In The News
For this pantry, Christmas Eve marks 31 years of feeding HIV/AIDS-impacted LGBTQ community
A few days before Christmas, Lori Cannon, program coordinator at the Vital Bridges North Side Grocery Center, arrives just after 8 a.m., soon to be joined by volunteers. They bring food out of huge, walk-in coolers. Then come the trucks, one after the other, delivering meat, fish, produce. The phones are ringing, requests for help on the other end. More volunteers arrive. Together, they ensure groceries are stocked and ready by noon, when the Heartland Alliance Health-operated food pantry … Continue Reading
December 19, 2019
Duckworth Provisions Make NDAA Bill
Prior to impeachment hearings, the U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act on Tuesday 86-8. Several of the provisions within the act were priorities sponsored by Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth's main priorities were preventing low-income service members from going hungry, making it easier for Illinois's small businesses to secure Department of Defense contracts, make the federal contracting process more efficient and further secure the Rock Island, Illinois … Continue Reading
December 19, 2019
New Senate environmental caucus seeks input
WESTERN ILLINOIS - The U.S. Senate's first ever Environmental Justice Caucus is asking community leaders for their input on how the nation's environmental and economic policies may be hindering their communities' abilities to transition to cleaner environments and renewable energies. Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth is co-founder of the caucus and is a member of the U.S. Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis. Citing "generations of economic and racial inequality" as having … Continue Reading
December 18, 2019
Illinois senators to improve conditions for those living in public housing
U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-ILL), Dick Durbin (D-ILL) and Cory Booker (D-ILL), have introduced a bill to improve public housing. By bringing transparency, by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The bill is being called "Averting Crises in Housing Assistance (ACHA) Act," looks to address the national backlog of repairs in public housing facilities, by investing $70 billion in the Public Housing Capital Fund. Senator Duckworth said this new bill is part … Continue Reading
December 18, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth Bipartisan Act to Protect Miners Pensions, Health Care
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations bill will protect miners' pensions and health care coverage for retirees impacted by 2018 and 2019 mine bankruptcies. The Bipartisan American Miners Act, included in the final funding package, secures lifetime health care benefits for 13,000 miners who would have lost their benefits entirely, and 92,000 miners who would have seen their pensions gutted next year without … Continue Reading
December 16, 2019
Here’s Why The Skyrocketing Costs Of Reaching Incarcerated Loved Ones Is Unacceptable And Counterproductive
Picking up a phone and calling a loved one may sound simple, but its power is immeasurable - especially for the more than 2 million incarcerated individuals across America. Yet during the holidays, while millions of other Americans gather together to connect with family and friends, many of those incarcerated will be unable to speak with their families due to the high costs of placing a call from a prison or jail. This is unacceptable and, ultimately, counterproductive towards reducing … Continue Reading
December 09, 2019
Duckworth Introduces Military PPE Legislation
An Illinois Senator is working to ensure that female military members have proper fitting and functioning personal protective equipment. Tammy Duckworth, along with Iowa Democrat Joni Ernst, Arizona Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Richard Blumenthal have introduced legislation to improve troop readiness and effectiveness by addressing issues of inadequate and ill-fitting body armor and personal protective equipment (PPE) across the military, especially for women. Duckworth said her … Continue Reading
December 09, 2019
Senate leaders ask for input on ways to address climate change
The co-founder of the Senate's first-ever Environment Justice Caucus, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill) led 15 of her Senate colleagues in sending letters to leaders in the environmental justice movement. The letters asked for input on policy that could lessen the impacts of climate change in low-income communities and communities who inherited environmental burdens. The letter in part said "It is well past time for Congress to partner with you and your communities in … Continue Reading
December 07, 2019
Defense advocates fear isolationist views endanger military’s future
SIMI VALLEY, Calif - On the 78th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, defense advocates voiced concerns that too many Americans are supporting isolationist military policies at a time when the U.S. military needs to take a larger role in international security issues. "We have to be there," Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday. "We have to be there to support freedom of navigation. We have to be there to support rule of … Continue Reading
December 06, 2019
Duckworth-Sponsored Companion Bill For Foreign Born Military Children Passes U.S. House
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a companion bill of Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Georgia Republican Senator Johnny Isakson's Children of Military Members & Civil Servants Act. The bill establishes that a foreign-born child of a U.S. citizen who is a member of the Armed Forces or government employee like the civil service may automatically acquire U.S. citizenship even if the child is not residing in the United States and is born outside of the United States. Currently, a … Continue Reading
December 04, 2019
