[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – In the spirit of bipartisanship, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) today announced that they will sit side-by-side at the President’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday, January 25. Traditionally, Members of Congress are split by party affiliation with Democrats and Republicans sitting on opposite sides of the center aisle in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.
“Traditions that divide us were made to be broken,” said Durbin. “As we begin to heal after the tragedy in Arizona, it’s important to for our nation's leaders to show unity in the face of such a divisive act. But the real test of bipartisanship will begin the next day, when we go back to work to debate some of the most important issues of our time.”
“Sitting together as Americans rather than partisans is a helpful example of respect and cooperation following the tragedy in Arizona,” said Kirk.
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Showing posts with label durbin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label durbin. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Sen. Durbin Has Surgery for Intestinal Tumor -- Noncancerous
CHICAGO, IL] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today underwent surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center to have a small gastro-intestinal stromal tumor (GIST) removed from his stomach. The tumor was not present in the lining cells of the stomach; it was completely removed and preliminary biopsy results demonstrate a favorable prognosis. According to Durbin’s doctors, there was no evidence that the tumor had spread beyond the site from which it was removed.
Durbin discovered the problem a few weeks ago during a routine medical check-up. Subsequent examinations of Durbin’s esophagus and stomach showed no cancer. The small size of the abnormality on the senator’s stomach lent itself to complete removal through a procedure known as laparoscopic partial gastric resection. Following his recovery from surgery, doctors do not expect Durbin to require further treatment.
“Senator Durbin went through today’s surgical procedure with flying colors and is resting comfortably,” said Durbin spokesman, Joe Shoemaker. “He expects to be released from the hospital and resume a light schedule in the next couple days, and should be able to resume a full schedule as soon as next week.”
Partial gastric resections are seen as safe and appropriate treatments for patients with gastro-intestinal stromal tumors. The procedure involves the removal of part of the stomach, completely excising the potentially affected area. As in the case of Sen. Durbin’s surgery, many of these operations can be performed through a minimally invasive procedure known as laparoscopy.
GIST occurs in approximately 4,000-6,000 people each year in the United States and account for about 1% of tumors of the stomach and small intestine; more than 150,000 gastric resections were performed in the United States in 2009.
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Durbin discovered the problem a few weeks ago during a routine medical check-up. Subsequent examinations of Durbin’s esophagus and stomach showed no cancer. The small size of the abnormality on the senator’s stomach lent itself to complete removal through a procedure known as laparoscopic partial gastric resection. Following his recovery from surgery, doctors do not expect Durbin to require further treatment.
“Senator Durbin went through today’s surgical procedure with flying colors and is resting comfortably,” said Durbin spokesman, Joe Shoemaker. “He expects to be released from the hospital and resume a light schedule in the next couple days, and should be able to resume a full schedule as soon as next week.”
Partial gastric resections are seen as safe and appropriate treatments for patients with gastro-intestinal stromal tumors. The procedure involves the removal of part of the stomach, completely excising the potentially affected area. As in the case of Sen. Durbin’s surgery, many of these operations can be performed through a minimally invasive procedure known as laparoscopy.
GIST occurs in approximately 4,000-6,000 people each year in the United States and account for about 1% of tumors of the stomach and small intestine; more than 150,000 gastric resections were performed in the United States in 2009.
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Thursday, August 5, 2010
US Dept of Energy Moves Forward with Scaled Back FutureGen Clean-Coal Project
CHICAGO – August 5, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today responded to Secretary of the Department of Energy Steven Chu’s announcement that the Department will be moving forward with FutureGen 2.0 in Illinois. FutureGen 2.0 will be a cutting-edge, clean coal repowering program and a carbon dioxide (CO2) storage network that can be a model for the nation.
Governor Quinn and Senator Durbin released the following statement:
“Three years ago, Illinois was announced as the national winner, today we are announcing that Illinois will still be in the lead when it comes to cutting-edge coal research and creating jobs.
Secretary Chu today confirmed that more than $1 billion in federal Recovery Act funding will be invested in Illinois to break ground on FutureGen 2.0 – a project centered in Mattoon with new projects in Meredosia and other parts of the state.
Advances in other large scale carbon sequestration projects since then have required the Department of Energy to re-tool the project in order to keep the United States on the cutting-edge of clean coal technology.
The people of Illinois have overcome attempts to kill this program, delays and extensions since FutureGen was originally proposed six years ago.
FutureGen 2.0 allows Illinois to remain a leader in innovative technology that will serve as a model for the nation. The new project stays true to the original goal of 90 percent CO2 capture and will provide thousands of good paying jobs in our state.
We would like to thank Coles Together, the Department of Energy, the FutureGen Alliance, Congressman Tim Johnson and the Illinois Congressional Delegation for working hard with us to keep this project alive for so many years.”
FutureGen 2.0 will bring more than 1,000 construction jobs to downstate Illinois and another 1,000 jobs to suppliers across the state. The technology for repowering and retrofitting plants derived from FutureGen 2.0 will lead to a decade-long project of repowering and retrofitting many coal-fired power plants in Illinois, creating more than 30,000 jobs in our state over the next ten years.
Across the country, 594 coal-fired plants could be candidates for retrofitting and repowering and thousands more globally. The technology and the training center for those efforts will be centered in Illinois.
The more than $1 billion that was set aside for the original FutureGen project will be reprogrammed and awarded to the FutureGen Alliance, Babcock & Wilcox, Ameren and Air Liquide Process & Construction, Inc. to build FutureGen 2.0. The funding will support four primary areas of work in the state of Illinois:
1) The Department of Energy and its partners will establish a regional deep saline injection CO2 storage facility in Mattoon, Illinois;
2) The Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Department of Labor and the Illinois Building Trades Council, also plan to develop a regional training center on the Mattoon site to train workers in building and repowering coal-fired power stations with advanced technologies;
3) The Department of Energy’s partners will retrofit and repower Ameren’s idle coal-fired power plant in Meredosia, Illinois with advanced Oxy–combustion technology, which will dramatically reduce CO2, and other pollutants and create 700 construction jobs and more than 50 permanent jobs; and
4) The Department of Energy will support the construction of a first-of-its-kind Midwest regional CO2 transportation pipeline from the Meredosia facility to Mattoon, Illinois for sequestration.
Governor Quinn and Senator Durbin released the following statement:
“Three years ago, Illinois was announced as the national winner, today we are announcing that Illinois will still be in the lead when it comes to cutting-edge coal research and creating jobs.
Secretary Chu today confirmed that more than $1 billion in federal Recovery Act funding will be invested in Illinois to break ground on FutureGen 2.0 – a project centered in Mattoon with new projects in Meredosia and other parts of the state.
Advances in other large scale carbon sequestration projects since then have required the Department of Energy to re-tool the project in order to keep the United States on the cutting-edge of clean coal technology.
The people of Illinois have overcome attempts to kill this program, delays and extensions since FutureGen was originally proposed six years ago.
FutureGen 2.0 allows Illinois to remain a leader in innovative technology that will serve as a model for the nation. The new project stays true to the original goal of 90 percent CO2 capture and will provide thousands of good paying jobs in our state.
We would like to thank Coles Together, the Department of Energy, the FutureGen Alliance, Congressman Tim Johnson and the Illinois Congressional Delegation for working hard with us to keep this project alive for so many years.”
FutureGen 2.0 will bring more than 1,000 construction jobs to downstate Illinois and another 1,000 jobs to suppliers across the state. The technology for repowering and retrofitting plants derived from FutureGen 2.0 will lead to a decade-long project of repowering and retrofitting many coal-fired power plants in Illinois, creating more than 30,000 jobs in our state over the next ten years.
Across the country, 594 coal-fired plants could be candidates for retrofitting and repowering and thousands more globally. The technology and the training center for those efforts will be centered in Illinois.
