In The News

August 21, 2020

IL Sens Durbin, Duckworth Advocate For First-Class Postage For Ballots

Source: 1340 WJOL

Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth are advocating for all election mail to be sent first-class. The pair also wants to make sure there are sufficient resources to deal with greater mail volume ahead of Election Day. Durbin says Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has no background in the Postal Service so he didn't understand the fallout of changing the system. DeJoy is expected to testify before Congress today and Monday about his shakeup of the U.S. Postal Service ahead of Election … Continue Reading


August 20, 2020

Duckworth: Republicans gut Americans with Disabilities Act in coronavirus relief bill

by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth
Source: USA Today

I gathered my notes, took a sip of water and spoke out in the Senate chamber this month on behalf of the millions of Americans living with disabilities - and on behalf of the many more who, whether they know it or not, are just one bad day, one bad diagnosis, away from acquiring a disability as well. I went to the floor on their behalf, because I came to the floor by rolling through the Capitol's corridors in the wheelchair I'm writing this from. And I could come to the floor because 30 years … Continue Reading


August 14, 2020

Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Tammy Duckworth among inspiring Illinois Women of the Century

by Corina Curry

From the skyscrapers of Chicago to the open plains of the Prairie State, Illinois is famous for its rich diversity and Midwestern values. So it should come as no surprise that the state's most influential and inspiring women represent that same diversity, cultural richness and spirit of America's heartland. As the country commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the legal right to vote, the USA TODAY Network is identifying 10 women from each of the 50 … Continue Reading


August 13, 2020

Pompeo Says He and Military Warned Russia on Bounties for Killing U.S. Troops

by Charlie Savage

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he warned Russia against offering bounties for killing American and coalition troops in Afghanistan, even as President Trump has denigrated as a "hoax" a C.I.A. assessment that Russia carried out such a covert operation. Mr. Pompeo's remarks in an interview on Wednesday came as new details emerged about one aspect of evidence, involving Russian passport numbers, that led C.I.A. analysts to link the suspected bounty operation to the elite Unit … Continue Reading


August 11, 2020

Duckworth hosts virtual meeting with southern Illinois Mayors

by Jessica Ladd
Source: KFVS12

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KFVS) - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth held a virtual meeting with eight mayors from the Southern Illinois Mayor's Association to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on their communities Tuesday. Duckworth and the local leaders also discussed what communities are looking for in a future federal relief package and how her office can help Southern Illinois with recovering from both the economic and health impacts of the pandemic. "Our local governments have been hit … Continue Reading


August 06, 2020

Senate Republicans ‘Have Declared War’ On The ADA, Says Duckworth

by Peter Slatin
Source: Forbes

Never mind the ACA. Let's gut the ADA. Senate Republicans, unsuccessful (so far) in ridding the nation of the pesky Affordable Care Act, have decided to follow the alphabet one letter forward and are taking aim at another favorite conservative punching bag, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, (D-Ill.) accused her Republican colleagues of "declaring war on the ADA." Seizing on the national crisis presented by the novel coronavirus and Covid-19 and focusing on protecting … Continue Reading


August 05, 2020

Duckworth: Republican coronavirus package would 'gut' Americans With Disabilities Act

by Zack Budryk
Source: The Hill

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), the first disabled woman elected to the Senate, slammed Senate Republicans' coronavirus relief proposal in a floor speech Wednesday evening, saying it would "gut" the Americans with Disabilities Act. Duckworth invoked the "Capitol Crawl" by wheelchair users lobbying for the 1990 legislation, including eight-year-old Jennifer Keelan, who was heard to say "I'll take all night if I have to." "Thirty years ago this legislative body said people like me mattered, but … Continue Reading


August 05, 2020

Duckworth, Durbin Announce $7 Million In Federal Funds For Housing For Low-Income Illinoisans With Disabilities

by CBS 2 Chicago Staff

WASHINGTON (CBS) - U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) on Wednesday announced $7 million in federal funding to create rental units for low-income Illinois residents with disabilities. The funding will go to the Illinois Housing Development Authority. It comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program. "Expanding access to affordable housing is crucial to helping Illinoisans with … Continue Reading


July 31, 2020

Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s Big Idea: A Marshall Plan for Coal Country

by Marisa Schultz
Source: Fox News

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., wants to give struggling coal communities a jolt of new federal investment and help transition out-of-work miners into new jobs and cleaner energy production. Duckworth, considered a potential running mate for Joe Biden, introduced sweeping new legislation this month that gives Medicare coverage to laid-off coal workers, provides tuition-free college for coal workers and their families, calls for a $15 dollar minimum wage and modifies U.S. bankruptcy rules to … Continue Reading


July 31, 2020

Tammy Duckworth Wants to Know WTF Are We Supposed to Do With Our Kids During COVID?

