Sen. Tammy Duckworth's lived experience a catalyst for change in Illinois, across the country

The junior U.S. senator from Illinois has had a life marked by not only overcoming obstacles, but shaping a sharp vision from them. She’s wielded her own life experiences to make history on the Senate floor, speaking up – often with firsthand experience – for the issues she cares about.

In 2004, Duckworth was deployed to Iraq as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the Illinois Army National Guard, where she stood among the first women in the Army to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Nov. 12, 2004, a rocket-propelled grenade shot down her helicopter, exploding in her lap.

She lost both her legs and partial use of her right arm. But after a year of recovery, she became director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs where she helped create a tax credit for employers that hire veterans, developed programs to improve access to housing and health care and established the nation’s first 24-hour veteran crisis hotline.

Duckworth later served as former President Barack Obama’s assistant secretary of veteran affairs, addressing issues affecting women and Native American veterans. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, making her the first disabled woman to serve in Congress.

Rising through the ranks of the military as a young woman, she put off having children until she was 50 to prioritize her career. After a series of in-vitro fertilization treatments, she welcomed her daughter Abigail in 2014 and another daughter, Maile Pearl, in 2018.

Duckworth made history that year as the first senator to give birth while in office. She brought her 10-day-old newborn onto the Senate floor during a vote, a decision that sparked a rule change which now allows parents to bring infants onto the Senate floor to fulfill both parenting and political duties.

She remembers traveling between Illinois and Washington twice a week while breastfeeding. Finding appropriate places to pump breast milk proved difficult, so Duckworth pushed a five-year campaign, the Friendly Airports for Mothers Improvement Act, that mandated lactation rooms in airports and hospitals starting in 2020.

She’s also pushed to expand access to fertility treatment nationwide through her Right to IVF Act, introduced in the Senate last year.

For her accomplishments in reproductive rights, veterans issues and disability advocacy, Duckworth has been named USA TODAY's Women of the Year honoree from Illinois.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Who paved the way for you?

During COVID, I was writing letters to my daughters to talk about the importance of service to them, and it ended up being a book. The title of my book is “Every Day is a Gift,” and that’s how I feel about people who have paved the way for me. I feel like I’ve been given gifts along the way.

When my dad had been unemployed in his 50s for over five years and we were nearly two days away from being homeless, it was an American Legion call so that we would actually have a place to stay.

It was Vietnam veterans who were still flying helicopters in the reserve unit at Naval Air Station, Glenview. I’m in my 20s, I show up at this helicopter, I’m the only woman there and I’m a cadet. These Vietnam veterans took me under their wing.

And then, of course, here at the Senate, I wouldn’t have gotten here were it not for Dick Durbin. He saw me in the hospital when I was wounded, and he looked past the wheelchair. He looked past my race, my age, my gender, and he saw someone who was hungry to continue to serve my country.

What legislative efforts that you’ve worked on do you feel have motivated you most throughout your career?

I probably have several buckets. Obviously, what first motivated me was veterans issues, so it was everything I did in Illinois, and we were the first state in the country to do a lot of things. We were the first to have a 24-hour mental health crisis hotline for veterans. Even before the V.A. had a 24-hour hotline, we implemented one back in 2007. Illinois is the first to implement my program that allows veterans and small business owners access to federal property for free. I’ve worked a lot on veteran homelessness, which has been a real crusade of mine for a long time.

Do you have a proudest moment in your career or life that you could identify?

One moment that brings a smile to my face is every time I’m in an airport and I see one of those lactation pods or lactation rooms. That’s my law. I did that. It makes a difference for the most vulnerable, our babies, and I get to see one every time I go through an airport, which is, you know, a couple times a week.

What is your definition of courage?

I am trying to teach both my daughters. We’ve been having this conversation. What I tell them is, “Courage is not the absence of fear.” When I served in the military, I had to do a lot of things that were scary. Courage comes from finding something scary, but doing it anyway. It’s not the absence of fear. It’s actually the presence of fear but moving forward anyway.

Is there a guiding principle or mantra you tell yourself in situations like that?

I try to assume that the other person loves this country as much as I do. Maybe we don’t all have the same perspective on the problem, which is probably why we don’t have the same answers. You don’t win without compromising; an 80% solution is better than a 0%. Maybe there’s a way to find a middle ground.

Who did or do you look up to?

Right now and every day in my job, I try to look back to what Dick Durbin has done or Paul Simon has done in the past, this idea that we all need water, clean water. Clean air. So trying to look at some of the folks who may have been dealbreakers in the past or helped guide me at this time when it’s pretty partisan.

It’s pretty difficult here in Washington right now, and I’m trying to look back to the folks who were able to get things done in previous areas and maybe learn from them. Of course, I’m happy it’s not a bad group to look up to.