The more than $1 billion that was set aside for the original FutureGen project will be reprogrammed and awarded to the FutureGen Alliance, Babcock & Wilcox, Ameren and Air Liquide Process & Construction, Inc. to build FutureGen 2.0. The funding will support four primary areas of work in the state of Illinois:
1) The Department of Energy and its partners will establish a regional deep saline injection CO2 storage facility in Mattoon, Illinois;
2) The Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Department of Labor and the Illinois Building Trades Council, also plan to develop a regional training center on the Mattoon site to train workers in building and repowering coal-fired power stations with advanced technologies;
3) The Department of Energy’s partners will retrofit and repower Ameren’s idle coal-fired power plant in Meredosia, Illinois with advanced Oxy–combustion technology, which will dramatically reduce CO2, and other pollutants and create 700 construction jobs and more than 50 permanent jobs; and
4) The Department of Energy will support the construction of a first-of-its-kind Midwest regional CO2 transportation pipeline from the Meredosia facility to Mattoon, Illinois for sequestration.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sen. Durbin's Statement on the Death of Sen. Robert Byrd at age 92
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the death of Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV):
“Senator Byrd carried a copy of our Constitution close to his heart every day. It was a constant reminder of his life's mission to honor the values which gave us this great nation.
No one in the history of the Senate could match Byrd's thunderous oratory; his sense of history; his determination to teach every President the limits of his power and his lifelong passion to fight for West Virginia.
Daniel Webster, set another chair at Heaven's table, Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia has arrived.”
“Senator Byrd carried a copy of our Constitution close to his heart every day. It was a constant reminder of his life's mission to honor the values which gave us this great nation.
No one in the history of the Senate could match Byrd's thunderous oratory; his sense of history; his determination to teach every President the limits of his power and his lifelong passion to fight for West Virginia.
Daniel Webster, set another chair at Heaven's table, Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia has arrived.”
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Durbin Statement on Obama Health Care Proposal
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
Monday, February 22, 2010
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) made the following statement regarding President Obama’s health insurance reform proposal that was released earlier today:
“The President’s health reform proposal brings together the best of the current healthcare proposal – including both Republican and Democratic ideas. President Obama’s plan to give access to affordable health care to over 31 million Americans who currently don’t have it today, will put families not insurance companies back in control of their own health care, drive down health care costs and improve the quality of health care in America.
“On Thursday, I will join Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle in a meeting to discuss the President’s new plan. I look forward to a discussion with new ideas and bipartisan participation.”
Monday, February 22, 2010
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) made the following statement regarding President Obama’s health insurance reform proposal that was released earlier today:
“The President’s health reform proposal brings together the best of the current healthcare proposal – including both Republican and Democratic ideas. President Obama’s plan to give access to affordable health care to over 31 million Americans who currently don’t have it today, will put families not insurance companies back in control of their own health care, drive down health care costs and improve the quality of health care in America.
“On Thursday, I will join Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle in a meeting to discuss the President’s new plan. I look forward to a discussion with new ideas and bipartisan participation.”
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Durbin: President Obama's Budget Focused on Job Creation and Reducing Federal Deficit
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
Monday, February 1, 2010
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the budget President Obama delivered to Congress today will help put millions of Americans back to work, build a new foundation for long-term prosperity and continue restoring fiscal responsibility.
“Each year, the President has a chance to clearly articulate his vision and his priorities through his budget. Today’s budget is a vision for the future that is focused on creating jobs and rebuilding our economy,” said Durbin. “This budget includes tax credits and other incentives designed to encourage new hires, it adds dramatically to education so that our kids will be prepared to succeed in college and compete in the global economy and it includes more than a billion dollars for jobs related to energy efficiency.”
The President’s 2011 Budget makes critical investments in the key areas that will help to reverse the decline in economic security that American families have experienced over the past decade with investments in job creation, education, clean energy and infrastructure.
It also reflects the Obama Administration’s commitment to tighten the government’s belt to reduce deficits in the years ahead. In this budget, the President proposes to save $250 billion by freezing all non-security related discretionary spending for three years. The freeze would exempt the budgets of the Defense Department, Homeland Security Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Job Creation
The President’s budget proposes several smart, targeted initiatives that would help encourage job creation this year. It proposes to invest $100 billion in programs to help small businesses access the credit they need to expand and hire; incentives to encourage energy efficiency renovations that would put contractors to work on homes and manufacturing plants; and infrastructure projects that would employ construction firms to make our roads, trains, and airports more efficient.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: There are over 250,000 small employers and over 850,000 sole proprietors in Illinois, most of which would benefit from easier access to credit to finance expansion as the economy begins to grow again. Most of the over 3.3 million homes in Illinois could benefit from incentives to make those homes more energy efficient. There are 310 transportation projects in Illinois worth $1.3 billion that are ready to go if funding were available to put people to work.
The budget encourages the creation of as many as one million new jobs in small businesses throughout the country this year through the proposal of a Small Business Jobs and Wages Tax Cut.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The Small Business Jobs and Wages Tax Cut could create over 43,000 jobs in Illinois.
The budget includes $237 million to purchase, activate, and operate the “supermax” state prison in Thomson, Illinois. There is a critical need for a facility to address federal prison overcrowding problems nationwide and a particularly urgent need for supermax-type bed space. There are more than 209,000 inmates in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons, up sharply from 202,000 last year.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The purchase, activation and operation of Thomson Correctional Center could generate more than 3,000 jobs and inject more than $1 billion into the regional economy.
Education
The President’s budget expands access to a quality education through the largest funding increase ever requested for programs authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – a $3 billion increase to $28 billion, plus up to an additional $1 billion if the law is reauthorized by Congress.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Less than a quarter of Illinois students graduate high school ready for college level work. The President’s budget will help prepare all students for college by investing $2.1 billion in Illinois schools, students, and teachers.
The budget invests in comprehensive education reform through a $1.35 billion increase to expand the President’s Race to the Top competition.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Illinois was one of 41 states to submit an application for the first round of the Race to the Top competition. If Illinois’s application is successful, the state will receive between $200 million and $400 million to implement state-wide education reforms.
The budget makes college more affordable by raising the maximum Pell Grant to $5,710 and indexing the grant amount to inflation.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The President’s budget will make $1.4 billion available to Pell Grant recipients in Illinois. This will help more than 361,000 students in the state afford college.
The budget would lessen the burden of student loan payments on recent graduates by strengthening income-based repayment so that overburdened borrowers will pay only 10% of their discretionary income in repayments and have their remaining debt forgiven after 20 years.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: College students in Illinois graduate with an average of over $20,000 in student loan debt. The President's budget expands federal student aid and reforms the student loan system so that it works for students, not lenders.
The budget would expand child care and early education funding for working parents by adding $1.6 billion to the Child Care Development Fund and $1 billion to Head Start and Early Head Start
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The President’s investment in child care would mean $268.7 million in child care assistance for Illinois families. And the investment in Head Start would help place children in high-quality early childhood programs so that they enter school ready to learn.
Energy, Science and the Environment
The President’s budget would strengthen the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by adding $300 million for the interagency effort which targets federal funding at the most pressing environmental concerns in the Great Lakes. Last year the Obama Administration created the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Congress appropriated $475 million for its efforts.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is an interagency effort that targets federal funding at the most pressing environmental concerns in the Great Lakes including efforts to control the spread of Asian Carp. In December, $13 million was directed to fund emergency efforts to control Asian Carp. Next week, the Administration will be announcing its comprehensive Asian Carp plan that will address short and long term efforts by the Federal Government.
The budget builds on last year’s historic investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy and science with nearly a 7% increase in overall funding for the Department of Energy and an 8% increase for the National Science Foundation.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Both of Illinois’ Federal labs, Argonne and Fermilab, are slated for increased funding. Argonne’s overall budget is increased to $532 million and Fermilab’s overall budget is increased to $420 million. The state of Illinois is proposed to receive over $1.3 billion in energy spending from the Department of Energy. This is nearly a 6% increase from 2010 levels.
Heath Care
The President’s budget offers more security for our communities by investing $2.5 billion for health centers to provide affordable high quality primary and preventive care to underserved populations, including the uninsured. This will allow health centers in Illinois to continue to provide care to the additional patients they served under the Recovery Act and support new health center sites.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Since 2000, Illinois community health centers have more than doubled the number of patients—from over 400,000 to over 1 million today—a 150% increase. Last year alone, Illinois health centers provided direct health care services to over 1.1 million people.
