Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Twenty-Four Judicial Nominees, Five Bipartisan Bills To Lower Prescription Drug Costs

WASHINGTON - Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced twenty-four judicial nominations, as well as five bipartisan bills to help lower prescription drug prices to the full Senate. "The judicial nominees advanced to the full Senate today build upon our Committee's progress confirming highly qualified judges," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I look forward to my colleagues in the full Senate having the opportunity to vote to confirm … Continue Reading

Durbin Talks Trade With National Confectioners Association

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today met with representatives from the National Confectioners Association (NCA), Ferrara Candy, Bazooka Candy, and Haribo USA to discuss the current federal sugar program that limits the amount of sugar imported or grown domestically, keeping consumer sugar prices higher than elsewhere in the world. During their meeting, Durbin and the confectioners spoke about the benefits of the Sugar Ref… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues to Introduce Bill to Repel AUMFs, Formally Ending Gulf and Iraq Wars

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and combat Veteran U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN) and U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), Chip Roy (R-TX-21), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), and Tom Cole (R-OK-04) to reintroduce bipartisan legislation to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs), formally end the Gulf and Iraq wars, and reassert Congress' Constitutional role in … Continue Reading

Senate Confirms Judge Benjamin To U.S. Circuit Court For The Fourth Circuit

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin to the United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding Judge Benjamin's confirmation: "A prominent jurist, Judge Benjamin brings the whole package: she has deep ties to South Carolina's legal community, has presided over at least 300 trials, and has significant experience litigating in fed… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Senate Judiciary Committee Advancing Nomination Of Colleen Lawless To Serve As District Court Judge For The Central District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Judge Colleen Lawless to serve as a District Court Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois: "We are pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee has once again advanced the nomination of Judge Colleen Lawless to fill a judicial vacancy … Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Irish Deputy Prime Minister

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Micheál Martin to discuss U.S.-Irish relations, continued allied support for Ukraine, and the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland. They also discussed Durbin's legislation to add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program. The bill would allow Irish nationals annual access to any unused E-3 visas from the previous fiscal year. In exchange, Ireland intends to prov… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Colleagues In Reintroducing Bicameral Bill Requiring Supreme Court Justices To Follow Code Of Ethics

WASHINGTON - As public confidence in the Supreme Court falls to an all-time low, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), U.S. Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA), and colleagues to reintroduce the Supreme Court Ethics Act, requiring the Judicial Conference of the United States to create a code of ethical conduct for the Supreme Court of the United States. "The Supreme Court of the Unites States ought to be th… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Lead Members Of Chicago Delegation In Letter To DOT, OMB To Encourage Full Support Of The Red Line Extension

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Jesús "Chuy" García (D-IL-04), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OM… Continue Reading

Durbin, Padilla Request Biden Admin Consider Recommendations To Recently Announced Migrant Initiative At Southwest Border

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, today sent a letter to President Joe Biden to offer suggestions regarding the Administration's recently announced initiative to give migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela a safe and orderly pathway to the United States, and to surge resources to humanely pr… Continue Reading

Durbin, Blumenthal, Brown, Reed, Feinstein Call On Department Of Labor To Regulate Child Labor On Tobacco Farms

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Deputy Secretary Julie Su urging them to use the rulemaking process to protect child workers from the dangers of working in tobacco fields. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, children at the age of 12 can begin working unlimited hours on tobacco farms with parental per… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On President Biden’s State Of The Union Address

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on President Biden's State of the Union Address: "Thanks to President Biden and Congressional Democrats, we have made tremendous progress over the past two years. In February 2021, we were in the throes of a global pandemic and reckoning with a deadly insurrection in the Capitol that had taken place just one month earlier. Two years later, we have seen record-breaking job creation, new roads and bridge… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With His State Of The Union Guest, U.S. Ambulances For Ukraine Founder Chris Manson

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, today met with Chris Manson, his guest for President Biden's State of the Union Address. Chris, who is Vice President of Government Relations for OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Illinois, and founder of U.S. Ambulances for Ukraine, has helped deliver 28 ambulances and one fire engine to Ukraine and works with volunteers across Illinois to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of medical supplies, … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Meet With Illinois Higher Education Leaders

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with the leadership and members of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA), which represents 48 community colleges across Illinois, and the Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities (FIICU), which represents 56 private nonprofit colleges across Illinois. During their meetings, the Senators spoke about the rising cost of higher education and improving … Continue Reading

Durbin Delivers Remarks At NRHA’s 34th Rural Health Policy Institute Conference

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today delivered remarks at the National Rural Health Association's (NRHA) 34th Rural Health Policy Institute conference. Durbin highlighted the importance of rural health care; the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural hospitals; and bipartisan legislation Durbin is working on in Congress, such as the Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act-legislation to update Medicare's "Critical Access Hospital" designation. Durbin also spoke about hi… Continue Reading

Durbin Talks Health Care Workforce Shortages With Rural Illinois Health Care Providers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Illinois members of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) to discuss the challenges hospitals and health care providers in rural communities face. During their meeting, Durbin heard more about how the health care workforce shortages are impacting hospitals' ability to adequately meet the needs of patients. In 2020, it was estimated that Illinois will have a shortage of 15,000 registered nurses by 2025, a discrepan… Continue Reading

Durbin To Host U.S. Ambulances For Ukraine’s Chris Manson For President Biden’s State Of The Union Address

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, will host Chris Manson as his guest for President Biden's State of the Union Address. Chris, who is Vice President of Government Relations for OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Illinois, and founder of U.S. Ambulances for Ukraine, has helped deliver 28 ambulances and one fire engine to Ukraine and works with volunteers across Illinois to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of medical supplies, clo… Continue Reading

Durbin, Collins Introduce Siren Reauthorization Act To Support EMS Agencies In Rural Communities

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) today introduced the SIREN Reauthorization Act, legislation that would extend funding through SIREN Act grants to rural fire and EMS agencies nationwide. The funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which was created through Durbin's Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (SIREN) Act, goes toward supporting EMS agencies in training and recruiting staff, c… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues In Introducing Legislation To Ban Marketing Of Firearms To Children Through FTC Rulemaking

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) in introducing the Protecting Kids from Gun Marketing Act, legislation that directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe rules that prohibit the marketing of firearms to children. The legislation comes as Americans suffered 52 mass shootings and 3,700 gun-related deaths across the United States in the fi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Foster, Underwood Introduce Resolution To Name Fermilab Research Center After Renowned Physicist Dr. Helen Edwards

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, and U.S. Representatives Bill Foster (D-IL-11) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) introduced a bicameral resolution to rename Fermilab's Integrated Engineering Research Center (IERC) after the late Dr. Helen Edwards, who worked at Fermilab as a particle physicist for 40 years. The IERC will be home to new office and lab space that will host an intersection of scientific disciplines. "Dr. Helen Edwards was an … Continue Reading

Durbin: Let’s Get To Work To Ensure Access To Paid Leave For All American Workers

WASHINGTON - Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act(FMLA), U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke on the Senate floor highlighting the significant strides we have made for workers and the work that still needs to be done. During his speech, he praised President Biden's leadership for navigating us through the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the most daunting economic challenges since the Great Depression. Despite the progress made, Durbin noted we are, "Not… Continue Reading