Fellow Illinoisan,

Our nation is facing the worst public health crisis in one hundred years.  We’re facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  And what is the message we’re hearing from Republicans in Congress?  Think small, do as little as possible.  

Nationwide, as many as 30 million Americans are relying on CARES Act enhanced unemployment benefits to put food on the table and pay for rent and health care.  Since the beginning of March, more than 1.7 million unemployment claims have been filed in Illinois alone - nearly ten times the number of claims from a year ago.

DURBIN SLAMS SENATE REPUBLICANS' INADEQUATE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE LEGISLATION

These CARES Act unemployment benefits are set to expire at the end of this week, on July 31.  Congressional Democrats have been sounding the alarm on this for weeks.  And what have Senate Republicans done in response?  Nothing.  

And now, with unemployment figures breaking all records, Republicans have decided that the problem with our economy is not unemployment.   It’s the fact that the people who are unemployed, struggling to just get by, are being given too much money.  Republicans have proposed to cut the $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit to just $200 per week.

Cutting unemployment compensation at this moment in history is cruel, inhumane, and insensitive to the realities that millions of American families are facing every single day.  And it is the cornerstone of Senate Republicans’ inadequate HEALS Act, which even they cannot seem to agree on. 

Waiting until the end of July represents an inexcusable delay and dereliction of duty by Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration.  As Democrats have been saying for months, time is of the essence.  Congress must work together - on a bipartisan basis - to respond to this public health and economic crisis.  American lives and livelihoods are at stake.  

Sincerely, 

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)