The budget invests in the future of healthcare by providing $330 million as part of the health workforce initiative to address the shortage of health care providers in underserved areas. The Health Workforce Initiative includes $169 million in the National Health Service Corps and additional monies for the Nurse Education Loan Repayment and Scholarship Program, the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, and Dental Workforce Development Grants.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: In Illinois, 97 of the 102 counties have been designated full or partial health professional shortage areas. As the primary care shortage worsens, Illinoisans will benefit from the President’s investment in targeting funding to the neediest areas. Almost 2.2 million Illinoisans live in federally designated health professional shortage areas and are at great risk for being unable to establish a medical home because of a shortage of primary care doctors where they live. That’s 1 out of almost every 5 of Illinois’ citizens.
The budget offers stability for states and families by including $25.5 billion in additional Federal Medicaid assistance to help states maintain their Medicaid programs and ensure access to health care for millions of low-income Americans.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Over 2.4 million Illinoisans depend on the Medicaid program including over 1 million children. The President’s budget will allow a total of almost $8 billion to help Illinois protect health care coverage for vulnerable families with dependent children as well as aged, blind, or disabled individuals
Veterans
The President’s budget expands access to high-quality health care for all of our nation's veterans. The President's budget provides record funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs, building on historic funding increases with a 20 percent total increase since 2009. $57 billion is requested for FY2011. $50.6 billion is provided in advance appropriations for the VA medical care program in 2012, so that veteran care is not hindered by budget delays. The President's budget continues enrollment of more than 500,000 moderate-income veterans into the VA health care system by 2013.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: In 2008, Illinois' five VA medical centers and 22 outpatient clinics saw over 200,000 patients from Illinois and surrounding states. Illinois veterans will benefit from an increase in medical services funding of approximately $4 billion. The budget supports the VA and Defense Department joint implementation of the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, which will rely heavily on the lessons learned from the soon to be complete merger of North Chicago VA Medical Center and Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes into the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. Illinois veterans affected by Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress disorder will get the care they need through a $5.2 billion investment in specialized care.
The budget improves veteran access to the disability, education, and other benefits they have earned as a result of service to our nation.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The approximately 841,500 Illinois veterans stand to benefit from a variety of benefits initiatives. In 2008, over 77,000 Illinois veterans received VA compensation or pension benefits. In addition, more than 26,000 took advantage of VA sponsored education, home loan, or vocational rehabilitation programs. The President's budget allows the VA to hire thousands of new personnel to attack the current claims backlog, and puts $200 million into automated processing. According to a 2006 VA report, 2,197 Illinois veterans go homeless every night, with only 136 VA-funded beds available. The budget puts $799 million toward the administration's commitment to dramatically reduce veteran homelessness.
Transportation
The President’s budget helps promote nationally significant transportation infrastructure investments by creating the National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund. The budget requests $4 billion in grants and loans for transportation projects that provide a significant economic benefit to the nation or a region.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Last year’s Recovery Act included $1.5 billion in competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants for nationally significant transportation projects that will provide long-term economic benefits. Last year, Illinois submitted 49 applications totaling more than $2.3 billion to DOT for this program. This new program proposed in the budget is similar to the TIGER program but will add innovative financing assistance in addition to grants for these projects.
The budget makes a significant investment in our nation’s rail infrastructure by including $1.052 billion for Amtrak’s capital costs and $563 million for operating assistance – an increase of $50 million.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: There are 1,487 Amtrak employees in Illinois, earning $98 million in wages. Amtrak’s routes from Chicago to St. Louis, Milwaukee, Carbondale, and Quincy connect 35 Illinois cities. From Chicago you can visit the over 500 cities Amtrak serves. This funding could also benefit new routes from Chicago to Rockford and the Quad Cities.
The budget continues the Obama Administration’s historic federal commitment to high speed rail. $1 billion for 2011 is proposed for the high speed rail State grant program. This funding comes on top of the $8 billion included in the recovery Act and the $2.5 billion included in the 2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill. This program will be directed by the states and is intended to create several high-speed rail corridors across the country linking regional population centers.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Last week, the Obama Administration awarded $8 billion in grants from the Recovery Act. Illinois received $1.23 billion for work along the Chicago to St. Louis route. This grant will upgrade 2/3rd of the current track so it can handle 110 mph trains; shave up to an hour off the current trip time of 5.5 or more hours; improve on-time-performance to over 80%; upgrade stations along the corridor; and support 6,000 construction jobs. This funding could also benefit new routes from Chicago to Rockford and the Quad Cities.
Agriculture and Nutrition
The President’s budget responds to the needs of low-income Americans by continuing to support the nutrition provisions incorporated in the Recovery Act, including enhanced benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) averaging about $20 per person per month.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: In Illinois, the SNAP program helps over 1.5 million individuals (12.3% of the population) afford groceries. This is a 41% increase in participation over 5 years ago, a sign that this help is desperately needed now. In addition, food stamps have a direct impact on the state economy—USDA research has found that $1 in food stamps generates $1.84 in total economic activity.
The budget strengthens nutrition assistance and promotes healthy eating by investing $8.1 billion in discretionary nutrition programs, which is a $400 million increase over the FY10 level. This funding supports programs such WIC and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program which provide healthy food to low-income pregnant women, new mothers, and their infants; and supports our nation’s food banks and soup kitchens through The Emergency Food Assistance Program.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: In Illinois, nearly 295,000 women and children participate in WIC, which provides low-income at-risk women and children with vouchers for nutritious supplemental food packages, nutrition education, and health and immunization referrals.
Defense
The President’s budget helps take care of our men and women in uniform. It provides a 1.4 percent basic pay raise for all servicemembers to keep their pay increases consistent with pay increases in the private sector. The budget also provides an average housing increase of 4.2 percent for servicemembers and their families. It increases military family support programs more than 3 percent above 2010 levels, to $8.8 billion, including $1.3 billion for child care services at over 800 child development centers in the U.S. and overseas. It also includes $1.9 billion for expanded counseling and assistance services to help families meet the challenges of repeated deployments and family separations.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: About 42,000 active duty and National Guard and Reserve members in Illinois will benefit from these increases. In 2008, servicemembers, Department of Defense civilian employees, and military retirees from Illinois received $2.49 billion in pay. The budget will help fund the child development centers at Scott Air Force Base and the Rock Island Arsenal.
The budget provides quality health care for servicemembers, their families, and military retirees. It provides $30.9 billion overall for health care for the 9.5 million servicemembers, military family members, and military retirees who receive health care through the military’s TRICARE program. This amount includes $669 million to provide care for traumatic brain injury and psychological health and another $250 million for continued research in these areas.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: About 157,000 Illinois residents receive their health care through the Department of Defense’s TRICARE program.
Monday, February 1, 2010
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the budget President Obama delivered to Congress today will help put millions of Americans back to work, build a new foundation for long-term prosperity and continue restoring fiscal responsibility.
“Each year, the President has a chance to clearly articulate his vision and his priorities through his budget. Today’s budget is a vision for the future that is focused on creating jobs and rebuilding our economy,” said Durbin. “This budget includes tax credits and other incentives designed to encourage new hires, it adds dramatically to education so that our kids will be prepared to succeed in college and compete in the global economy and it includes more than a billion dollars for jobs related to energy efficiency.”
The President’s 2011 Budget makes critical investments in the key areas that will help to reverse the decline in economic security that American families have experienced over the past decade with investments in job creation, education, clean energy and infrastructure.
It also reflects the Obama Administration’s commitment to tighten the government’s belt to reduce deficits in the years ahead. In this budget, the President proposes to save $250 billion by freezing all non-security related discretionary spending for three years. The freeze would exempt the budgets of the Defense Department, Homeland Security Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Job Creation
The President’s budget proposes several smart, targeted initiatives that would help encourage job creation this year. It proposes to invest $100 billion in programs to help small businesses access the credit they need to expand and hire; incentives to encourage energy efficiency renovations that would put contractors to work on homes and manufacturing plants; and infrastructure projects that would employ construction firms to make our roads, trains, and airports more efficient.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: There are over 250,000 small employers and over 850,000 sole proprietors in Illinois, most of which would benefit from easier access to credit to finance expansion as the economy begins to grow again. Most of the over 3.3 million homes in Illinois could benefit from incentives to make those homes more energy efficient. There are 310 transportation projects in Illinois worth $1.3 billion that are ready to go if funding were available to put people to work.