Sen. Tammy Duckworth may be on Biden's VP shortlist. But when it comes to childcare during the pandemic, she's just as confused as the rest of us. "So my choice is five hours of homeschooling every day for my daughter and failing her, because I'm not a trained educator, or sending her to a school where she could very likely get this virus or bring it home and get her 2-year-old sister sick or my 79-year-old mom, who lives with us," Duckworth tells Molly Jong-Fast and Rick Wilson on the … Continue Reading


July 30, 2020

Tammy Duckworth Says She Won't Let President Trump 'Politicize Our Government'

by Abigail Abrams
Source: TIME

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth said on Thursday that she views President Donald Trump sending federal agents to confront protesters in U.S. cities as an "abuse of power" and does not want federal forces intervening at demonstrations in her home state of Illinois. "The abuse of power that we saw in Portland, that could happen anywhere should worry every single one of us," she said during a TIME 100 Talks discussion. "It's a continuation of the politicization of federal government that's being … Continue Reading


July 30, 2020

A Conversation with Sen. Tammy Duckworth

An Iraq War veteran, Purple Heart recipient and the current junior senator from Illinois, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D) is also on Joe Biden's purported vice-presidential shortlist. Washington Post Live hosted Duckworth in conversation with Washington Post national political reporter Robert Costa to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on her home state, how she views demonstrations for social justice across the country and her thoughts about the upcoming … Continue Reading


July 30, 2020

Harris, Booker, Duckworth Unveil Environmental Justice Measure

by Stephen Lee

Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Cory Booker (N.J.), and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) rolled out an environmental justice bill on Thursday aimed at underserved communities and communities of color. The Environmental Justice for All Act would require permitting agencies to consider cumulative impacts under the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act and strengthen the National Environmental Policy Act to mandate "early and meaningful involvement in actions impacting communities," including tribes, … Continue Reading


July 29, 2020

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth Weighs In On Latest Stimulus Plans

by Bianca Martin and Zach Wilson

Congress is currently deciding how much money should be spent in the next coronavirus stimulus package. Reset checks in with U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth to discuss ongoing negotiations, as well as her thoughts on Attorney General William Barr's recent congressional testimony. GUEST: U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth … Continue Reading


July 29, 2020

U.S. senators request EPA help to fix “urgent public health crisis” in Centreville

by Kavahn Mansouri and DeAsia Paige

CENTREVILLE – U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin want the federal Environmental Protection Agency to help solve flooding and sewage issues in Centreville, where residents say their lives have been upended for decades due to failed infrastructure. The Illinois Democrats called the situation in Centreville an “urgent public health crisis” in a letter this week to EPA Region 5 Administrator Kurt Thiede. “Centreville is located adjacent to East St. Louis and … Continue Reading


July 29, 2020

Bill Would Mandate EPA Require Toxic Emissions Monitoring

by Amena H. Saiyid
Source: Bloomberg

A Democrat bill being introduced Wednesday would give the EPA up to four months to require monitoring of ethylene oxide and other cancer-causing toxic air pollutants at the fencelines of chemical manufacturing plants. The Public Health Air Quality Act of 2020, sponsored by Democrats Sen. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.), would require the Environmental Protection Agency to take immediate action to monitor toxic air pollutants at facilities they say are "contributing … Continue Reading


July 26, 2020

From Jobs to Voting Booths, Accessibility Should be the Default in America | Opinion

by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and Rep. Jim Langevin
Source: Newsweek

Three decades ago, a thousand activists crowded together in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, demanding that Congress finally give Americans with disabilities the basic rights the Constitution promised. Dozens of them got out of their wheelchairs, set down their crutches and crawled up the 83 stone steps of the Capitol. Jennifer Keelan, an eight-year-old with cerebral palsy, pulled herself to the top of those steps, telling those around her: "I'll take all night if I have … Continue Reading


July 23, 2020

Senator Duckworth floats plan to rescue coal country

by Valerie Volcovici
Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth on Thursday unveiled a plan to rehabilitate communities hurt by the decline of the U.S. coal industry - an appeal to a political constituency seen as important in the November election. The bill would direct investment to communities reeling from closures of mines and coal-fired power plants in recent years, to create new jobs and help them grapple with issues like opiod addiction and black lung disease, she said. "We can't … Continue Reading


July 21, 2020

Tammy Duckworth: Trump ‘cares more about dead traitors than he does about our troops’

by Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a military veteran who was recently in the news when Tucker Carlson said she "hated America," discusses Trump's failures on the military, coronavirus and race - and what she would do if asked to be Joe Biden's running … Continue Reading


July 21, 2020

Duckworth slams 'disgusting' Trump threat to send federal law enforcement to Chicago: 'Don't even think about it'

by Zack Budryk
Source: The Hill

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) on Tuesday excoriated President Trump's threats to send the federal officers dispatched to Portland, Ore., to Chicago, calling the ultimatum "disgusting." "My answer to him is don't even think about it," Duckworth, a combat veteran who lost both legs in Iraq, said on CNN Tuesday. "This is disgusting, and it is the further politicization of our institutions, which should be nonpartisan. He did it with the military when he sent National Guard troops against … Continue Reading

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