In The News

December 08, 2020

Online grocery shopping is growing, but millions of Americans on food stamps are being left behind

by Nathaniel Meyersohn

New York (CNN Business) -- Richard Smith wishes he could buy his groceries online and get them delivered right to his door in the pandemic. It's not so easy. Smith, 74, is retired and has COPD, a chronic lung disease. He has trouble breathing from his years of smoking cigarettes. In September, he was hospitalized for his condition. Twice a month, Smith, who doesn't have a car, goes with an aide in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Market Basket, a local supermarket chain, to pick up food and … Continue Reading


December 07, 2020

US senator seeks update on contractor taken in Afghanistan

by Eric Tucker

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Democratic senator is calling on the State Department to prioritize the return of Mark Frerichs, an American contractor believed to have been taken by a Taliban-linked militant network in Afghanistan earlier this year. The letter from Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois comes weeks after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held what are likely his last meetings with the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators trying to hammer out a peace deal. It is unclear to what extent … Continue Reading


December 07, 2020

U.S. Senator Duckworth says military hunger issues uncovered in FOX4 investigation must be addressed

by Lisa McCormick

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A FOX4 investigation that exposed widespread food insecurity among active-duty service members in Missouri has sparked concern and outrage by Iraq War Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator from Illinois Tammy Duckworth. FOX4's investigation revealed that 30% of Missouri students whose parents serve in the military qualified for free or reduced lunches this year. FOX4 also discovered there are food pantries and food distribution programs on or near every military base in the … Continue Reading


December 01, 2020

Duckworth calls for ‘compassionate resolution’ for vets facing GI Bill problems

by Stephanie Zimmermann

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is calling on the military to show "compassion" in addressing bureaucratic mistakes that have led to the children of long-serving veterans losing out on Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for college and, in some cases, being forced to repay money the government already has paid on their behalf. "I am concerned about the overarching trend that bureaucratic error and complex calculations are preventing well-meaning veterans from transferring benefits they've earned" to their … Continue Reading


November 30, 2020

Duckworth calls for ‘compassionate resolution’ for vets facing GI Bill problems

by Stephanie Zimmermann

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is calling on the military to show "compassion" in addressing bureaucratic mistakes that have led to the children of long-serving veterans losing out on Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for college and, in some cases, being forced to repay money the government already has paid on their behalf. "I am concerned about the overarching trend that bureaucratic error and complex calculations are preventing well-meaning veterans from transferring benefits they've earned" to their … Continue Reading


November 23, 2020

Duckworth Introduces Legislation To Keep Non-Vet Presidents, VPs From Arlington

Source: 1340 WJOL

Senator Tammy Duckworth is sponsoring legislation that would bar non-veteran presidents and vice presidents from being buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The Illinois Democrat is an Iraq War veteran. The Defense Department is drawing criticism for a proposal that would allow the practice. Some veterans believed that the proposal was an effort to ensure President Trump's burial at the Virginia cemetery. The Pentagon denies the … Continue Reading


November 21, 2020

The Future of Breastfeeding Is No Longer Over Toilets—Thanks to Sen. Duckworth's Friendly Airports for Mothers Improvement Act

by Melissa Prax

"If we don't support our children, how did they grow up to be productive adults?" Sen. Tammy Duckworth told Ms. "If they don't get enough prenatal care, if they don't get the health care support that they need, if they don't get the breast milk when they are growing in their most formative months of life. We can and should do better." Kristin Debreaux has always loved traveling, so when she gave birth to her son Levi, it was a passion she knew she wanted to share. To date, they've been to six … Continue Reading


November 20, 2020

Donald Trump is Endangering National Security for His Ego

by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth
Source: Time

At the height of a global pandemic and in the depth of a national recession, Donald Trump has endangered our national security by forcing the Pentagon into his latest culture war. Since the moment it was clear he was going to lose the election, Trump has spent his time spewing conspiracy theories so baseless they've been debunked by his own officials. He has used these lies as rationale to refuse to accept the results of what his own Administration has called "the most secure [election] in … Continue Reading


November 19, 2020

Sen. Tammy Duckworth warns of troops in 'body bags' due to Trump's reductions in Iraq, Afghanistan

by Douglas Ernst

Sen. Tammy Duckworth said President Trump's decision to reduce troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan may result in more of them in "body bags." The Illinois Democrat, who is also an Iraq War veteran, blasted Mr. Trump for a move that will bring troop levels to 2,500 in both nations by mid-January. "All of the military commanders have spoken up and say this is the wrong thing to do," she told reporters Tuesday. "We want our troops home, but let's not bring them home in body bags," Ms. … Continue Reading


November 12, 2020

Duckworth celebrates 'Alive Day' 16 years after she 'almost died but didn't'

by Kaelan Deese
Source: The Hill

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) celebrated "Alive Day" 16 years after she "almost died but didn't" in a helicopter crash that took both of her legs. "Today is my Alive Day, the anniversary of the day I almost died but didn't," Duckworth penned on Twitter. "On this day 16 years ago, an RPG tore through the cockpit of the Blackhawk I was co-piloting, taking my legs and partial use of my right arm with it." Alive Day is a personal date for when a veteran almost loses their life while in combat, … Continue Reading