The budget encourages the creation of as many as one million new jobs in small businesses throughout the country this year through the proposal of a Small Business Jobs and Wages Tax Cut.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The Small Business Jobs and Wages Tax Cut could create over 43,000 jobs in Illinois.
The budget includes $237 million to purchase, activate, and operate the “supermax” state prison in Thomson, Illinois. There is a critical need for a facility to address federal prison overcrowding problems nationwide and a particularly urgent need for supermax-type bed space. There are more than 209,000 inmates in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons, up sharply from 202,000 last year.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The purchase, activation and operation of Thomson Correctional Center could generate more than 3,000 jobs and inject more than $1 billion into the regional economy.
Education
The President’s budget expands access to a quality education through the largest funding increase ever requested for programs authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – a $3 billion increase to $28 billion, plus up to an additional $1 billion if the law is reauthorized by Congress.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Less than a quarter of Illinois students graduate high school ready for college level work. The President’s budget will help prepare all students for college by investing $2.1 billion in Illinois schools, students, and teachers.
The budget invests in comprehensive education reform through a $1.35 billion increase to expand the President’s Race to the Top competition.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Illinois was one of 41 states to submit an application for the first round of the Race to the Top competition. If Illinois’s application is successful, the state will receive between $200 million and $400 million to implement state-wide education reforms.
The budget makes college more affordable by raising the maximum Pell Grant to $5,710 and indexing the grant amount to inflation.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The President’s budget will make $1.4 billion available to Pell Grant recipients in Illinois. This will help more than 361,000 students in the state afford college.
The budget would lessen the burden of student loan payments on recent graduates by strengthening income-based repayment so that overburdened borrowers will pay only 10% of their discretionary income in repayments and have their remaining debt forgiven after 20 years.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: College students in Illinois graduate with an average of over $20,000 in student loan debt. The President's budget expands federal student aid and reforms the student loan system so that it works for students, not lenders.
The budget would expand child care and early education funding for working parents by adding $1.6 billion to the Child Care Development Fund and $1 billion to Head Start and Early Head Start
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The President’s investment in child care would mean $268.7 million in child care assistance for Illinois families. And the investment in Head Start would help place children in high-quality early childhood programs so that they enter school ready to learn.
Energy, Science and the Environment
The President’s budget would strengthen the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by adding $300 million for the interagency effort which targets federal funding at the most pressing environmental concerns in the Great Lakes. Last year the Obama Administration created the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Congress appropriated $475 million for its efforts.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is an interagency effort that targets federal funding at the most pressing environmental concerns in the Great Lakes including efforts to control the spread of Asian Carp. In December, $13 million was directed to fund emergency efforts to control Asian Carp. Next week, the Administration will be announcing its comprehensive Asian Carp plan that will address short and long term efforts by the Federal Government.
The budget builds on last year’s historic investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy and science with nearly a 7% increase in overall funding for the Department of Energy and an 8% increase for the National Science Foundation.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Both of Illinois’ Federal labs, Argonne and Fermilab, are slated for increased funding. Argonne’s overall budget is increased to $532 million and Fermilab’s overall budget is increased to $420 million. The state of Illinois is proposed to receive over $1.3 billion in energy spending from the Department of Energy. This is nearly a 6% increase from 2010 levels.
Heath Care
The President’s budget offers more security for our communities by investing $2.5 billion for health centers to provide affordable high quality primary and preventive care to underserved populations, including the uninsured. This will allow health centers in Illinois to continue to provide care to the additional patients they served under the Recovery Act and support new health center sites.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Since 2000, Illinois community health centers have more than doubled the number of patients—from over 400,000 to over 1 million today—a 150% increase. Last year alone, Illinois health centers provided direct health care services to over 1.1 million people.
The budget invests in the future of healthcare by providing $330 million as part of the health workforce initiative to address the shortage of health care providers in underserved areas. The Health Workforce Initiative includes $169 million in the National Health Service Corps and additional monies for the Nurse Education Loan Repayment and Scholarship Program, the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, and Dental Workforce Development Grants.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: In Illinois, 97 of the 102 counties have been designated full or partial health professional shortage areas. As the primary care shortage worsens, Illinoisans will benefit from the President’s investment in targeting funding to the neediest areas. Almost 2.2 million Illinoisans live in federally designated health professional shortage areas and are at great risk for being unable to establish a medical home because of a shortage of primary care doctors where they live. That’s 1 out of almost every 5 of Illinois’ citizens.
The budget offers stability for states and families by including $25.5 billion in additional Federal Medicaid assistance to help states maintain their Medicaid programs and ensure access to health care for millions of low-income Americans.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Over 2.4 million Illinoisans depend on the Medicaid program including over 1 million children. The President’s budget will allow a total of almost $8 billion to help Illinois protect health care coverage for vulnerable families with dependent children as well as aged, blind, or disabled individuals
Veterans
The President’s budget expands access to high-quality health care for all of our nation's veterans. The President's budget provides record funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs, building on historic funding increases with a 20 percent total increase since 2009. $57 billion is requested for FY2011. $50.6 billion is provided in advance appropriations for the VA medical care program in 2012, so that veteran care is not hindered by budget delays. The President's budget continues enrollment of more than 500,000 moderate-income veterans into the VA health care system by 2013.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: In 2008, Illinois' five VA medical centers and 22 outpatient clinics saw over 200,000 patients from Illinois and surrounding states. Illinois veterans will benefit from an increase in medical services funding of approximately $4 billion. The budget supports the VA and Defense Department joint implementation of the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, which will rely heavily on the lessons learned from the soon to be complete merger of North Chicago VA Medical Center and Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes into the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. Illinois veterans affected by Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress disorder will get the care they need through a $5.2 billion investment in specialized care.
The budget improves veteran access to the disability, education, and other benefits they have earned as a result of service to our nation.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: The approximately 841,500 Illinois veterans stand to benefit from a variety of benefits initiatives. In 2008, over 77,000 Illinois veterans received VA compensation or pension benefits. In addition, more than 26,000 took advantage of VA sponsored education, home loan, or vocational rehabilitation programs. The President's budget allows the VA to hire thousands of new personnel to attack the current claims backlog, and puts $200 million into automated processing. According to a 2006 VA report, 2,197 Illinois veterans go homeless every night, with only 136 VA-funded beds available. The budget puts $799 million toward the administration's commitment to dramatically reduce veteran homelessness.
Transportation
The President’s budget helps promote nationally significant transportation infrastructure investments by creating the National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund. The budget requests $4 billion in grants and loans for transportation projects that provide a significant economic benefit to the nation or a region.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Last year’s Recovery Act included $1.5 billion in competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants for nationally significant transportation projects that will provide long-term economic benefits. Last year, Illinois submitted 49 applications totaling more than $2.3 billion to DOT for this program. This new program proposed in the budget is similar to the TIGER program but will add innovative financing assistance in addition to grants for these projects.
The budget makes a significant investment in our nation’s rail infrastructure by including $1.052 billion for Amtrak’s capital costs and $563 million for operating assistance – an increase of $50 million.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: There are 1,487 Amtrak employees in Illinois, earning $98 million in wages. Amtrak’s routes from Chicago to St. Louis, Milwaukee, Carbondale, and Quincy connect 35 Illinois cities. From Chicago you can visit the over 500 cities Amtrak serves. This funding could also benefit new routes from Chicago to Rockford and the Quad Cities.
The budget continues the Obama Administration’s historic federal commitment to high speed rail. $1 billion for 2011 is proposed for the high speed rail State grant program. This funding comes on top of the $8 billion included in the recovery Act and the $2.5 billion included in the 2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill. This program will be directed by the states and is intended to create several high-speed rail corridors across the country linking regional population centers.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: Last week, the Obama Administration awarded $8 billion in grants from the Recovery Act. Illinois received $1.23 billion for work along the Chicago to St. Louis route. This grant will upgrade 2/3rd of the current track so it can handle 110 mph trains; shave up to an hour off the current trip time of 5.5 or more hours; improve on-time-performance to over 80%; upgrade stations along the corridor; and support 6,000 construction jobs. This funding could also benefit new routes from Chicago to Rockford and the Quad Cities.
