care professionals at the University of Illinois-Chicago College of Pharmacy to highlight last month’s announcement from the Biden-Harris Administration on the savings produced by the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) initial round of price negotiations for 10 of the costliest medications under Medicare. This negotiation secured price reductions of up to 79 percent, which will save nine million seniors nationwide an estim… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $8 Million In Federal Funding For Health Care Research In Illinois

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $8,196,118 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) medical research grants for Illinois institutions. This federal funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be put toward research programs across the state to support medical advancement in various fields, ranging from lung diseases to mental health research.   “Federal investments in medical research pu… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Nearly $1 Million In Federal Funding For Rural Illinois EMS Services

SPRINGFIELD  –   U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $962,877 in federal funding through Durbin’s Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (SIREN) Act to support emergency medical services (EMS) agencies in rural communities. The funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which was created through Durbin’s SIREN Act, goes toward supporting rural fire and EMS agencies in training and recruit… Continue Reading

Durbin, Pallone, Merkley Lead Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court To Support FDA's Public Health Authority And Actions To Regulate E-Cigarettes

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-06), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) led a group of sixteen lawmakers in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court today urging the Court to support the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority and actions to regulate e-cigarettes.  During its upcoming term, the Supreme Court will h… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Mayor Johnson, Members Of Illinois Delegation Announce $15 Million In Federal Funding For EV Charging Infrastructure In Chicago

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9), Danny Davis (D-IL-1), Robin Kelley (D-IL-2), Sean Casten (D-IL-6), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL-4), and Delia Ramirez (D-IL-3) today announced $15,000,000 in federal funding coming to Chicago through the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for Charge Up Chicago! Chicago Community Resources and Charging Infrastructure Implem… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Hersh Goldberg-Polin

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American Israeli citizen with Chicago ties who was taken hostage during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel: “Hersh Goldberg-Polin was a young man with his entire life ahead of him when he attended a music festival on October 7. When Hamas viciously attacked the Nova music festival, Hersh was horribly injured attempting to help his fellow music festival att… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls Upon GAO To Revive FDA-DOJ Interagency Enforcement Activities Against Illegal E-Cigarettes

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today sent a letter to the Comptroller General of the United States, Gene Dodaro, urging the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) interagency enforcement activities related to the sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes.  Durbin has repeatedly criticized FDA and DOJ for the long-overdue review of pre-market tobacco pr… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Lead Members Of Illinois Delegation In Urging President Biden To Grant Federal Disaster Declaration For Illinois Counties Following July's Severe Storms, Tornadoes

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today led 16 members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to President Biden urging the White House to grant Governor JB Pritzker’s request for federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help seven Illinois counties recover from storm damage.  In July, severe storms passed through the state, with more than 40 tornadoes spinning through Central … Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Damning Report Finding Continued Widespread FBI Mishandling of Child Sexual Abuse Investigations Following Larry Nassar Case

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a damning report on its audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) compliance with policies in child sexual abuse investigations. The DOJ OIG audit was conducted in response to a request from Durbin and a bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members in 2021. “The FB… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Budzinski Secure Funding For Disaster Preparedness In Illinois

CHICAGO - 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 $118,945 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grants Program going to the University of Illinois.   The Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grants Program supports innovative, education-based approaches to address disaster preparedn… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $57 Million In Funding For Elementary School On North Chicago Naval Base

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced the award of a $57,701,575 grant to North Chicago School District 187 at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois from the Department of Defense (DoD). The project will address facility capacity and condition deficiencies at Forrestal Elementary School. Upon completion, 580 kindergarten through fifth grade students will be supported through the project. Funding for this grant is provided un… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $1 Million In Funding To Address Lead In Drinking Water

SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), founding member and co-founder respectively of the Senate Lead Task Force, today announced that Illinois will receive $1,093,000 to address lead in drinking water at schools and childcare facilities through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These federal grant dollars will reduce lead exposure where children learn and play, maximizing the investment by impacting more members of the c… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls Out The Hypocrisy Of Vance's Inflammatory Comments About The City Of Chicago

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today called out the hypocrisy of Senator J.D. Vance’s (R-OH) inflammatory comments about the City of Chicago while he simultaneously blocks the confirmation of federal prosecutors, including the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. For months, Durbin repeatedly went to the Senate floor to request unanimous consent (UC) to schedule confirmation votes on two U.S. Attorney nominations that… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Applaud Lowered Prices Of 10 Medicare-Covered Prescription Drugs

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today applauded the Biden-Harris Administration for its efforts to negotiate price reductions for 10 of the most expensive and frequently-dispensed drugs in the Medicare program.  The Inflation Reduction Act, which Durbin and Duckworth both strongly advocated for, provided the Biden-Harris Administration with the authority to negotiate the drug prices with Big Pharma, resulting in price reductions … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $1.5 Million In Funding To Modernize Homes For Illinois Families

SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $1.5 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to finance energy efficient and climate resilient improvements for affordable homes in Illinois under the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP).  Funded under the Inflation Reduction Act, GRRP provides funding for direct loans and grants to make improvements to HUD-subsidized pr… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $32.6 Million In Federal Funding For Cancer Research At University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $32.6 million in federal funding for cancer research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This funding, through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Precision Surgical Interventions program, will go towards inventing new imaging techniques to enhance cancer treatments by allowing surgeons to remove all microscopic cancer cells that remain before the … Continue Reading

Durbin Presses Defense Secretary Austin On Decision To Revoke Guilty Plea Deal For Accused September 11th Plotters

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pressed U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today on his decision to revoke a long-sought guilty plea deal between prosecutors and defendants accused of perpetrating the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. Secretary Austin revoked the deal two days after it was announced despite two years of negotiations, a move that frustrated victims’ families and put them through emotio… Continue Reading