Dick Durbin

October 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that the City of Naperville will receive $10,994,000 in Recovery Act funding for energy grid modernization technologies that will spur the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system. Earlier today, President Obama and the Department of Energy announced $3.4 million in Smart Grid grants nationwide that are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and a stronger more reliable energy grid.    » read more »

October 16, 2009 -- CHICAGO, IL – Fifty thousand unemployed workers in Illinois will lose their unemployment benefits by the end of the year if legislation to extend those benefits isn’t approved by Congress, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today.

The extension would provide benefits for an additional 14 weeks for jobless workers in all 50 states, and would add six weeks of insurance for jobless workers in states with unemployment above 8.5%, which includes Illinois. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation authorizing the extension, and the Senate will continue debating the legislation next week.    » read more »

October 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Congress has approved $94,396,000 for energy- and water-related projects in Illinois. The bill will now go to President Obama for his signature.

The Fiscal Year 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bill includes funding for the following projects:

Army Corps of Engineers:    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Late yesterday, the United States Senate unanimously approved a bill to award Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus a Congressional Gold Medal. The bill, introduced by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT), recognizes Dr. Yunus as a leading figure in the effort to fight poverty and promote economic and social opportunity.

Through his Grameen Bank, Dr. Yunus has pioneered the microcredit movement and helped hundreds of millions of people around the world break out of poverty.    » read more »

October 13, 2009 -- Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced a resolution today to empower and strengthen the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“The United States faces an ever-growing array of foreign policy challenges, and in nearly every instance, international development should be part of the solution,” said Dodd, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “An empowered USAID is critical for a strong and effective American foreign and national security policy, and providing USAID with the resources, support, and staff it needs will go a long way towards meeting these important goals.”    » read more »

October 6, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the United States Senate has approved $52,000,000 in federal funding to assist defense related facilities and projects across Illinois.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 defense spending bill includes funding for the following projects:    » read more »

October 6, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) chaired a second hearing today on the U.S. government’s efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute suspected human rights abusers found to be living in America. Durbin’s first hearing on the subject was in late 2007.

“Two years ago, this Subcommittee held the first-ever Congressional hearing on the enforcement of human rights laws in the United States. While progress has been made, there is still much more to be done,” Durbin said. “The world is watching us closely. When we bring human rights violators to justice, foreign governments are spurred into action, victims take heart, and future perpetrators think twice.”    » read more »

Amendment would require contractors to fix dangerous deficiencies, such as improperly grounded electrical wires, they discover that threaten the safety of military personnel and contractor employees

October 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- Last night, the U.S. Senate passed an amendment by Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) to hold contractors accountable for the safety of their employees and U.S. service members overseas. This legislation was introduced after shoddy electrical work lead to the deaths of soldier and contractors    » read more »

September 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $28,740,800 in funding to three Illinois communities through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help improve energy efficiency, reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions and create green jobs locally.

“Creating jobs and securing our environmental future are at the heart of the Recovery Act,” said Durbin. “This funding will make a significant investment in the effort to reduce the carbon footprint of residents and businesses in the Chicagoland area.”    » read more »

September 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $1,496,671 in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to Illinois health networks to implement electronic health records. The HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $27.8 million in Recovery Act funding to health centers nationwide for implementation of electronic health records and other health information technology innovations.    » read more »

September 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced the decision by the U.S. Commerce Secretary, Gary Locke, to award a $4.5 million Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Ill., to help refurbish an existing building at the Institute’s University Technology Park for use as a technology business incubator facility. The project, made possible because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), is expected to create additional jobs and private investment in the region.    » read more »

July 7, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which he is a member, has approved $82,257,000 in federal funding for military construction projects in Illinois.

The Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations Bill for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs includes funding for the following Illinois projects:    » read more »

Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Boost Program that Helps Law Enforcement Quickly Find Missing Persons

June 23, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and 10 other Senators in introducing legislation (S. 1301) that would make a federal investment in an effective program that assists law enforcement efforts to locating missing persons quickly.    » read more »

Letter urges Secretary of State Clinton to be a proponent of treaty to regulate interstate transfer of weapons

June 17, 2009 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and seven of her Senate colleagues are urging Secretary of State Clinton to be a strong proponent of an international Arms Trade Treaty to regulate the interstate transfer of conventional weapons.

The second session of the UN Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on the Arms Trade Treaty is scheduled to convene at the United Nations next month. The Working Group is tasked with creating international regulations on the export, import and international transfer of arms to help prevents the flow of weapons to world conflict zones.    » read more »

June 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the Obama Administration announced a plan for comprehensive financial regulatory reform:

“For the past two years, we have been dealing with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The current crisis has many causes, but perhaps the most significant, was the breakdown of our financial regulatory system which left consumers and our markets unprotected.”    » read more »