Press Releases
Duckworth, Durbin Statement on Illinois State of Emergency Declaration in Response to Coronavirus
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker declared a state of emergency in response to new cases of coronavirus: "This is a commonsense, proactive measure to ensure the health and safety of Illinoisans. We commend Governor Pritzker, Mayor Lightfoot, and health care workers throughout Illinois who are on the front lines of this public health challenge. We will continue to keep … Continue Reading
March 09, 2020
Duckworth Celebrates 30th Anniversary of the Lake County Center for Independent Living, Highlighting Advancements in Disability Rights and Work Yet to Be Done
[KILDEER, IL] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) tonight delivered the keynote address at the Lake County Center for Independent Living's (LCCIL) 30th Anniversary. Duckworth reflected on the advancements in disability rights in the three decades since LCCIL's founding and passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), spoke about the work she's continuing to support on the federal level to expand the rights for people with disabilities and outlined her goals for the disability … Continue Reading
March 06, 2020
Duckworth Joins Colleagues in Introducing Legislation to Increase Diversity in Corporate Leadership
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and five of her Democratic colleagues in introducing the Diversity in Corporate Leadership Act of 2020 to encourage corporate leadership to ensure corporate boards reflect our nation's diversity. Despite a strong business case for diverse leadership, corporate boards have not reflected the gender, racial and ethnic diversity of the United States. The other cosponsors of the bill include … Continue Reading
March 06, 2020
Bipartisan Duckworth, Graham Bill to Fix Immigration Policy for Children of U.S. Servicemembers and Civil Servants Passes Senate
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - The U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Citizenship for Children of Military Members & Civil Servants Act, which is now headed to the President to be signed into law, this week. U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and former Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) introduced this bipartisan legislation in the Senate to fix a problem in current law that disadvantages certain children whose parents are serving our nation abroad in uniform or in the civil service by modernizing … Continue Reading
March 05, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin Host Chicago Infrastructure Meeting
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Chuy Garcia (D-IL04), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), and Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), today met with Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) Commissioner Jamie Rhee, Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) Commissioner Gia Biagi, and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Dorval Carter to discuss infrastructure priorities in Chicago. The group discussed funding to … Continue Reading
March 05, 2020
Duckworth Confronts Officials over the Trump Administration’s Botched Response to COVID-19
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - During a Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee hearing this week, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) questioned the Trump Administration's lack of preparedness in responding to the outbreak of COVID-19, specifically related to data sharing between airlines and the agencies tasked with coordinating an effective response. During her time in the Army, the last project Duckworth worked on at the Pentagon's Defense Support of Civil Authorities was to help … Continue Reading
March 05, 2020
Duckworth, Scott, Cardin and Collins Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Support Women Entrepreneurs
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced bipartisan legislation, the Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise Act of 2020, to reauthorize a federal interagency committee that helps coordinate federal resources to encourage the formation, growth and success of women-owned businesses. There are currently an estimated 13 million women-owned … Continue Reading
March 05, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin Announce Over $90,000 for Rural Development in Central and Southern Illinois
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $93,500 in federal funding to help provide infrastructure support vehicles for the Village of Ullin, the Village of Schram City and the City of Roodhouse. These investments come through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Rural Development's Community Facilities Grant Program. "Investments like these help rural communities across the state improve infrastructure as well as protect and … Continue Reading
March 05, 2020
Duckworth Now Accepting Applications for Class of 2025 Service Academy Nominations
[SPRINGFIELD, IL] - U.S. Senator and combat Veteran Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that her office is now accepting applications through her website from high school students seeking a Congressional nomination to a United States Military Service Academy. Each year Duckworth, along with a nomination committee, selects from the applicants a group of outstanding Illinois students to receive Congressional nominations to attend West Point, the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy or the … Continue Reading
March 05, 2020
After Record Flooding, Duckworth, Durbin Announce Over $4 Million for Emergency Transportation Relief in Illinois
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $4,101,186 in federal funding to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for transportation infrastructure repairs after heavy rains and flooding in Illinois last spring. These investments come through the Office of Federal Lands Highway's Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads (ERFO) program. The ERFO … Continue Reading