Agriculture and Nutrition
The President’s budget responds to the needs of low-income Americans by continuing to support the nutrition provisions incorporated in the Recovery Act, including enhanced benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) averaging about $20 per person per month.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: In Illinois, the SNAP program helps over 1.5 million individuals (12.3% of the population) afford groceries. This is a 41% increase in participation over 5 years ago, a sign that this help is desperately needed now. In addition, food stamps have a direct impact on the state economy—USDA research has found that $1 in food stamps generates $1.84 in total economic activity.
The budget strengthens nutrition assistance and promotes healthy eating by investing $8.1 billion in discretionary nutrition programs, which is a $400 million increase over the FY10 level. This funding supports programs such WIC and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program which provide healthy food to low-income pregnant women, new mothers, and their infants; and supports our nation’s food banks and soup kitchens through The Emergency Food Assistance Program.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: In Illinois, nearly 295,000 women and children participate in WIC, which provides low-income at-risk women and children with vouchers for nutritious supplemental food packages, nutrition education, and health and immunization referrals.
Defense
The President’s budget helps take care of our men and women in uniform. It provides a 1.4 percent basic pay raise for all servicemembers to keep their pay increases consistent with pay increases in the private sector. The budget also provides an average housing increase of 4.2 percent for servicemembers and their families. It increases military family support programs more than 3 percent above 2010 levels, to $8.8 billion, including $1.3 billion for child care services at over 800 child development centers in the U.S. and overseas. It also includes $1.9 billion for expanded counseling and assistance services to help families meet the challenges of repeated deployments and family separations.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: About 42,000 active duty and National Guard and Reserve members in Illinois will benefit from these increases. In 2008, servicemembers, Department of Defense civilian employees, and military retirees from Illinois received $2.49 billion in pay. The budget will help fund the child development centers at Scott Air Force Base and the Rock Island Arsenal.
The budget provides quality health care for servicemembers, their families, and military retirees. It provides $30.9 billion overall for health care for the 9.5 million servicemembers, military family members, and military retirees who receive health care through the military’s TRICARE program. This amount includes $669 million to provide care for traumatic brain injury and psychological health and another $250 million for continued research in these areas.
ILLINOIS IMPACT: About 157,000 Illinois residents receive their health care through the Department of Defense’s TRICARE program.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Durbin Commends Ford for Adding 1,200 Jobs in Chicago
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today made the following statement after learning of Ford’s plan to hire 1,200 employees at the Chicago Assembly Plant in anticipation of increasing consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars. Ford plans to invest nearly $400 million in its Chicago plants to launch the production of the next-generation Explorer SUV, which feature fuel economy gains of at least 25% over the current model.
“More new, fuel-efficient cars are being purchased in Illinois and around the country. As a result, local dealerships are seeing increased demand and autoworkers are going back to work. I commend Ford’s decision to respond to consumer demand by increasing production and creating good paying jobs at the Chicago facility.”
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today made the following statement after learning of Ford’s plan to hire 1,200 employees at the Chicago Assembly Plant in anticipation of increasing consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars. Ford plans to invest nearly $400 million in its Chicago plants to launch the production of the next-generation Explorer SUV, which feature fuel economy gains of at least 25% over the current model.
“More new, fuel-efficient cars are being purchased in Illinois and around the country. As a result, local dealerships are seeing increased demand and autoworkers are going back to work. I commend Ford’s decision to respond to consumer demand by increasing production and creating good paying jobs at the Chicago facility.”
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Durbin, Biggert to Host Wednesday Meeting of Great Lakes Leaders to Chart Path Forward on Asian Carp Containment
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL) today announced that they have called a meeting of House and Senate leaders from states surrounding the Great Lakes to chart a path forward in the effort to contain Asian carp in Illinois. The meeting – to be held on Wednesday, January 27 at 9:00 AM ET in Room 215 of the Senate Visitors Center – will be attended by both Assistant Secretary of the Army, Jo-Ellen Darcy, who oversees the Army Corps of Engineers and Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency for Great Lakes issues.
“In the coming weeks, the White House Council on Environmental Quality will meet with Midwestern governors to discuss the Asian carp issue. It’s now time to bring members of Congress representing the Great Lakes states together in advance of that meeting to discuss a path forward,” said Durbin. “We must all work together – governors, Congress and the Administration – to find a solution that will protect our lakes, while preserving jobs and promoting economic activity in the region.”
“Illinois has been leading the charge to contain these invasive species from day one, but the Asian carp are a very real threat to every state, region, and locality that shares our concern about the Great Lakes,” said Biggert. “Working together, I am confident that we can stop these carp and preserve all the environmental and economic treasures afforded to us by the Great Lakes. I’m pleased to join Senator Durbin in bringing together lawmakers from across the region to examine the latest evidence of the carp’s movement, discuss the steps we’ve already taken, and urge our colleagues to join us in pressing ahead with sound solutions based on the best science available.”
On January 12, Durbin and Biggert hosted a briefing by federal, state and local officials at the Shedd Aquarium regarding the containment of Asian carp in Illinois. Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the City of Chicago, the Office of the Attorney General, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources all provided perspectives on the current situation, further mitigation options, and likely next steps.
If the carp reach Lake Michigan, they have the potential to damage the economy and ecosystem of the Great Lakes region, where the fishing industry alone is valued at $7 billion annually. Yet the community and economic implications of closing the locks of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal must be considered. The shipping industry used the canal to move nearly 7 million tons of cargo in 2008 through the O’Brien and Chicago locks, and the Army Corps estimates that closing the O’Brien lock alone would back-flood 14,000 homes.
Durbin and Biggert have a long history of working together to combat the spread of Asian carp, and from FY2003 through FY2010 they have secured more than $25 million in federal funding to contain the invasive species, and to keep it from entering Lake Michigan. State and federal agencies have already spent millions of dollars to contain the fish, particularly through the electric Asian Carp Barrier project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since 1998, the barrier project has received $41.2 million in federal funding. The Obama administration recently launched a $475 million comprehensive Great Lakes initiative which provides a regional approach to controlling invasive species, reducing non-point-source pollution, and cleaning up contaminated sediment.
In the fall of 2009, Asian carp genetic material was found in regular water testing of the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal. Genetic material has also been found both in the Calumet River near Wilmette and in Lake Michigan. Through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the State of Illinois, in collaboration with the relevant federal agencies, took an unprecedented $700,000 effort and applied Rotenone to six miles of the Canal to kill any Asian carp near the barrier. In addition to finding positive eDNA in the Canal, genetic material was also found in the Des Plaines River, north of the electric dispersal barrier.
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL) today announced that they have called a meeting of House and Senate leaders from states surrounding the Great Lakes to chart a path forward in the effort to contain Asian carp in Illinois. The meeting – to be held on Wednesday, January 27 at 9:00 AM ET in Room 215 of the Senate Visitors Center – will be attended by both Assistant Secretary of the Army, Jo-Ellen Darcy, who oversees the Army Corps of Engineers and Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency for Great Lakes issues.
“In the coming weeks, the White House Council on Environmental Quality will meet with Midwestern governors to discuss the Asian carp issue. It’s now time to bring members of Congress representing the Great Lakes states together in advance of that meeting to discuss a path forward,” said Durbin. “We must all work together – governors, Congress and the Administration – to find a solution that will protect our lakes, while preserving jobs and promoting economic activity in the region.”
“Illinois has been leading the charge to contain these invasive species from day one, but the Asian carp are a very real threat to every state, region, and locality that shares our concern about the Great Lakes,” said Biggert. “Working together, I am confident that we can stop these carp and preserve all the environmental and economic treasures afforded to us by the Great Lakes. I’m pleased to join Senator Durbin in bringing together lawmakers from across the region to examine the latest evidence of the carp’s movement, discuss the steps we’ve already taken, and urge our colleagues to join us in pressing ahead with sound solutions based on the best science available.”
