Durbin, Klobuchar, Welch, Lead Colleagues In Urging Justice Department To Protect Election Workers Ahead Of 2024 Election

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Peter Welch (D-VT) led a group of 19 Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco urging the Department of Justice to take further action to counter threats targeting election workers ahead of the upcoming election.  “We write to express serious concern about ongoing and persistent t… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center To Urge Online Safety Measures For Children

SPRINGFIELD – Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined the Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center (SCCAC) to discuss the importance of keeping kids safe online through bills like Durbin’s STOP CSAM Act and last month’s Senate passage of the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act. The SCCAC coordinates services for victims of child sexual abuse in Logan, Sangamon, Christian, and Menard counties. It follows the national Children’s Advocacy Center model o… Continue Reading

Durbin Meets With Illinois Pork Producers Association In Springfield

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today met with the Illinois Pork Producers Association to discuss the effects of California’s Proposition 12 on the economics of the pork industry and challenges associated with workforce shortages.  Durbin and Chad Lehman, third-generation farmer from Woodford County and past President of Illinois Pork Producers, also spoke about the Senate’s work on the Farm Bil… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Illinois Delegation Members Push USDA To Boost Farm Conservation Funds For Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17), and Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), all members of the House Committee on Agriculture, led members of the Illinois delegation in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas Vilsack to express concerns about the low level of f… Continue Reading

Durbin Admonishes Amtrak For Offering Inadequate Replacement Service For Quincy-Chicago Riders While Train Service Is Suspended

CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today sent a letter to Stephen Gardner, CEO of Amtrak, to express his frustration at the suspension of one of two Amtrak roundtrips between Quincy, Illinois, and Chicago as a result of equipment shortages.  In his letter, Durbin called on Amtrak to resolve the suspension, which could last up to August 27, as quickly as possible.  The affected stops along the partly suspended Chicago-Quincy Carl Sandburg Amtrak route include Macomb, Galesburg… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Warren To Urge Navient To Reform Flawed Process To Cancel Student Loans Pushed Onto Borrowers Attending Fraudulent, For-Profit Colleges

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), U.S. Representatives Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), and 30 lawmakers in sending a letter urging student loan servicer Navient to reform its flawed process to cancel the private student loans of borrowers who attended fraudulent, for-profit colleges. The lawmakers argued that ??under the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Holder Rule and due to Navien… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $15.9 Million In Funding For Clean Manufacturing In Illinois

CHICAGO – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced $15.9 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) coming to Illinois through the Inflation Reduction Act to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products. These awards from the Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—will reduce climate pollution by helping Illinois b… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $15.9 Million In Funding For Clean Manufacturing In Illinois

CHICAGO – Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced $15.9 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) coming to Illinois through the Inflation Reduction Act to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products. These awards from the Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—will reduce climate pollution by helping Illinois b… Continue Reading

Durbin Join Ribbon Cutting For Latest Completed Segment Of Springfield Rail Improvements Project

SPRINGFIELD – Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman and local leaders for a ribbon cutting of the newly constructed underpasses at Madison and Jefferson streets, the latest milestone for the Springfield Rail Improvements Project (SRIP).  In December 2021, Durbin announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation had awarded a $13.5 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant to the Ci… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Booker, Warnock, Butler, Colleagues To Announce Reintroduction of George Floyd Justice In Policing Act

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. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to announce the reintroduction ofthe George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2024, the most comprehensive bill to reform law enforcement and strengthen police accountability in … Continue Reading

Senate Appropriations Committee Advances Spending Bills With Illinois Priorities Secured By Durbin, Duckworth

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced funding bills for Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies; Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies; and Financial Services and General Government for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25).  Durbin and Duckworth worked to secure various priorities for Illino… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Join Introduction of Constitutional Amendment To Clarify No One Is Above The Law

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 Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and 26 of their Senate colleagues in introducing a constitutional amendment making clear that no one in the United States is above the law, including the President. In response to the Supreme Court’s unprecedented decision last month that Presidents are immune from prosecution for “official” actions, the amendment wou… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Secure Illinois Wins In Senate-Passed Water Resources Development Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Environmental Justice Caucus, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), founding Co-Chair of the Senate’s first-ever Environmental Justice Caucus, today highlighted several critical provisions they successfully secured for Illinois in the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024, which passed the Senate earlier this week.  These provisions – ranging from adjusting the cost share for the Brandon Road Projec… Continue Reading

Durbin, Cortez Masto Urge USCIS To Amend Its Policy & Invite Special Immigrant Juvenile Youth With Deferred Action To Apply For Advance Parole Documents

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and 16 of their Senate colleagues today urged U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to invite noncitizens with approved Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) petitions and Deferred Action to request Advance Parole Documents in a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  Along with Durbin and Cortez Masto,… Continue Reading

Durbin, Schatz, Gillibrand Introduce Child Marriage Prevention Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2024, which would take steps to reduce child marriage across the United States. According to leading advocacy groups on this issue, data shows that between 2000 and 2018, more than 300,000 minors were married in the United States, most of whom were 16 or 17 years of age. However, so… Continue Reading

Senate Unanimously Passes Bipartisan Bill To Authorize Dozens of New District Court Judgeships

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today celebrated unanimous Senate passage of the Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved (JUDGES) Act, which would authorize 63 new permanent district court judgeships and three new temporary district court judgeships. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. In June, the JUDGES Act advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 20-0 vote. “As dockets b… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Senate Republicans Voting Against The Tax Relief For American Families And Workers Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after Senate Republicans voted against the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024.  The bill expands the Child Tax Credit (CTC), restores certain business tax breaks that help small businesses, and increases subsidies for affordable housing and disaster assistance.  Earlier this year, this legislation passed the House of Representatives on a large bipartisan basis, 357-70. “As cost… Continue Reading

Durbin, Shaheen Statement In Response To Prisoner Swap And Safe Return Of Americans

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and Chair of the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee, today issued the following joint statement in response to the Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement that Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Alsu Kurmasheva, along with others wrongfully detained… Continue Reading

Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Seven Judicial Nomination To The Full Senate

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee advanced seven judicial nominations to the full Senate, continuing the Committee’s work to bring balance to the federal judiciary. The nominations advanced include two circuit court nominees and five district court nominees. “Since Democrats took back the White House and the Senate majority in January 2021, we have been committed to advancing highly qualified nominations to lifetime appointments across the federal judiciary who are reflect… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Over $1.3 Million For Illinois Americorps Programs

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $1,303,609 in federal funding going to three organizations in Illinois as a result of the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) AmeriCorps State and National Public Health grant competition.  Using funds provided by the American Rescue Plan and CARES Act, these programs will support Illinois’ public health workforce by addressing mental health, chronic disease prevention, and public health readine… Continue Reading