Resolution to name November as National Runaway Prevention Month passes Senate
WASHINGTION, D.C. (KFVS) - A bipartisan resolution, introduced by U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tim Scott (R-SC), that recognizes Nov. as National Runaway Prevention Month, passed the U.S. Senate this week. They hope resolution will help raise awareness of the nationwide runaway and homeless youth crisis. The resolution will also help educate the public on how to help end youth homelessness. U.S. Senators Dianne … Continue Reading
December 03, 2019
Small business workshop to be held at JALC on Thursday
CARTERVILLE -- The office of Sen. Tammy Duckworth will host the Southern Illinois Small Business Federal Contracting Workshop on Thursday at John A. Logan College. The event will connect area contractors with state and federal representatives to discuss topics including the application process for small business and 8A contract, barriers in the hiring process, workforce development, and upcoming contracting opportunities. A variety of agencies on the federal, state, and local levels … Continue Reading
December 03, 2019
Service chiefs grilled over efforts to fix mold, vermin and other military housing woes
Senators peppered service officials for more than two hours Tuesday with questions about ongoing problems with privatized family housing. Meanwhile, government auditors issued a report saying DoD's measures of tenant satisfaction are fundamentally flawed, leading to financial rewards to housing companies that may have been undeserved. The latest hearing came 10 months after the first hearings where family members testified about the hazards that threatened their health and safety, … Continue Reading
November 22, 2019
Durbin, Duckworth introduce bill to develop and preserve public housing
Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth are supporting legislation that would infuse $100 billion into the development and preservation of affordable housing across the country. The state's Democratic senators announced Friday that they are co-sponsoring the Housing is Infrastructure Act alongside Sen. Kamala Harris. Rep. Maxine Waters, chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, filed companion legislation in the House on Thursday. (Waters and Harris, who is running for … Continue Reading
November 21, 2019
Editorial: Science, not politics, must guide monitoring of water, air quality
A report out by the Better Government Association this week should concern every Illinoisan who cares about the air we breathe and the water we drink. The report says, among other things, that in Region 5 of the Environmental Protection Agency -- Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio -- inspections for air, water and land pollution have dropped by more than 60% in the past three years. That drop is twice as big as other regions of the U.S., which average a 30% decrease in … Continue Reading
November 20, 2019
Is waste incinerator poisoning Sauget with heavy metal emissions? CDC will investigate.
The Center for Disease Control will investigate whether a waste incinerator is poisoning people in Sauget. A federal agency within the CDC is expected to announce Wednesday it will conduct a preliminary investigation into "potential health hazards" from pollution near the Veolia North America-Trade Waste Incineration facility. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is expected to determine if the Sauget incinerator is causing heavy metal poisoning. A permit, issued by the EPA … Continue Reading
November 12, 2019
Tammy Duckworth: It's been 15 years since my 'alive day'
I probably should've died in a dusty field in Iraq 15 years ago today. I still remember the rain coming down that morning, and I still remember the taste of my lunch that afternoon. But most of all, I remember the scorching heat and deafening roar of the RPG that tore through the helicopter I was flying just north of Baghdad-a blast that cost me my legs and nearly my life as well. I wouldn't have lasted the hour if it weren't for the heroism of the troops around me, who thought I … Continue Reading
November 12, 2019
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth Honors Deported Veterans In Mexico
Dozens of deported U.S. military veterans and their families celebrated Veterans Day in Tijuana, Mexico, with a special guest: Iraq War combat veteran and Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth. It was an emotional day at the Deported Veterans Support House, also known as the "bunker," where deported veterans shared their stories with Duckworth. The stories were eerily similar. The veterans were born in Mexico but were raised in the U.S. As young adults, they enlisted and served in the military. … Continue Reading
November 11, 2019
Sen Tammy Duckworth Spends Veterans Day In Mexico To Be With Veterans Deported By Trump Administration
Iraq War veteran and Democratic Senator and Tammy Duckworth spent her Veterans Day across the border to be with veterans who have been deported to Mexico under the Trump administration. Duckworth, who lost both of her legs in 2004 while serving in Iraq, said she had wanted to spend the day in Tijuana to honor the service of veterans who have been turned away from the U.S. despite serving for the country. In a statement following her visit to The Bunker, a shelter for veterans who have been … Continue Reading
November 10, 2019
Wounded war vet Duckworth marks her 15th ‘Alive Day’ after Veterans Day visit to Tijuana facility for deported vets
WASHINGTON - On Monday, Veterans Day, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a wounded Iraq war vet, will cross the border from California to Mexico to visit a facility in Tijuana helping veterans deported in this Trump era. On Tuesday, in Washington, Duckworth will celebrate her 15th "Alive Day." That's the anniversary of the day she almost died after a rocket-propelled grenade ripped through the cockpit of her Black Hawk helicopter flying over Iraq on Nov. 12, 2004. She lost her legs and partial use … Continue Reading
