Following a Duckworth Request, President Biden Honors Trailblazing Brigadier General Vaught with Medal of Freedom
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years and is a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), issued the following statement after President Biden heeded her call and awarded Brigadier General Wilma L. Vaught, a retired Veteran of the U.S. Air Force, the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House today for her barrier-breaking military career and life-long advocacy for the women who serve in our Armed Forces:
“For over six decades, Brigadier General Vaught has served this nation both in uniform and as a staunch advocate and tireless voice for the women who have served and are serving in America’s Armed Forces,” said Duckworth. “For her trailblazing career and her lifetime of service to the American people, I’m proud that President Biden heeded my call and awarded Brigadier General Vaught with one of our nation’s highest civilian honors, the Medal of Freedom.”
Late last year, Duckworth—along with U.S. Senator Joni K. Ernst (R-IA), a retired lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard—led 18 of their female Senate colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter calling on President Biden to honor General Vaught with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Along with Duckworth and Ernst, the bipartisan request was joined by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY).
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