Government
Durbin urges House leadership to adopt transportation legislation
U.S. Senator says businesses and state governments need certainty to move forward.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Springfield, is the 47th U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois, the state’s senior senator, and the convener of Illinois’ bipartisan congressional delegation.
Durbin also serves as the Senate Majority Whip, the second highest ranking position among the Senate Democrats. Senator Durbin has been elected to this leadership post by his Democratic colleagues every two years since 2005.
Durbin serves as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and sits on the Appropriations and Agriculture Committees.
Elected to the U.S. Senate on November 5, 1996, and re-elected in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020, Durbin fills the seat left vacant by the retirement of his long-time friend and mentor, U.S. Senator Paul Simon.
Senator Durbin makes approximately 50 round trips a year between Washington and Illinois. He is married to Loretta Schaefer Durbin. Their family consists of three children--Christine (deceased), Paul, and Jennifer--as well as six grandchildren. They reside in Springfield.
Recent News About U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
Government
Durbin supports bill to boost regulation of flame-retardant chemicals
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ed Markey (D-MA) have announced their support for the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. “Following a Chicago Tribune series in 2012 that revealed that flame-retardant chemicals added to furniture and other household goods are useless and toxic for American families, I began calling for reform of the antiquated law regulating toxic chemicals,” Durbin said.
Government
Sen. Durbin supports Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin recently held a news conference to discuss the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, a bipartisan piece of legislation he helped create in the Senate to reform the nation’s criminal justice policy.
Government
Durbin, Fermilab director discuss funding, praise Nobel Prize winners
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with Nigel Lockyer, director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab, last week in Washington to discuss the importance of continued federal funding for scientific research and development programs. They met on the same day the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to two scientists for their work discovering neutrinos.
Government
Senate committee OKs nominee for U.S. marshal for Northern District of Illinois
U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) said on Friday that the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved Edward Gilmore to serve as U.S. marshal for the Northern District of Illinois.
Government
Durbin, other senators call for more federal scrutiny of for-profit colleges
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in writing a letter this week to the U.S. Department of Education (ED), urging immediate action to stop millions in federal funds from being provided to potentially fraudulent for-profit institutions.
Government
Senate Judiciary Committee advances Sentencing Reform bill
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 late last week. The bill was shepherded by U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the committee's chairman, and Dick Durbin (D-IL).
Government
Durbin, other lawmakers defend same-sex couples in Social Security agency lapse
U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) and 119 other fellow legislators submitted a letter on Monday to Carolyn Colvin, acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, urging them to ensure that the Supreme Court’s recent landmark same-sex marriage decision is implemented into policy practices and that the Social Security Administration (SSA) treats all marriages equally.
Government
Durbin, Illinois AG seek debt relief for students defrauded by Corinthian College
Joseph Smith, a special master appointed by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to oversee the federal student debt-relief process for former Corinthian College students, met on Friday in Chicago with several of these students, who are now overwhelmed by student-loan debt.
Government
Durbin helps shape VA-funding bill passed by Senate
The U.S. Senate passed legislation earlier this week to authorize funding for both the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and military construction projects in Illinois and across the nation, and the legislation contains several provisions that were spearheaded or influenced by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).
Government
Durbin promotes citizenship-loan programs to help immigrants prosper
Illinois has become home to more and more lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who are eligible to naturalize, but who have yet to do so, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited Second Federal Credit Union’s Brighton Park location late last week to discuss citizenship-loan products the institution is now offering.
Government
Durbin speaks out against EDMC 'recruitment mill' after settlement
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) released a statement this week in response to the decision by the Department of Justice, Department of Education and states' attorneys general to settle litigation with Education Management Corporation (EDMC) over the company’s alleged use of illegal incentive compensation with recruiters, as well as other deceptive recruitment tactics.
Government
Durbin: Consumers should have alternatives to 'payday loans'
Small-dollar loans have become increasingly popular nationwide, with the“payday loan” industry growing so fast that U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) recently sent a letter to the Community Bankers Association of Illinois, the Illinois Credit Union League and the Illinois League of Financial Institutions, urging them to work with community banks and credit unions to develop alternative lending options for the nearly 12 million Americans who take out such loans annually.
Government
Durbin slams GOP efforts to keep Syrian war refugees out of U.S.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke out on the Senate floor late last week against several Republican efforts to halt the flow of Syrian war refugees into the U.S.
Government
Durbin, others in Congress urge Obama to take executive action on gun violence
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and 23 other senators recently urged President Obama to consider all possible options under his executive authority to target gun violence in the U.S.