November 11, 2020

Pritzker, Duckworth Celebrate Completion of Long Delayed Veterans Home on Northwest Side

by Heather Cherone
Source: WTTW

The first home for Illinois veterans in Chicago will welcome its first residents in February 2021 - more than four years after it was scheduled to open, officials announced Wednesday. Surrounded by state and federal officials, Gov. J.B. Pritzker celebrated the completion of construction of the $118 million, five-story, 187,000-square-foot facility at 4250 N. Oak Park Ave. in Chicago's Dunning neighborhood. Construction on the 200-bed facility started in 2014 under former Gov. Pat Quinn, but … Continue Reading


October 27, 2020

Control the virus and protect workers — and the American economy will roar back

by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth

Over the past few months, President Donald Trump's performance has been both unprecedented and unpresidential. He's endangered those around him by trying to transform the pandemic into a culture war. He's derided science, claiming facts are fiction and that his own beliefs should be considered canon. He's stoked xenophobia without a second thought. And time after time, he's shown that he neither understands nor respects the heroes protecting this country - the men and women defending it from … Continue Reading


October 21, 2020

New bill aims to help meet military families' childcare needs with visa exemptions for au pairs

by Abbie Bennett

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., introduced a bill aimed at helping military families with childcare by providing certain visa exemptions for au pairs providing care to military kids during the pandemic. The legislation would specifically expand J-1 visa exemptions for the au pairs. Before the pandemic gripped the world, the Pentagon released a report that showed the Defense Department couldn't meet the demand for military family childcare -- able to accommodate about 78% of demand overall. … Continue Reading


October 10, 2020

Sen. Tammy Duckworth was once told to pump breast milk in an airport toilet stall. Now she has unlocked funding to put lactation rooms in all of America's airports

by David Slotnick

When Senator Tammy Duckworth had her first daughter in 2015, the then-member of the House found herself in a bind. She was traveling back-and-forth between Illinois and Washington, DC for work, but also had to pump breast milk for her baby - and often couldn't find a place to do it. "I was told to use the handicapped stall, the toilet, which is disgusting," Sen. Duckworth told Business Insider during a recent interview. "You wouldn't eat a sandwich in there. Why would you ask me to express … Continue Reading


October 09, 2020

Tammy Duckworth: “I fear Amy Coney Barrett may outlaw families like mine”

by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth

A little over two years ago, swathed in blankets and surrounded by many of my Senate colleagues, my then ten-day-old daughter napped her way into history when she became the first infant allowed onto the Senate floor. That afternoon, I held her in my arms while I cast a vote, fulfilling my duty to the Constitution, my constituents, and my newborn. I will never forget that moment, as my Republican and Democratic colleagues alike stood up and cheered for that milestone while little Maile Pearl … Continue Reading


October 08, 2020

Sen. Tammy Duckworth Wants Lactation Rooms in Every U.S. Airport

by Rose Minutaglio
Source: ELLE

Shortly after giving birth to her first daughter, Abigail, in 2015, Sen. Tammy Duckworth found herself in an airport bathroom stall pumping breast milk from a toilet seat. There were no other private options in the terminal. Duckworth knew she wasn't alone in wanting a sanitary space to breastfeed or pump while traveling. At the time, she discovered that while 62 percent of airports in the U.S. called themselves "breastfeeding-friendly," only 8 percent had private, clean nursing areas with a … Continue Reading


October 06, 2020

Pump breast milk in an airport bathroom? You shouldn’t have to, says Tammy Duckworth

by Jessica Wehrman
Source: Roll Call

When then-Rep. Tammy Duckworth had her first daughter in 2014, she found herself in a can't-win position flying back and forth from Illinois to Washington. She needed to pump her breast milk every three hours to feed Abigail, the baby. But there was no place to do it. She asked airport officials. How about the handicapped stall in the bathroom, they suggested? "That's disgusting," said the Illinois Democrat, now a senator with two daughters. How about the sinks in the bathroom, they asked? … Continue Reading


October 06, 2020

How Tammy Duckworth's experience with breastfeeding and IVF guides her policy

by Emma Hinchliffe
Source: Fortune

Hours before President Trump revealed his positive COVID-19 test, Congress sent a bill to his desk: the Friendly Airports for Mothers Improvement Act. The legislation, championed by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, requires that nearly all U.S. airports include lactation rooms for nursing-and traveling-mothers. Duckworth first introduced a bill on this topic in 2015; it was signed into law two years ago, but applied only to medium and large airports. The new act would extend the same regulations to … Continue Reading


October 05, 2020

Duckworth warns Amy Coney Barrett confirmation could put IVF procedures at 'high risk'

by Brooke Singman
Source: Fox News

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth urged her Republican colleagues to reconsider their support for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, citing the judge's past support of a group opposed to in vitro fertilization and her own experience with the treatment in conceiving her daughters. Duckworth, D-Ill., in an exclusive interview with Fox News, warned that a confirmation of Barrett to the high court puts IVF procedures "very much at risk," after a report last week … Continue Reading


October 02, 2020

A Senator Wrote An Impassioned Letter To Her Colleagues About Her IVF Treatment And Trump's Supreme Court Nominee

by Ema O’Connor
Source: Buzz Feed

Following reports that Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, supported an anti-abortion group that opposes in vitro fertilization, Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois wrote an impassioned letter to her colleagues Friday, citing her own experience with IVF and the conception of her 2-year-old daughter, Maile. "I write to each of you today, and especially to my Republican colleagues who cooed and cuddled Maile when she first visited the Capitol, in the hope that you … Continue Reading

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