In The News
Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Expand Fertility Services to Service Members, Veterans
Senate and House Democrats are trying again to expand fertility treatments for active-duty personnel and veterans whose military-related disabilities render them unable to conceive without help. Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Rick Larsen, both Democrats from Washington state, along with Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., plan to introduce bills in their chambers Thursday that would cover in vitro fertilization, cryopreservation of eggs and sperm, and other health treatments for military family and … Continue Reading
September 14, 2023
After infant formula crisis, lawmakers look to donor milk
An infant formula shortage last year that left store shelves empty and parents panicked spurred lawmakers to scramble for solutions. One year later, some think they’ve found one: Donor breast milk. On Thursday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., will introduce a bill that aims to increase access to pasteurized donor milk for infants and push the FDA to regulate the practice. It’s the latest move aimed at solving a problem that dominated headlines last year. … Continue Reading
September 08, 2023
Illinois lands Chinese EV battery plant as Pritzker, Duckworth seek more deals with Asian companies
A Chinese electric battery maker’s decision to open a plant in Kankakee County is a huge victory in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s all-out bid to bring more Asian companies to Illinois. It’s also part of a larger effort. Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth are trying to seal deals with Asian companies — the governor through a direct line of communication with business heads, and Duckworth with two Asian trips under her belt this year to try to encourage cooperation and agreements. “There’s a lot of … Continue Reading
September 08, 2023
Sen. Tammy Duckworth visits Champaign in quest to require school bus seat belts
A few weeks ago, a student in Ohio died and 23 others were injured when a minivan hit their bus on the first day of school. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, visited Champaign on Friday to promote her solution. “Any fatality or serious injury is one too many when we have proven affordable technologies available today that could prevent such a tragedy,” she said, after a meeting with school officials at the Unit 4 Transportation Center. Duckworth has been introducing her School … Continue Reading
September 08, 2023
Illinois Senator & Champaign schools team up to promote school bus safety
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth is reintroducing a bill to require seat belts and other safety equipment on all buses. "When I was serving our country in Iraq, I wore full safety gear. My helmet, my 5-point harness seatbelt, along with my training and equipment, is what saved my life," Senator Duckworth explained. Now, she's working to ensure every child has a seat belt when they get on their school bus each morning. "In Ohio, one elementary school student was killed and other 23 injured … Continue Reading
September 06, 2023
How To Fix U.S. Air Travel for Passengers With Disabilities | Opinion
When Kwaku Agyeman, a wheelchair agent at D.C.'s Reagan National Airport, first started his job 10 years ago, he was paid only $5.65 per hour, relying on tips to bring his salary up to the minimum wage. In the years since, his working conditions have hardly improved. He's not alone. Workers like Kwaku have seen their wages drop and benefits like health care disappear over the past decade, all while performing essential jobs like transporting baggage, providing food service, and assisting those … Continue Reading
August 31, 2023
Sen. Tammy Duckworth Announces $3.5 million from EPA to Upgrade Harvey Water Infrastructure
The city of Harvey will receive $3.5 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its Central Area Water and Sewer Improvement Project, according to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s office. The money was secured through a congressionally directed spending request and will be used to implement “long-overdue water infrastructure upgrades to help address chronic flooding and reduce resource costs for breaks and leaks repairs,” according to a news release from the senator’s … Continue Reading
August 30, 2023
Congress Can't Erode Airplane Safety Rules That Save Lives
On a foggy night in February 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 took off from Newark Airport, heading for nearby Buffalo, New York. Fifty-nine minutes later, the aircraft crashed into a house, killing all 49 passengers and crew on board, along with one person on the ground. Immediately, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board began an investigation into the crash, soon determining it was caused by pilot error due to lack of experience with icing conditions. As a result, Congress acted to … Continue Reading
August 18, 2023
More funding to Support Healthcare in Southern Illinois
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced Friday $3.75 million in federal support she secured through a Fiscal Year 2022 Congressionally Directed Spending Request. The money will be sent by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to Shawnee Health Service and Development Corporation in Carterville. These federal resources will go toward updating medical facilities and equipment to help improve health outcomes and address healthcare gaps in rural communities in southern … Continue Reading
August 14, 2023
US to Boost Trade with Indo-Pacific, Senator Says
The United States is seeking to maintain its presence in the Indo-Pacific region by increasing its trade relations, in addition to its military ties, in a seeming move to counter China’s influence in the region, a visiting senator has said. The US has tended to lean more on its military relationship with countries in the region. But economic ties are just as important, including trade with Indonesia, which has been “underperforming” but can be improved, US Senator Tammy Duckworth said on … Continue Reading
August 07, 2023
For second time this year, Duckworth leads congressional trip to Indo-Pacific
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is leading a congressional trip to the Indo-Pacific region for the second time this year with stops set for Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. The follow-up trip comes with the aim of further bolstering military and economic partnerships between the U.S. and several countries in the region. It can be viewed as a projection of American power as the country enters a greater level of competition with China, as well as an opportunity to promote Illinois … Continue Reading
August 03, 2023
Democratic leaders seek $837 million in federal funding to revamp Chicago’s Union Station
Illinois leaders on Thursday applied for nearly $900 million in federal funding for a plan that would speed up rail service to and from Union Station and even create a direct connection between O’Hare Airport and McCormick Place. “If it rolls, floats or flies, it comes through Chicago,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley at a press conference in the West Loop. “Union Station, this is the ballgame. But the track and the bridge system around it in the Chicagoland area is at least 100 years old — and … Continue Reading
July 31, 2023
Sen. Duckworth took her daughters to see ‘Barbie.’ Because she uses a wheelchair, she had to wait outside.