On January 12, Durbin and Biggert hosted a briefing by federal, state and local officials at the Shedd Aquarium regarding the containment of Asian carp in Illinois. Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the City of Chicago, the Office of the Attorney General, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources all provided perspectives on the current situation, further mitigation options, and likely next steps.
If the carp reach Lake Michigan, they have the potential to damage the economy and ecosystem of the Great Lakes region, where the fishing industry alone is valued at $7 billion annually. Yet the community and economic implications of closing the locks of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal must be considered. The shipping industry used the canal to move nearly 7 million tons of cargo in 2008 through the O’Brien and Chicago locks, and the Army Corps estimates that closing the O’Brien lock alone would back-flood 14,000 homes.
Durbin and Biggert have a long history of working together to combat the spread of Asian carp, and from FY2003 through FY2010 they have secured more than $25 million in federal funding to contain the invasive species, and to keep it from entering Lake Michigan. State and federal agencies have already spent millions of dollars to contain the fish, particularly through the electric Asian Carp Barrier project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since 1998, the barrier project has received $41.2 million in federal funding. The Obama administration recently launched a $475 million comprehensive Great Lakes initiative which provides a regional approach to controlling invasive species, reducing non-point-source pollution, and cleaning up contaminated sediment.
In the fall of 2009, Asian carp genetic material was found in regular water testing of the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal. Genetic material has also been found both in the Calumet River near Wilmette and in Lake Michigan. Through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the State of Illinois, in collaboration with the relevant federal agencies, took an unprecedented $700,000 effort and applied Rotenone to six miles of the Canal to kill any Asian carp near the barrier. In addition to finding positive eDNA in the Canal, genetic material was also found in the Des Plaines River, north of the electric dispersal barrier.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Durbin Statement on the Supreme Court's Decision to Overturn Campaign Finance Laws
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to overturn a ban on corporate spending on political campaigns.
“Today’s decision by Supreme Court is a triumph for special interest and judicial activism at its worst. Overturning the ban on corporate spending on political campaigns opens the floodgates for the corrupting influence and the dominant hand of special interest groups.”
“At a time when the American people have ample reason to be wary of powerful corporations focused on a selfish agenda, this decision will only fuel feelings of cynicism and distrust in our system. The power of large corporations and special interests is already immense; this decision will put overwhelming pressure on elected officials to bend even more in the direction of Big Business.”
“We must now create a system where we finance campaigns fairly. It is the only way can ensure that our candidates and elected officials focus on addressing the nation’s problems and not on the limited interests of the wealthy and powerful few.”
Durbin is the author of the Fair Elections Now Act – a bill which would create a voluntary system that gives candidates the option to finance their campaigns with small dollar donations plus matching contributions from the Fair Elections Fund.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Durbin Announces $6 Million in Recovery Act Funding for Green Job Training in Illinois
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Department of Labor (DOL) has awarded a $6,000,000 State Energy Partnership and Training grant to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Today’s funding will be used to implement projects such as the Greater Rockford Solar Initiative and the Chicago Green Jobs for All Initiative, both of which provide green job training and certification.
“Creating good-paying jobs and promoting a clean energy future are two main goals 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 Illinois while bringing an estimated 3,000 workers into a new industry that will drive our economy in the years to come.”
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity plans to use this funding to train and place an estimated 1,310 workers in energy efficient occupations, as well as aid approximately 1,700 workers in earning industry-recognized degrees. Earlier today the DOL announced 34 grants nationwide ranging from $2 million to $6 million each. A total of $440 million in Green Job grant funding has been made available by the DOL over the last month. State Energy Partnership and Training grants are designed to teach workers the skills required in emerging industries such as energy efficiency and renewable energy.
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Department of Labor (DOL) has awarded a $6,000,000 State Energy Partnership and Training grant to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Today’s funding will be used to implement projects such as the Greater Rockford Solar Initiative and the Chicago Green Jobs for All Initiative, both of which provide green job training and certification.
“Creating good-paying jobs and promoting a clean energy future are two main goals 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 Illinois while bringing an estimated 3,000 workers into a new industry that will drive our economy in the years to come.”
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity plans to use this funding to train and place an estimated 1,310 workers in energy efficient occupations, as well as aid approximately 1,700 workers in earning industry-recognized degrees. Earlier today the DOL announced 34 grants nationwide ranging from $2 million to $6 million each. A total of $440 million in Green Job grant funding has been made available by the DOL over the last month. State Energy Partnership and Training grants are designed to teach workers the skills required in emerging industries such as energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Durbin, Quinn Statement on Recommendation to Approve Sale of Thomson Correctional Center
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn today commended the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) for their 7-4 decision in favor of the closure of the Thomson Correctional Center.
Senator Durbin and Governor Quinn issued the following statement:
“We are pleased the bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has endorsed the sale of the Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government and rejected the partisan rhetoric.
Elected officials, community and business leaders and the residents of Northwest Illinois are wholeheartedly supporting this proposal because they understand that this is an opportunity to create up to 3,800 jobs and generate more than $1 billion in a region that desperately needs both.
Fully utilizing Thomson and upgrading this facility to make it the safest prison in the nation will not jeopardize the safety and security of our country or our state; we would never endorse a plan that would do so. Despite the fear-mongering and nay-saying of a vocal few, we stand with state, county and local law enforcement officers and state’s attorneys from across the area, and with our nation’s military commanders, who know that this is about making our country safer by removing the deadly recruiting tool that Guantanamo has become.
This should not be a political or partisan issue. This is about doing what’s right for our troops, for our national security and for the people of Illinois. We will continue doing everything we can to make this sale a reality and bring the jobs and other economic benefits to our state.”
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn today commended the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) for their 7-4 decision in favor of the closure of the Thomson Correctional Center.
Senator Durbin and Governor Quinn issued the following statement:
“We are pleased the bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has endorsed the sale of the Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government and rejected the partisan rhetoric.
Elected officials, community and business leaders and the residents of Northwest Illinois are wholeheartedly supporting this proposal because they understand that this is an opportunity to create up to 3,800 jobs and generate more than $1 billion in a region that desperately needs both.
Fully utilizing Thomson and upgrading this facility to make it the safest prison in the nation will not jeopardize the safety and security of our country or our state; we would never endorse a plan that would do so. Despite the fear-mongering and nay-saying of a vocal few, we stand with state, county and local law enforcement officers and state’s attorneys from across the area, and with our nation’s military commanders, who know that this is about making our country safer by removing the deadly recruiting tool that Guantanamo has become.
This should not be a political or partisan issue. This is about doing what’s right for our troops, for our national security and for the people of Illinois. We will continue doing everything we can to make this sale a reality and bring the jobs and other economic benefits to our state.”
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Durbin Asks FEMA and Army Corps to Explain Status of Levees in Metro East
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Army Corps of Engineers to publicly release the data on the status of Metro East levees and make both agencies available to brief local community leaders and residents.
“Understanding the structural integrity of the levees in the Metro East area and the risk to those living behind them is fundamentally important to my constituents: hundreds of thousands of lives and billions in economic activity are at stake,” Durbin wrote. “Having access to information and your commitment to work with the local communities in addressing their concerns should be the bedrock of updating flood maps in any area.”
Durbin cited yesterday’s announcement that FEMA had agreed, at his urging, to delay the implementation of the new flood maps for the St. Louis region for at least one year as an opportunity for better understanding: “This additional time brings with it an opportunity for all of those affected by the updating of flood maps a chance to better understand the status of the levees in question and the flood mapping process. I respectfully request your assistance in providing residents of the Metro East area a more complete and transparent accounting of the status of the levees protecting their homes and businesses.”
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Sen Durbin Gets Congenital Heart Disease Research Included in Healthcare Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that portions of his bipartisan legislation to increase awareness, education and research into congenital heart disease – a rapidly growing national health problem – were included in the health care reform bill passed by the Senate. The Congenital Heart Futures Act aims to prevent premature death and disability and increase the quality of life for the nearly 1.8 million people in the United States living with congenital heart disease. Durbin introduced the legislation earlier this year with Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Representatives Zack Space (D-OH) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL).
