{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-speaks-at-spotlight-forum-raising-alarm-about-president-trumps-crusade-to-dismantle-the-department-of-education", "Durbin Speaks At Spotlight Forum Raising Alarm About President Trump\u2019s Crusade To Dismantle The Department Of Education", "2025-12-16", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Richard J. Durbin", "D000563", "www.durbin.senate.gov", "durbin", "https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today participated in a spotlight forum entitled \u201cDismantling Education: What the Trump Administration\u2019s Illegal Attacks on Federal Programs Mean for Students, Families, and Educators.\u201d The forum, convened by U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), focused on the dangerous consequences of the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for the nation\u2019s students, families, and schools.\n\n\u201cThe creation of the Department of Education, in my mind, was an effort to take Brown v. Board of Education to a new level. Once we established equality of opportunity in the law, we looked around and said, \u2018This isn\u2019t even close to being equal. We\u2019re going to have to focus resources and expertise into improving schools to get rid of the disparities.\u2019 Now comes the Trump Administration, which says we don\u2019t need it [ED] anymore. They\u2019ll parcel out the functions of the Department of Education,\u201d Durbin said.\n\nDurbin then asked Ms. Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, about her thoughts on the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts to dismantle ED.\n\n\u201cMs. Weingarten, I noticed that you\u2019re not only a professional teacher but also went to law school. So with that combination of education and law that I just made, would you like to comment on that?\u201d Durbin asked.\n\nMs. Weingarten replied that the initial destruction of ED by the Trump Administration is a direct challenge to the constitutional standard that all children in the United States, regardless of race and immigration status and including students with disabilities, deserve equal opportunity.\n\nVideo of Durbin\u2019s remarks are available here.\n\nAudio of Durbin\u2019s remarks are available here.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-speaks-at-spotlight-forum-raising-alarm-about-president-trumps-crusade-to-dismantle-the-department-of-education"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.725794980302453, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}