March 04, 2020
Duckworth Raises Concerns to Esper & Milley about Lack of Investment in Indo-Pacific Strategy, Logistics Infrastructure
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - At today's U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) expressed her concerns to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley about how the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has not sufficiently prioritized funding for INDOPACOM-the unified combatant command of the U.S. Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Pacific region-and logistics infrastructure capabilities. … Continue Reading
March 04, 2020
Duckworth Meets with VFW Members to Discuss Veterans Issues
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with leaders and constituents from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to discuss the organization's legislative priorities and her efforts on important issues impacting Veterans in Illinois and across the nation, including healthcare, toxic exposures, employment transition and disability compensation. Duckworth also thanked VFW Commander in Chief Will "Doc" Schmitz for calling on President Trump to apologize … Continue Reading
March 04, 2020
Duckworth Statement on Reports Iran Now Has Fuel Needed for Nuclear Weapon
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement in response to public reports that Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles have tripled, which experts suggest could be an indication that the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign-including Trump's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement-is backfiring: "The JCPOA nuclear agreement was effective in halting Iran's dangerous development of nuclear weapons-which is why even … Continue Reading
March 04, 2020
Duckworth Applauds Bipartisan Funding Deal to Combat the Spread of COVID-19
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after Congressional leaders announced roughly $8 billion in emergency supplemental funding to help the Federal Government better respond to the community spread of the highly contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) by enhancing diagnostic testing capacity and capabilities, enhancing disease surveillance and mitigating the harmful impacts of this public health … Continue Reading
March 04, 2020
Duckworth Urges Action from SBA to Help Small Businesses Harmed by COVID-19 Outbreak
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) wrote to the Honorable Jovita Carranza, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, to urge the agency to establish a task force focused on effectively and efficiently providing assistance to small businesses harmed by the outbreak of coronavirus 2 (COVID-19). "This is particularly important for small businesses who lack the capital reserves and human resources to weather and respond to sudden, severe and sustained … Continue Reading
March 04, 2020
Duckworth Questions NRC Commissioner about Workforce Culture at NRC
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today pressed Kristine Svinicki, Chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), on her efforts to improve the workforce culture at NRC. Duckworth also asked Svinicki why the results of internal staff polls-that showed that over 82% of staff believe the NRC needs to change its workforce culture-which were once publicly available appear to have been removed from the NRC's website. NRC Commissioners David Wright, Annie Caputo and … Continue Reading
March 03, 2020
Duckworth, Durbin Announce Nearly $2 Million to Support Public Housing in Illinois
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $1,976,390 in federal funding to public housing authorities throughout Illinois for supportive services to help empower residents, improve living conditions and enable families to move toward housing and economic self-sufficiency. This funding was allocated though the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency grant program. "Affordable … Continue Reading
March 03, 2020
Senator Duckworth and Congressman Cartwright Reintroduce Bill to Modernize Our Aging Water Infrastructure
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-PA-08) today reintroduced legislation to bring our water infrastructure into the 21st century by investing in critical research to make our water infrastructure systems safer, more reliable and more efficient. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Plumbing Research Act would re-establish a laboratory within the National Institute of Standards and Technology to promote innovative … Continue Reading
March 03, 2020
Duckworth, Schneider Meet with Illinois Members of AIPAC to Discuss U.S.-Israel Relationship
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) met with Illinois members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to discuss the importance of strengthening our nation's relationship with Israel, our strongest ally in the region. During the meeting, Duckworth and Schneider discussed the growing instability in the Middle East and its potential impact on Israel. Duckworth talked about her longstanding support for security … Continue Reading
March 02, 2020
Duckworth to HHS: Implement Policies to Dramatically Improve Diagnostic Testing Procedures, Capabilities and Capacity to Mitigate Impact of COVID-19 Infections
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today wrote to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging the agency take immediate action to establish clear diagnostic testing procedures and to rapidly expand the distribution of testing kits for the highly contagious coronavirus 2 (COVID-19). Duckworth also requested transparency in reporting progress, with the goal of being prepared to respond to COVID-19 outbreaks in any state or territory. "The community spread … Continue Reading
