Durbin: Democrats Propose Fairness When It Comes To Prescription Drug Prices

WASHINGTON - Today in a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke out against Senate Republicans' inaction as Big Pharma continues to earn astronomical profits while Americans struggle to pay for the cost of their prescription medications. In his remarks, Durbin emphasized Senate Democrats' efforts to allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription medications, mirroring laws already successfully in effect with the Department of Veterans Affairs, to ease… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges His Colleagues To Pass the CHIPS Act Without Delay

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) urged his colleagues to pass the CHIPS Act of 2022, critical legislation for our economy and national security that provides billions to boost our domestic semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. In 1990, the U.S. produced 37 percent of the world's semiconductors. Today, just 12 percent of semiconductors are manufactured in the United States. Durbin began his speech by highlighting the impacts thi… Continue Reading

Durbin Delivers Opening Statement At Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Seizing Illicit Assets Of Russian Oligarchs

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "KleptoCapture: Aiding Ukraine through Forfeiture of Russian Oligarchs' Illicit Assets." Key Quotes: "Today's hearing focuses on an important tool for holding Vladimir Putin and his corrupt allies accountable after Russia's unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine: seizing the illicit assets of Russia's ol… Continue Reading

Durbin Urges His Colleagues To Support The Nomination Of Nancy Maldonado To Be District Judge For The Northern District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today urged his colleagues to support the nomination of Nancy L. Maldonado to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin argued that Ms. Maldonado's extensive experience and long record of service to the state of Illinois would make her an asset to the Northern District of Illinois. The Senate is scheduled to vote on her nominat… Continue Reading

Durbin Highlights Efforts By Senate Democrats To Lower Prescription Drug Prices

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today took to the Senate floor to deliver a speech on the indefensible price gouging of prescription drugs and the efforts by Senate Democrats to lower these prices for American patients. In his speech, Durbin called for legislation to allow the federal government to negotiate the price of prescription drugs, which would significantly ease the cost of living for many households across the country. "I wonder if Americans think that the… Continue Reading

Durbin: There Is No Excuse For FDA's Food Safety Failures To Persist

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) highlighted his Food Safety Administration Act of 2022, legislation he introduced with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) that would establish the Food Safety Administration, a single food safety agency responsible for ensuring the safety of our nation's food supply. This new agency would take over food safety responsibilities currently housed at the Food and … Continue Reading

Durbin, Grassley, Blumenthal, Lee Seek Information From MLB About Antitrust Impact On Minor League Baseball

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chair of the Subcommittee on The Constitution; and U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, today sent a bipartisan request to the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball for information regarding… Continue Reading

Durbin: Overturning Roe Has Unleashed A Health Care Crisis In This Country

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, detailed the unfolding health care crisis across the United States in the wake of the conservative Supreme Court's majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin also continued to call on his colleagues to support enshrining into law a statutory right to an abortion. "In the weeks since the Alito-Thomas Supreme Court majority erased the … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Casten, Quigley, Newman Urge Postmaster General DeJoy To Protect Letter Carriers After Uptick In Mail Carrier Robberies

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (D-IL-6), Mike Quigley (D-IL-5), and Marie Newman (D-IL-3) today sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging him to take action to protect letter carriers after crimes against U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees tripled since 2018. In their letter, the lawmakers call on Postmaster General DeJoy to implement an alerting policy to ensure that all USP… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses Federal Funding For Youth Mental Health Services

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today announced $1,000,000 in new Congressionally Directed Spending-also known as an earmark-that he secured in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 omnibus appropriations bill for Thresholds to renovate their Young Adult Program building to expand their services to more youth. Their building supports young adults by offering both behavioral therapy, educational opportunities, and transitional living treatment. "There's no… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Applaud Nomination Of Lindsay Jenkins To Serve As District Court Judge For The Northern District Of Illinois

CHICAGO - 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 White House announced its intent to nominate Lindsay C. Jenkins to serve as a District Court Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois: "We are pleased that President Biden is nominating Lindsay Jenkins to fill a judicial vacancy for the Northern District of Illinois. She brings stro… Continue Reading

Durbin Reflects On Recent NATO Summit Amid Putin's War

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, reflected on his recent trip to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Madrid. Durbin joined Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Coons (D-DE), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Roy Blunt (R-MO) at the summit to discuss congressional support for the transatlantic relationship, as well as continued Russian aggressi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Pass Resolution Honoring Lives Of Highland Park Shooting Victims

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 introduced and passed a Senate resolution to honor the victims of the Highland Park, Illinois mass shooting on July 4 that took the lives of Katie Goldstein, Irina and Kevin McCarthy, Stephen Strauss, Jacquelyn Sundheim, Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, and Eduardo Uvaldo and injured dozens more. In their resolution, Durbin and Duckworth also thank the first r… Continue Reading

Durbin: Roe v. Wade's Reversal Created A Health Care Crisis

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today reflected on one of the most consequential and disastrous Supreme Court terms in American history. Specifically, Durbin outlined how the Court's radical opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization puts lives at risk, overwhelms our health care system, and upends our constitutional landscape. "Our nation is in the midst of a health care crisis bec… Continue Reading

Judiciary Committee Advances Nominations Of Critical Law Enforcement Positions

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nominations of Adair Ford Boroughs, to be United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina, and Enix Smith, III, to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana, by voice vote. The Senate has confirmed 69 Article III judges, and 49 U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals, during the 117th Congress. U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals play a critical role in enforcing the law, promoting public safety, and protecting … Continue Reading

Durbin, Tillis, Shaheen Introduce Bipartisan Resolution To Recognize Political Repression In Belarus

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced a bipartisan resolution recognizing the second anniversary of the stolen 2020 Belarus presidential election, the historic peaceful protests, and the continued heroic efforts of the Belarusian people. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ruled as an undemocratic dictator since the first presidential election in Belarus in 1994. The resolution was also cosponsored by Mar… Continue Reading

Durbin Questions Judicial Nominees In Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Roopali H. Desai, nominee to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, and Doris Pryor, nominee to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit. Durbin began his questioning by asking Ms. Desai to explain her involvement with a case related to voter registration deadlines. "There's one case of yours ev… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Senate To Ban Assault Weapons From Civilian Use

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today told the story of 8-year-old Cooper Roberts, who attended the Independence Day Parade in Highland Park, Illinois, with his parents and twin brother, Luke. When a gunman used a military-style assault rifle to fire more than 80 rounds into the crowd, Cooper was shot and paralyzed. "This poor little boy's situation is a reflection on what assault rifles can do … Continue Reading

Durbin Slams FDA's Legal Freefall On Tobacco Regulation That Jeopardizes Public Health

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) slammed the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) incoherence and inconsistency in tobacco regulation that is endangering public health. Last week, FDA announced a decision to "stay" its previous order to remove all JUUL Lab Inc.'s vaping products from the market after previously finding these e-cigarettes fail to meet the agency's legal standard for authorization. He also urged the agency to remove … Continue Reading

Durbin, Blumenthal, DeLauro Introduce Food Safety Administration Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) introduced the Food Safety Administration Act of 2022, legislation that would establish the Food Safety Administration, a single food safety agency responsible for ensuring the safety of our nation's food supply. This new agency would take over food safety responsibilities currently housed at the Food and Drug Administration (FD… Continue Reading