“A child is born with a congenital heart defect every fifteen minutes,” said Durbin. “Despite the prevalence of congenital heart disease, research, data collection, education and awareness are limited. This legislation will expand research and broaden its scope to help those currently living with congenital heart disease and perhaps, one day, find cures.”
“We are making progress in the treatment of congenital heart disease as more infants survive what is commonly known as the No. 1 birth defect in the U.S. Now, this provision in health care reform legislation will take us further by expanding research and establishing a surveillance system to allow us to track the epidemiology of the disease,” said Clyde W. Yancy, M.D., President of the American Heart Association. “With advances in treatment, many children with congenital heart defects survive to adulthood, however, survivors with complex forms of the disease are likely to experience additional health problems later in life. That’s why it’s extremely important to coordinate research to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this disease and remove barriers to care.”
There are over 30 types of congenital heart defects, which occur when the structures of the heart are malformed, missing or in the wrong place during development. Heart defects are the most common and most deadly form of birth defects, affecting nearly 1% of births (approximately 36,000 a year). A child is born with a congenital heart defect every 15 minutes. These defects cause congenital heart disease—cardiovascular problems caused by the birth defect.
In 2004, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a working group on congenital heart disease, which recommended developing a research network to conduct clinical research, establishing a national database of patients, and creating an outreach education program on the need for continued cardiac care. Today’s Congenital Heart Futures Act builds upon the NHLBI’s recommendations by:
Developing a National Congenital Heart Disease Surveillance System at the CDC to track the epidemiology of congenital heart disease in individuals of all ages;
Promoting the coordination and expansion of the NHLBI’s congenital heart disease research, including a focus on causation; long term outcomes; diagnosis, treatment and prevention; longitudinal studies; and barriers to care.
While, there is currently no cure for congenital heart disease, modern medicine has made major advances in treating heart defects in newborns. In 1950, a child born with a congenital heart defect only had a 20% chance of surviving, but today that number has increased to 90%. Due to the increase in childhood survival rates, the population of people living with congenital heart disease increases by an estimated 5% every year and there are now 800,000 children and 1 million adults living with this condition.
Survivors of successful childhood intervention, however, face life-long risks including heart failure, rhythmic disorders, stroke, renal dysfunction, and neuro-cognitive dysfunction. The estimated life expectancy for those with congenital heart disease is significantly lower than for the general population – age 55 for those with moderately complex heart defects and 35 to 40 for those with highly complex defects. Less than 10% of adults living with complex congenital heart disease currently receive recommended cardiac care, and many are unaware that they require life-long specialized health treatment.
The following organizations have endorsed this legislation: Advocate Healthcare in Chicago, Illinois; Adult Congenital Heart Association; American Academy of Pediatrics; American Heart Association; Children’s Heart Foundation; Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois; Congenital Heart Information Network; La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois; March of Dimes; National Association of Children’s Hospitals; National Congenital Heart Coalition; and Rush University in Chicago, Illinois.
“A child is born with a congenital heart defect every fifteen minutes,” said Durbin. “Despite the prevalence of congenital heart disease, research, data collection, education and awareness are limited. This legislation will expand research and broaden its scope to help those currently living with congenital heart disease and perhaps, one day, find cures.”
“We are making progress in the treatment of congenital heart disease as more infants survive what is commonly known as the No. 1 birth defect in the U.S. Now, this provision in health care reform legislation will take us further by expanding research and establishing a surveillance system to allow us to track the epidemiology of the disease,” said Clyde W. Yancy, M.D., President of the American Heart Association. “With advances in treatment, many children with congenital heart defects survive to adulthood, however, survivors with complex forms of the disease are likely to experience additional health problems later in life. That’s why it’s extremely important to coordinate research to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this disease and remove barriers to care.”
There are over 30 types of congenital heart defects, which occur when the structures of the heart are malformed, missing or in the wrong place during development. Heart defects are the most common and most deadly form of birth defects, affecting nearly 1% of births (approximately 36,000 a year). A child is born with a congenital heart defect every 15 minutes. These defects cause congenital heart disease—cardiovascular problems caused by the birth defect.
In 2004, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a working group on congenital heart disease, which recommended developing a research network to conduct clinical research, establishing a national database of patients, and creating an outreach education program on the need for continued cardiac care. Today’s Congenital Heart Futures Act builds upon the NHLBI’s recommendations by:
Developing a National Congenital Heart Disease Surveillance System at the CDC to track the epidemiology of congenital heart disease in individuals of all ages;
Promoting the coordination and expansion of the NHLBI’s congenital heart disease research, including a focus on causation; long term outcomes; diagnosis, treatment and prevention; longitudinal studies; and barriers to care.
While, there is currently no cure for congenital heart disease, modern medicine has made major advances in treating heart defects in newborns. In 1950, a child born with a congenital heart defect only had a 20% chance of surviving, but today that number has increased to 90%. Due to the increase in childhood survival rates, the population of people living with congenital heart disease increases by an estimated 5% every year and there are now 800,000 children and 1 million adults living with this condition.
Survivors of successful childhood intervention, however, face life-long risks including heart failure, rhythmic disorders, stroke, renal dysfunction, and neuro-cognitive dysfunction. The estimated life expectancy for those with congenital heart disease is significantly lower than for the general population – age 55 for those with moderately complex heart defects and 35 to 40 for those with highly complex defects. Less than 10% of adults living with complex congenital heart disease currently receive recommended cardiac care, and many are unaware that they require life-long specialized health treatment.
The following organizations have endorsed this legislation: Advocate Healthcare in Chicago, Illinois; Adult Congenital Heart Association; American Academy of Pediatrics; American Heart Association; Children’s Heart Foundation; Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois; Congenital Heart Information Network; La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois; March of Dimes; National Association of Children’s Hospitals; National Congenital Heart Coalition; and Rush University in Chicago, Illinois.
US Senate Passes Healthcare Bill 60-39
Statement by Sen. Dick Durbin on the Senate Passage of the Healthcare Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the Senate passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by a vote of 60 -39.
“For centuries, during this time of year, people would gather with their family and friends, light a candle and look for signs of hope.
This morning’s vote in the United States Senate lit a candle of hope for millions of Americans who went to bed last night without the protection of health insurance.
It lit a candle of hope for the millions who woke up this morning wondering if they will ever win that battle with the health insurance company for the coverage they need, for that surgical procedure or for their medication.
And it lit a candle of hope for this nation that we are finally tackling an issue that every family and every business knows is central to our progress and success as a nation.
Many senators worked tirelessly on this bill, but in large part we succeeded today through the efforts, assistance and inspiration of a President who made this the highest item on his agenda and told us that he would work hard night and day to help us reach this moment. We owe him a great debt.”
WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the Senate passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by a vote of 60 -39.
“For centuries, during this time of year, people would gather with their family and friends, light a candle and look for signs of hope.
This morning’s vote in the United States Senate lit a candle of hope for millions of Americans who went to bed last night without the protection of health insurance.
It lit a candle of hope for the millions who woke up this morning wondering if they will ever win that battle with the health insurance company for the coverage they need, for that surgical procedure or for their medication.
And it lit a candle of hope for this nation that we are finally tackling an issue that every family and every business knows is central to our progress and success as a nation.
Many senators worked tirelessly on this bill, but in large part we succeeded today through the efforts, assistance and inspiration of a President who made this the highest item on his agenda and told us that he would work hard night and day to help us reach this moment. We owe him a great debt.”
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Durbin Discusses Historic Health Care Vote on the Senate Floor
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
Monday, December 21, 2009
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke today on the floor of the United States Senate about the need for health care reform. Durbin cited the rapidly rising cost of health insurance as reason the current system is in need of reform.
“I think when the history of the United States senate is written, this vote will be included, because it is a historic vote,” said Durbin. “We considered many issues in the United States Senate of great importance to individuals, groups, states and to our nation. But seldom do we address an issue of this magnitude or scope. This health care reform issue literally touches every person who is following this debate and many who are not even aware of it.”
Monday, December 21, 2009
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke today on the floor of the United States Senate about the need for health care reform. Durbin cited the rapidly rising cost of health insurance as reason the current system is in need of reform.
