Press Releases
As the Trump Administration Pressures Meat Processing Plants to Open, Senators Urge Action to Ensure Worker Safety
[WASHINGTON D.C.] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined a group of Democratic Senators led by Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, in raising new concerns about the Trump Administration's Executive Order that has pressured meat processing plants to open without verifying the necessary safety measures to protect workers and the food supply. In a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) … Continue Reading
May 21, 2020
Bipartisan Duckworth Bill to Prevent SBA’s Flagship Small Business Loan Program from Shutting Down Passes Senate
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Bipartisan legislation authored by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) to prevent the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flagship loan program from shutting down passed the Senate unanimously yesterday. Duckworth’s Small Business Lending Continuity Act of 2020, which was co-led by U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) and fellow committee members Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and James Risch (R-ID), would fix an … Continue Reading
May 20, 2020
Duckworth Introduces Legislation to Make Sure National Guard Troops Activated In Response to COVID-19 Receive Full Benefits During the Public Health Emergency
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, today introduced the National Guard COVID-19 Response Stability Act to ensure that all National Guard troops activated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic receive additional benefits and provide states with greater certainty. Her legislation would extend Title 32 authority for all troops activated in response to the crisis until the end of the public health emergency … Continue Reading
May 20, 2020
Duckworth and Blunt Rochester Lead Colleagues in Calling on EPA to Ensure Air Monitoring Continues During COVID-19 Pandemic
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), chair and co-founder of the U.S. Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, and Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) led a coalition of 58 of their House and Senate colleagues in urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to do everything it can to ensure that air-monitoring networks and air monitors that are critical to informing public health protections remain in operation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Members' bicameral … Continue Reading
May 20, 2020
Duckworth Presses Head of EPA on Rollback of Pollution Protections During COVID-19 Pandemic
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, co-founder of the Senate's first-ever Environmental Justice Caucus, today pressed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler about reports that EPA is rolling back air pollution protections and enabling a non-enforcement policy that encourages companies to operate without regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which could severely impact environmental justice communities. Video of Duckworth's questions at today's U.S. … Continue Reading
May 20, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin, Kelly Introduce Resolution Establishing "National Gun Violence Awareness Day"
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today introduced a resolution in the Senate establishing June 5, 2020, as "National Gun Violence Awareness Day" and designating June as "National Gun Violence Awareness Month." U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) will introduce a companion resolution in the House. Every day in America, an average of around 300 men, women, and children are shot, nearly one-third of them fatally. Designating a day to bring … Continue Reading
May 20, 2020
Duckworth Discusses Small Business Resources with Asian American Executive Network
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined members of the Asian American Executive Network (AAEN) in Illinois to discuss small business resources available for minority-owned small businesses and the Asian American and Pacific Islander community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Duckworth joined AAEN Founder George Mui, Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam (IL-SD-8) and other AAPI business leaders to discuss the funding for small businesses in recent relief packages and … Continue Reading
May 19, 2020
Duckworth Calls on DoD to Update the Defense Support of Civil Authorities Doctrine to Better Respond to the Deadly COVID-19 Pandemic
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a combat Veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Mark Esper to request that DoD work with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make sure the Department is proactively and continually updating the Defense Support of Civil Authorities doctrine to meet the requirements of the deadly coronavirus … Continue Reading
May 19, 2020
Duckworth Calls on FEMA to Justify Diversion of 5 Million Masks VA Ordered to Protect Veterans and VA Personnel
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide a transparent and detailed justification of why a shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE)-specifically, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) order of five million masks-was diverted away from the VA and delivered to FEMA. The head of VA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA) described this incident while explaining why certain VA medical facilities, … Continue Reading
May 19, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin and Colleagues Urge Congressional Leaders to Support Vulnerable Students Amid Coronavirus Crisis
