IL Sen. Tammy Duckworth joins Senate Veterans Affairs committee

ILLINOIS, USA — Friday, Jan. 3 is the first day back in office for U.S. Senators. It was also Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth's first day as part of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Since she was injured during her service in Iraq in 2004, Duckworth has been advocating for veterans like herself.

"It's a real honor to join the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee to continue my work and my life's mission," Duckworth said. "I want to make sure that our heroes are provided with the care and support they’ve earned."

That comes after several years of successful bills increasing VA access and protecting veterans. One of those is the PACT Act, which gives better care to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals, including burn pits and Agent Orange.

"We need to make sure that we continue to look at the conditions that are caused by exposure to toxic chemicals and make sure those veterans get signed up," Duckworth said.

But not every bill was passed. One would have established a national right to in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, and expanded VA coverage of the procedure.

"A lot of Americans don't realize that veterans have a much higher infertility rate than the general population," Duckworth said.

In post-9/11 combat veterans, nearly 16% of women and nearly 14% of men report fertility problems. That's compared to about 11% of women and 9% of men in the U.S. 

Duckworth's original bill was blocked on the Senate floor twice.

"We're working on some new legislation to increase access to fertility treatments for veterans," Duckworth said.

She said there are also concerns about President-Elect Trump's return to the White House. She said he did everything he could to privatize the VA during his previous term.

"That said, we need to be sure to push back on efforts from President Trump to try to privatize the VA or to cut VA benefits," Duckworth said.

She said some in the Republican Party also want to cut VA benefits because they're too expensive.

"Which to me is fairly sobering considering the fact that we didn’t think it was too expensive to send them, our veterans, into wars and ask them to serve," Duckworth said. "And yet when they have served us, that people say they're too expensive to maintain our promise to them, is really disgusting and so I will fight as hard as I can to make sure we keep our promises to our veterans."

Outside the committee, Duckworth said she'll focus on bringing manufacturing investment to Illinois and expanding E-15 ethanol use.

"Our ag sector depends on being able to sell ethanol, and it will also make gas cheaper at the pump for people to put into their gas tank for people commuting to work or going to school," Duckworth said.

Her other successful veteran-focused bills including one improving maternal care at VA facilities and another giving disabled veterans faster TSA screenings at airports. The Senate will stay in session through mid-March.