“I think when the history of the United States senate is written, this vote will be included, because it is a historic vote,” said Durbin. “We considered many issues in the United States Senate of great importance to individuals, groups, states and to our nation. But seldom do we address an issue of this magnitude or scope. This health care reform issue literally touches every person who is following this debate and many who are not even aware of it.”
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Durbin, Quinn Praise Administration Decision to Purchase Thomson Correctional Center
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn today praised the decision by the Obama Administration to proceed with the acquisition of a state of the art correctional facility in Thomson, Illinois.
“Thomson Correctional Center – a high security prison – has been sitting empty for eight years. The Obama Administration has put forward a plan to make it the safest prison in America and we are pleased that they have made this decision. This move will have a tremendously positive impact on the local economy -- creating more than 3,000 jobs and injecting more than $1 billion into the local economy. This is an opportunity to dramatically reduce unemployment, create thousands of good-paying jobs and breathe new economic life into this part of downstate Illinois.”
In a letter to Governor Quinn, sent by the U.S. Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretaries of State, Defense and Homeland Security, the federal government has signaled its intention to purchase and operate the prison.
They write: “We write to inform you that the President has directed, with our unanimous support, that the Federal Government proceed with the acquisition of the facility in Thomson. Not only will this help address the urgent overcrowding problem at our nation’s Federal prisons, but it will also help achieve our goal of closing the detention center at Guantanamo in a timely, secure, and lawful manner.”
The letter also addresses security concerns that have been raised about transferring Guantanamo detainees to the Thomson facility: “The security of the facility and the surrounding region is our paramount concern. The facility was built in 2001 to maximum security specifications, and after acquisition it will be enhanced to exceed perimeter security standards at the nation’s only “supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, where there has never been an escape or external attack . . . The President has no intention of releasing any detainees in the United States. Current law effectively bars the release of the Guantanamo detainees on U.S. soil, and the Federal Government has broad authority under current law to detain individuals during removal proceedings and pending the execution of final removal orders.”
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn today praised the decision by the Obama Administration to proceed with the acquisition of a state of the art correctional facility in Thomson, Illinois.
“Thomson Correctional Center – a high security prison – has been sitting empty for eight years. The Obama Administration has put forward a plan to make it the safest prison in America and we are pleased that they have made this decision. This move will have a tremendously positive impact on the local economy -- creating more than 3,000 jobs and injecting more than $1 billion into the local economy. This is an opportunity to dramatically reduce unemployment, create thousands of good-paying jobs and breathe new economic life into this part of downstate Illinois.”
In a letter to Governor Quinn, sent by the U.S. Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretaries of State, Defense and Homeland Security, the federal government has signaled its intention to purchase and operate the prison.
They write: “We write to inform you that the President has directed, with our unanimous support, that the Federal Government proceed with the acquisition of the facility in Thomson. Not only will this help address the urgent overcrowding problem at our nation’s Federal prisons, but it will also help achieve our goal of closing the detention center at Guantanamo in a timely, secure, and lawful manner.”
The letter also addresses security concerns that have been raised about transferring Guantanamo detainees to the Thomson facility: “The security of the facility and the surrounding region is our paramount concern. The facility was built in 2001 to maximum security specifications, and after acquisition it will be enhanced to exceed perimeter security standards at the nation’s only “supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, where there has never been an escape or external attack . . . The President has no intention of releasing any detainees in the United States. Current law effectively bars the release of the Guantanamo detainees on U.S. soil, and the Federal Government has broad authority under current law to detain individuals during removal proceedings and pending the execution of final removal orders.”
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Durbin Statement Following President's Address Outlining Strategy in Afghanistan
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
December 1, 2009
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after President Barack Obama outlined his strategy for the war in Afghanistan in an address earlier this evening.
“President Obama asked for time to make his decision on a new policy in Afghanistan. I am going to take some time to think through the proposal he presented tonight.”
December 1, 2009
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after President Barack Obama outlined his strategy for the war in Afghanistan in an address earlier this evening.
“President Obama asked for time to make his decision on a new policy in Afghanistan. I am going to take some time to think through the proposal he presented tonight.”
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Durbin to Host Delegation Briefing on Thomson Correctional Center
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced that TOMORROW, December 2, he will host a briefing for members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation to discuss the Thomson Correctional Center in Carroll County, Illinois as a possible site for a new federal maximum security prison.
If the Thomson Correctional Center is purchased by the federal government, the seven-county area surrounding the facility is expected to experience an estimated increase in employment of between 3,100 and 3,800 jobs in the first four years of operation. The ongoing operation of the prison is estimated to generate about 2,800 jobs that will be filled by people residing in Illinois. In the same time period, these jobs generated by the facility will produce a cumulative total of between $793 million and $1.015 billion in local earnings.
Representatives of the Departments of Defense and Justice (Bureau of Prisons) along with State of Illinois officials including the Director of the Illinois State Police, Jonathon Monken, will also attend tomorrow’s meeting.
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced that TOMORROW, December 2, he will host a briefing for members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation to discuss the Thomson Correctional Center in Carroll County, Illinois as a possible site for a new federal maximum security prison.
If the Thomson Correctional Center is purchased by the federal government, the seven-county area surrounding the facility is expected to experience an estimated increase in employment of between 3,100 and 3,800 jobs in the first four years of operation. The ongoing operation of the prison is estimated to generate about 2,800 jobs that will be filled by people residing in Illinois. In the same time period, these jobs generated by the facility will produce a cumulative total of between $793 million and $1.015 billion in local earnings.
Representatives of the Departments of Defense and Justice (Bureau of Prisons) along with State of Illinois officials including the Director of the Illinois State Police, Jonathon Monken, will also attend tomorrow’s meeting.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Durbin Statement on Senator Roland Burris
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) issued the following statement today following the Senate Ethics Committee’s finding regarding Senator Roland Burris:
“When we met with Roland Burris in January, we made it clear that in order for him to be seated in the U.S. Senate he needed to appear before the Illinois General Assembly to testify openly, honestly and completely about the nature of his relationship with the former governor, his associates and the circumstances surrounding this appointment.”
“Since then, the accuracy and completeness of his testimony and affidavits have been called into question. The U.S. Senate Ethics Committee has completed its review into this matter and found that Sen. Burris actions have brought discredit on him and the Senate. The letter of qualified admonition from the Ethics Committee speaks for itself.”
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) issued the following statement today following the Senate Ethics Committee’s finding regarding Senator Roland Burris:
“When we met with Roland Burris in January, we made it clear that in order for him to be seated in the U.S. Senate he needed to appear before the Illinois General Assembly to testify openly, honestly and completely about the nature of his relationship with the former governor, his associates and the circumstances surrounding this appointment.”
“Since then, the accuracy and completeness of his testimony and affidavits have been called into question. The U.S. Senate Ethics Committee has completed its review into this matter and found that Sen. Burris actions have brought discredit on him and the Senate. The letter of qualified admonition from the Ethics Committee speaks for itself.”
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Durbin Remarks on Unemployment Insurance Extension
From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
October 27, 2009
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke on the floor of the United States Senate today about the need to help families that are still searching for work by extending unemployment insurance. Without an extension of unemployment insurance this week, 200,000 American families will be in a position of not being able to put food on the table – 20,000 of those families live in Illinois.
“We have tried – more than once – to bring to the Senate floor a bill to extend unemployment insurance benefits for Americans who are still out of work and who need a little help to pay their bills,” said Durbin. “This should not be a partisan issue. The unemployment rate is close to 10% nationally. In many areas of the country and sectors of employment, the rate is much higher. Each day that goes by, more people are exhausting their benefits. I hear from them every day.”
October 27, 2009
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke on the floor of the United States Senate today about the need to help families that are still searching for work by extending unemployment insurance. Without an extension of unemployment insurance this week, 200,000 American families will be in a position of not being able to put food on the table – 20,000 of those families live in Illinois.
“We have tried – more than once – to bring to the Senate floor a bill to extend unemployment insurance benefits for Americans who are still out of work and who need a little help to pay their bills,” said Durbin. “This should not be a partisan issue. The unemployment rate is close to 10% nationally. In many areas of the country and sectors of employment, the rate is much higher. Each day that goes by, more people are exhausting their benefits. I hear from them every day.”
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