In The News
Duckworth Helps Introduce Legislation to Decriminalize Marijuana at Federal Level
U.S Senator Tammy Duckworth joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, and Tim Kaine by introducing new legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. The Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act would allow states to continue to decide how they will treat marijuana possession by removing marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act. The Federal Government will still have the ability to prevent trafficking … Continue Reading
July 03, 2018
Tammy Duckworth's Maternity Leave Might Be Over, But She's Bringing Her Breastfed Newborn To The Office
Let's get real for a moment: exclusively breastfeeding a young infant is hard work. As nursing moms know all too well, this around-the-clock responsibility is basically a full-time job in itself. So when maternity leave ends and a new mom is expected to leave her baby for a good chunk of the day, there are more than a few logistical hurdles to address. What if the baby refuses to take a bottle? Will the mother even have a clean, private place to pump if she can't nurse throughout the day? How … Continue Reading
July 02, 2018
Senator Tammy Duckworth on Why the Children Separated at the Border Still Need You
The reports have been chilling. A woman sobbed as she described how federal authorities took her child away from her while she was breastfeeding. A 10-year-old girl with Down Syndrome was separated from her mother. Babies and toddlers were ripped away from their families and then held in what, at best, have been described as "play rooms of crying preschool-age children in crisis." We are a nation in crisis. For weeks now, Donald Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen … Continue Reading
June 28, 2018
Duckworth brings baby along to Capitol immigration protest
With her infant daughter in tow, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth visited female activists in a Capitol Hill Senate building who are protesting the administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy "I wanted to show my support for the folks here today," Duckworth, who gave birth to her second child in April, told CNN in an interview after she visited with protesters. "I could only imagine what it would be like to have my daughter -- my breastfeeding child -- ripped away from me the way … Continue Reading
June 12, 2018
Sage grousing: Senators charge Interior is holding up conservation grants
WASHINGTON - Democratic senators are demanding to know why the Department of Interior has been delaying the disbursement of grants and cooperative-agreement funding for conservation projects. According to a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, written by Democrats Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii and signed by 10 colleagues, a political appointee has been put in charge of vetting payments of more than $50,000. The senators charge that the resulting delays have … Continue Reading
May 15, 2018
Sen. Duckworth: Haspel's torture record violates American values
When you find yourself wounded in enemy territory, as I did after my Blackhawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq, you develop an elevated understanding of the threat of torture by those who may capture and hold you prisoner. How you are treated is affected by how brutally your own nation treats individuals in its custody, which is why it's so important that the United States leads in recognizing that torture is illegal under our own federal law and the law of armed conflict that our nation and … Continue Reading
March 19, 2018
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a vet and double amputee, faces fight for equality as she will become first senator to give birth in office
Just eight months into Tammy Duckworth's 2004 deployment in Iraq, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded through the Blackhawk helicopter she was flying. As she wrote in a 2015 piece for Politico, "My right leg was vaporized; my left leg was crushed and shredded against the instrument panel." That day could have easily been the end of Senator Duckworth's life, but instead, 14 years later, she is a wife, mother, and a Democratic senator from Illinois. She is 50, a double amputee as a result of … Continue Reading
March 05, 2018
Duckworth: 2018 is past time to get real on paid leave
(CNN)Two weeks ago, I announced that I am pregnant. Since there are only 22 female senators -- and none has ever given birth while they served in the United States Senate -- I knew my announcement was going to get some attention. To be honest, I was a little surprised and overwhelmed by just how much attention our good news received. I was congratulated everywhere I went. I was asked to do tons of interviews. People even said nice things on Twitter, which is not always the friendliest space. … Continue Reading
February 19, 2018
Sen. Duckworth still breaking barriers, and she likes it
WASHINGTON (AP) - Breaking down barriers is nothing new for Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and that's the way she likes it. The decorated Iraq War veteran who lost both legs when her helicopter was shot down is an Asian-American woman in the mostly white, mostly male and very fusty Senate. And now, with a baby due in April, she'll be the first senator to give birth while in office. And so, along with her legislative and political goals, the Illinois Democrat is adding a new one: educating the … Continue Reading
February 09, 2018
Sen. Duckworth: Olympics Diplomacy or Not, North Korea Is Still a Threat
Today, the world will watch athletes from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea unite to march beneath one flag during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, just 50 miles from the DPRK border. For many, the sight of two nations that have been in conflict for generations coming together to compete in the Winter Games exemplifies the core mission of the Olympics: to unite people of the world in the spirit of solidarity and … Continue Reading
