Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Illinois, a seat he was first elected to in 1996. He has been the Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, the second-highest position in the Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate. Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. He graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center. Working in state legal counsel throughout the 1970s, he made an unsuccessful run for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1978. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1982, representing the Springfield-based 20th congressional district. In 1996, he won election to the U.S. Senate by an unexpected 15-point margin. He has served as Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, and for a period of eight years (2007–2015) served as the Senate Majority Whip. He is currently dean of the Illinois congressional delegation, as he has served in Congress since 1983 as a U.S. Representative from Illinois 20th Congressional District, and from 1997 as a U.S. Senator from Illinois. Durbin now serves as the Senate Minority Whip following the 2014 midterm elections, where the Republicans gained a majority in the U.S. Senate and Durbin won reelection, defeating Republican Jim Oberweis, by a margin of 53.55% to 42.69%.
Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin led a congressional hearing on protecting young people from gun violence. Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the hearing is far too timely. Among those testifying was a 19-year-old from Chicago.
There have been additional calls for action on gun control in the wake of shootings in places like Uvalde, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. US Senator Dick Durbin is the latest to speak about weapons like assault rifles being in the hands of the general public. In the past week alone,...
Against a backdrop of the Fox River at Walton Island in Elgin, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on Wednesday announced $250,000 in new federal funding he secured to complete a long-delayed feasibility study for the environmental restoration of the Fox River. The Fox River Restoration Project will provide habitat restoration to...
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) made a stop in Rockford on Wednesday, making stops at the Family Peace Center and Coronado Performing Arts Center. Senator Durbin is one of the lead cosponsors of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization Act, and helped secure federal funding to help expand the center’s services.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Senator Dick Durbin wants one thing more than any other to come out of the school shooting in Uvalde that left 19 children dead. “First, let’s start with the obvious,” Durbin said. “No one needs an assault weapon.” But he doesn’t think that’s possible, due to the 50-50 split between Republicans […]
CHICAGO (CBS) – Ahead of the expected spike in summer violence - and the tragedy in Texas, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is calling for sensible gun reform.During a news conference at Lurie Children's Hospital Friday morning -- he acknowledged the tough political climate for change but remained hopeful. "Politics is no excuse, election is no excuse, it's a reason for us to roll up our sleeves and get it done," Durbin said. He says one of the most frequent conversations he has with constituents involves them telling him to "do something" about the violence and the toll it's taking on young people and communities.
Sen. Dick Durbin came to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s defense on Tuesday, blasting the San Francisco Archdiocese for banning her from receiving Communion — 18 years after the Illinois lawmaker was barred from receiving the sacrament in his home state.
“It’s very personal to Speaker Pelosi as it is to me,” Durbin told Fox News’ Chad Pergram during a press conference, blasting Catholic bishops for making decisions that should be left to one’s own conscience.
“The decision of the Catholic bishops and the treatment of pro-choice Catholics is different in diocese by diocese as a policy, they were poised to act for...
CHICAGO (CBS)-- U.S. Senator Dick Durbin addressed the efforts in the Senate to cap the cost of insulin. "Limit the price of insulin to $35 dollars. Today the cost of insulin can range from several hundred dollars to more than a thousand," Durbin said. "I'm cosponsoring a bill, we have Dems and Republicans on both sides of the aisle supporting it."A Chicago area family also spoke at a news conference Friday about the financial burden when their young daughter was diagnosed with diabetes. Illinois is one of only a few states already capping the cost of insulin at $100 per month for certain patients. But Durbin says federal action is needed to cover more Illinois patients with diabetes and reduce costs further. More than one-quarter of patients who rely on insulin have been forced to ration their doses due to cost, which can lead to deadly consequences.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's another big step in cutting down pollution on Chicago streets. Expanding CTA's electric bus program. Senator Dick Durban (D-IL) walked around an electric CTA bus and says there are about two dozen of them already. He has helped secure $2 million to build more charging stations. "The deadline for being all-electric buses on the CTA is 2040, 18 years from now. We want this to happen much sooner. Making sure we clean up the air in and around Chicago with these electric buses before that," Durban said. Senator Durbin also announced a half-million-dollar grant for a program at the electrical workers' union to train high school students for electric and renewable energy careers.
On April 13, the office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin announced as an extension of the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan, they would be providing over $3 million in funding for 6 healthcare providers in rural Illinois. According to Durbin, the intended goal of the round of funding is...
U.S. Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin spoke to Loyola students about his career, his work on immigraton reform and chairing the confirmation hearing of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson during an April 20 event hosted by Loyola’s Inside Government. During the event which was hosted on Loyola’s Water Tower Campus,...
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) - U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., will deliver the address at Augustana College’s 162nd Commencement Convocation May 22. Durbin is the fourth Illinois senator to speak at an Augustana commencement in recent years, following Adlai E. Stevenson, Alan Dixon and Mark Kirk, the college said in a media release.
CHICAGO - Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has accused some of his Republican colleagues of political posturing during confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. "They're trying to test this critical race theory, whatever that is, as a possible wedge issue in the next election," Durbin said. Durbin planned to move...