Over the “Barbie” movie’s opening weekend, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, like many Americans, went to see it with her young daughters and a few friends from their play group. “Barbie” has been the No. 1 movie in America since it opened on July 21. Many viewers have put on their pinkest outfits for showings, and Duckworth’s family was no exception. “We got all dressed up in pink, and my girls put on their sparkly shoes,” Duckworth told … Continue Reading
July 28, 2023
Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s Barbie moment cut short
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot who lost her legs in combat, issued a statement this week on the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “It’s past time we make sure accessibility is the default in America—not an afterthought,” she said in her statement. But she realized when she went to go see the Barbie movie this week that even the best intentions put forth by the ADA can sometimes fall … Continue Reading
July 28, 2023
Duckworth says a broken elevator prevented her from taking her kids to ‘Barbie’
Sen. Tammy Duckworth says she was ready to go party with “Barbie” — until a broken elevator turned her Barbie dreams into a wheelchair-inaccessible bummer. The Illinois Democrat recounted how she had plans this week to join the millions of theatergoers heading to see “Barbie,” which stars Margot Robbie as the famed doll. The hit film so far has reportedly grossed more than $214 million in North America since its release last week. “Barbie is a … Continue Reading
July 25, 2023
Emmett Till National Monument Will Include Chicago Church That Hosted Teen’s Funeral
Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, the site of Emmett Till’s open-casket funeral, will be included in a national monument set to be created by President Joe Biden on the anniversary of Till’s birth. Roberts Temple Church, 4021 S. State St., will be preserved as part of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, according to the Associated Press. Till, a 14-year-old Chicagoan, was lynched by white supremacists in Mississippi nearly 70 years … Continue Reading
July 24, 2023
We’ve Been on the Front Lines. We Know What Ukraine Needs.
Both of us have been the targets of enemy fire. It nearly cost one of us her life. We know a truth every combat veteran learns: For all the planning and consideration that goes into a war, much of it gets thrown out the window the moment the shooting starts. You often learn more about your enemies in the first 24 hours of a conflict than you do from years of studying them. This has unequivocally been the case in Ukraine. At the outset of the war, Russia had one of the largest militaries in … Continue Reading
July 16, 2023
Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Tuberville’s military blockade is 'jeopardizing our nation’s ability to lead the free world'
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of the Armed Services Committee, on Sunday decried Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of hundreds of military nominations as a political move that will jeopardize the U.S.' "ability to lead the free world." Tuberville, an Alabama Republican who is a member of the Armed Services Committee, has blocked hundreds of military appointments, citing his objection to a Defense Department policy that provides paid time … Continue Reading
July 16, 2023
Calling it a danger to national security, Duckworth blasts Tuberville’s hold on military promotions
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) slammed Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on Sunday, calling his controversial blockade of more than 270 military promotions a threat to national security. “It is bizarre for Senator Tuberville to say that he’s not jeopardizing national security when he injects politics into the defense process. And frankly this is not the time to do it, not when there is a war going on in Europe, not when American leadership is vital to the international global … Continue Reading
July 14, 2023
I’m tired of my Senate colleague threatening national security
For months now, thanks to one man who has never served in uniform a day in his life, the United States Senate has been failing our troops and military families. In March, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., began blocking all senior Department of Defense nominations, protesting a Defense Department policy that helps service members stationed in anti-choice states travel for basic reproductive care. With that decision, my Republican colleague effectively told the … Continue Reading