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined a bipartisan group of Senators led by Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Jon Tester (D-MT), in pressing Congressional leadership to include significant funding for the Federal TRIO Programs (TRIO), which are integral to supporting vulnerable students and their families that have been impacted by COVID-19, in the upcoming relief package. The Senators' letter comes as the … Continue Reading
May 18, 2020
Duckworth, Blumenthal, Markey, Gillibrand Introduce Legislation to Create COVID-19 Victim Compensation Fund for Essential Workers
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today introduced a bill that would create a new fund to provide compensation for injuries to any individual, or their families, who are deemed an essential worker and required to leave their home to perform services and who have become ill or died as a result of COVID-19. The Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act is modeled after the September 11th … Continue Reading
May 18, 2020
Duckworth Statement on Nomination of Normal Mayor Chris Koos to Serve on Amtrak Board of Directors
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety, released the following statement after Normal, Illinois, Mayor Chris Koos was nominated to serve on the Amtrak Board of Directors: "As the ranking member of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over Amtrak, I applaud the decision to nominate Mayor Koos to join the Amtrak Board of Directors," Duckworth said. "Mayor Koos has long advocated for common sense … Continue Reading
May 18, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin, Grassley, McKinley, Bustos Secure COVID-19 Testing for BOP Inmate Transfer; Eight BOP Locations Removed from Quarantine List
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Congressman David McKinley (WV-1), and Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17), announced today that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), in coordination with the United States Marshall Service (USMS), will now test all inmates for COVID-19 prior to transferring them to BOP quarantine sites. Further, eight BOP locations have been removed from the list of BOP quarantine sites. The … Continue Reading
May 15, 2020
Duckworth Leads Call for Administration to Extend Full Federal Benefits to all National Guard Troops Activated During COVID-19 Pandemic
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), today wrote to Donald Trump expressing concern that his order to extend National Guard Title 32 authority for only 89 days in response to COVID-19 precludes troops from qualifying for additional federal benefits they would normally be granted if Title 32 was extended for 90 days or more. In their letter, the Senators urge the President to … Continue Reading
May 15, 2020
Duckworth, Harris, Hirono Introduce Resolution Condemning Anti-Asian Discrimination Caused by the COVID-19 Outbreak
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) this week introduced a resolution condemning anti-Asian racism that has been prompted by the COVID-19 outbreak. In March, the FBI released an intelligence report finding that hate crimes against Asian-Americans were likely to surge with the spread of the virus. Since that report, we have continued to see hatred and violence toward Asian-Americans. An advocacy group has collected more than … Continue Reading
May 15, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin Announce $473 Million to increase COVID-19 Testing in Illinois
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that Illinois will receive $473 million and a distribution of 620,000 testing swabs this month to expand COVID-19 testing efforts. The federal funding, provided through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was approved by Congress as part of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. Congressional Democrats fought to ensure that this legislation included a … Continue Reading
May 14, 2020
Duckworth, Maloney Announce Bipartisan Legislation to Create COVID-19 Victim Compensation Fund for Essential Workers
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12) today announced the introduction of a bipartisan bill that would create a new fund to provide compensation for injuries to any individual, or their families, who are deemed an essential worker and required to leave their home to perform services and who have become ill or died as a result of COVID-19. The Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act is modeled after the September 11th Victim … Continue Reading
May 14, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin Discuss COVID-19 Impact with Illinois Municipal League
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke with the Illinois Municipal League about the financial strains the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on state and local governments. On the call, Durbin and Duckworth discussed provisions in the recently introduced Heroes Act that would offer fiscal relief to localities of all sizes to replace the over $10 billion drop in state and local revenues expected by next July. The bill also proposes changes to the … Continue Reading
May 14, 2020
Duckworth and Durbin Join Klobuchar, Murray and Colleagues in Urging Administration to Keep Voters and Election Officials Safe Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration with jurisdiction over federal elections, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and 23 colleagues in a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calling on the Administration to issue updated and comprehensive … Continue Reading
May 14, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin Announce Telehealth Funding for Chicago Area Healthcare Providers
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that three Chicago-area healthcare providers have been awarded federal funding to provide telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding, which was awarded through the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau, was appropriated by Congress as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. "Expanding the reach of Illinois's healthcare … Continue Reading