February 08, 2018
Trump's Call For Military Parade 'Simply Ridiculous,' Democratic Sen. Duckworth Says
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost her legs while serving in the Iraq War, is one of President Trump's fiercest critics. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) about the budget votes Thursday, Trump's call for a military parade in Washington and other topics. Interview Highlights On whether she could support Senate leaders' two-year budget deal, which leaves out immigration issues "I think that we do need to address the Dreamers. I don't know … Continue Reading
February 08, 2018
Duckworth, others hope political muscle saves veteran with PTSD from deportation, as options dwindle
As the threat of deportation becomes more imminent for a U.S. Army veteran with a green card and felony drug conviction, lawmakers and clergy this week ramped up efforts to keep him in the U.S. On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, using a little-known legislative maneuver intended to help specific individuals, introduced a private bill, requesting relief for Miguel Perez Jr., 39, who served two tours in Afghanistan but has no access to veteran benefits and has been ordered to return to his … Continue Reading
February 07, 2018
Tammy Duckworth, senator and war hero, takes on President Trump, aka 'Cadet Bone Spurs'
Tammy Duckworth, the Democratic U.S. senator representing Illinois, has emerged as one of President Trump's most pointed critics, repeatedly pushing back at his attempts to portray her party as unpatriotic. An Army veteran who lost both her legs while serving in Iraq, Duckworth has needled Trump about his draft deferments during the Vietnam War, giving him the nickname "Cadet Bone Spurs" for the foot diagnosis that allowed him to stay out of the military. "I will not be lectured about what … Continue Reading
February 06, 2018
Duckworth calls out 'Cadet Bone Spurs' after Trump's 'treasonous' remark
Washington (CNN) An Illinois Democrat who was seriously wounded in Iraq derisively referred to President Donald Trump's draft deferments after Trump called Democrats "treasonous" for not clapping during his State of the Union speech. "We don't live in a dictatorship or a monarchy. I swore an oath-in the military and in the Senate-to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not to mindlessly cater to the whims of Cadet Bone Spurs and clap when he demands I clap," … Continue Reading
February 06, 2018
Senator Tammy Duckworth proves it's not unpatriotic to question your superiors
On Nov. 12, 2004, shortly after her troop in the US National Guard had been deployed to Iraq, lieutenant colonel Tammy Duckworth was co-piloting a Black Hawk over Baghdad when she heard a hail of small-arms fire. A rocket-propelled grenade exploded directly beneath the cockpit where she was sitting. She immediately lost both of her legs. She awoke in pain—and anger—11 days later at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. Duckworth would later describe this place as … Continue Reading
February 05, 2018
Duckworth opens Senate constituent office in Carbondale
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., has opened a new Senate constituent service office in Carbondale's Eurma C. Hayes Center, located at 441 E. Willow St. The office can be reached by phone at (618) 677-7000. Duckworth's Carbondale Office will provide a number of services to Illinoisans including assistance with veterans affairs, Social Security, Medicare, small-business development and other issues involving federal agencies. "I'm opening one of my first Senate offices in Carbondale because … Continue Reading
February 05, 2018
Duckworth: 2018 is past time to get real on paid leave
Two weeks ago, I announced that I am pregnant. Since there are only 22 female senators -- and none has ever given birth while they served in the United States Senate -- I knew my announcement was going to get some attention. To be honest, I was a little surprised and overwhelmed by just how much attention our good news received. I was congratulated everywhere I went. I was asked to do tons of interviews. People even said nice things on Twitter, which is not always the friendliest space. … Continue Reading
January 27, 2018
Tammy Duckworth: The mother making history in the US Senate
Tammy Duckworth is used to being a trailblazer. A double amputee, she was the first disabled woman elected to the US Congress. Born in Bangkok to a Thai mother and American father, she was also among the first Asian-American women in Congress. And now, as confirmed in a gleeful tweet this week, she will be the first woman to have a baby while serving in the US Senate. It was "about damn time", the 49-year-old said. "I can't believe it took until 2018." On the day Donald Trump defied the … Continue Reading
January 23, 2018
Sen. Tammy Duckworth Talks About Her Trip To South Korea
Rachel Martin talks to Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq war veteran, who recently returned from a trip to South Korea and the DMZ, about the threat of nuclear war with North Korea. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: There were protests yesterday in Seoul, South Korea, a protest that disrupted a visit by North Korean officials. MARTIN: The protesters told NPR they are skeptical that these new plans for uniting the two Korean teams at the next month's Winter Olympics will ease tensions … Continue Reading
January 23, 2018
Tammy Duckworth is pregnant; will be 1st senator to give birth
WASHINGTON - In the history of the nation, only 10 members of Congress have given birth while in office and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is one of them. Soon Duckworth will be in a class by herself. Duckworth told me she is expecting her second child, another girl, in late April, a few weeks after she turns 50. The birth will make Duckworth the nation's first senator to have a baby while serving in the chamber. Sen. Dick Durbin D-Ill., said in a statement, "I am proud to have her as my … Continue Reading
