In The News
Watchdog To Review Nonlethal Tactics Against Protesters, Including 'Heat Ray' Request
The Government Accountability Office is investigating the Pentagon's interest in deploying a "heat ray" to control crowds around the White House, part of a broader review of the tactics and use of nonlethal weapons that have been leveled against social justice protesters this summer, NPR has learned. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., requested the independent review in early June, just days after federal police cleared peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House, with tear … Continue Reading
September 17, 2020
"The Revolution is Not Glam" (with Sen. Tammy Duckworth)
In This Episode This week Erin Ryan and Alyssa Mastromonaco talk to Senator Tammy Duckworth about the military's sexual harassment response program and Trump's non-stop shit talk of our troops. Then, Erin and Alyssa unpack the disturbing news from ICE detention camps, and check-in on the state of the suburbs. Next, Michaela Watkins and Naomi Ekperigin join to work out our complicated feelings as we approach the apocalypse. Are we ok? Should we be? Finally, who's got a plan to haunt Trump … Continue Reading
September 10, 2020
Duckworth on Trump Downplaying COVID-19 Pandemic: I’m ‘Just Furious’
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) slammed President Donald Trump over the incriminating audio released by journalist Bob Woodward. On Thursday, the former combat veteran appeared on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell where she was asked about Trump's admission to downplaying the coronavirus. Duckworth said that Trump's actions are infuriating. "Just furious," Duckworth said. "I cannot believe that any president of the United States would do this." She continued, "And for him to have been out there … Continue Reading
September 10, 2020
U.S. Democrats demand Trump response to reported Russian bounties
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. senators introduced a bill on Thursday that would require President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on any Russian involved in the alleged payment of bounties to militants for killing U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan. The legislation would require Trump to certify whether the Russian government offered, ordered or was responsible for bounties for killing U.S. and allied forces. If his administration found that Moscow did so, the measure would … Continue Reading
September 01, 2020
The Personal and the Political: The Transformational Politics of Sen. Tammy Duckworth
In 2004, when US Army Captain Tammy Duckworth, now a senator from Illinois, woke up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down in Iraq, she found herself in unrelenting, all-consuming pain. She remembers realizing that she was suddenly mission-less—a helicopter pilot with no legs. Duckworth grew up in Southeast Asia while her father, an Army and Marine Corps veteran who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, worked for the … Continue Reading
August 31, 2020
Congressional watchdog to review Army’s sexual harassment and assault prevention program
The Government Accountability Office accepted a request from Army veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., to conduct an independent review of the Army's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention, or SHARP, program, Duckworth's office announced Friday. A full scope and timeline for the GAO review wasn't released. But in her initial request in July, Duckworth asked that the GAO to design a survey to obtain soldiers' views on the SHARP program's effectiveness and shortcomings, as evaluated … Continue Reading
August 31, 2020
More than $11M will go to support Ill. health centers
ILLINOIS (KFVS) - The state of Illinois will receive $11.5 million in federal grants to support 44 Community Health Centers. The following Illinois health centers will receive funding: Access Community Health Network (Chicago): $367,750 Alivio Medical Center (Chicago): $222,701 Asian Human Services Family Health Center, Inc. (Chicago): $220,250 Aunt Martha's Health & Wellness, Inc. (Olympia Fields): $470,481 Cass County Health Department (Virginia): … Continue Reading
August 28, 2020
GAO agrees to review Army's sexual harassment program
The Government Accountability Office on Wednesday accepted a request from Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., to review the Army's sexual harassment response program in the wake of the disappearance and death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, the senator's office announced Friday. The review will look at the implementation and effectiveness of the Army's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program, known as SHARP, after Guillen's family said the soldier had experienced sexual harassment on … Continue Reading
August 27, 2020
Ill. counties to receive $2.4M in FEMA reimbursement funding for flooding recovery
SOUTHERN Ill. (KFVS) - Some Illinois counties, including ones in southern Illinois, will receive millions of dollars in FEMA reimbursement funding for flooding recovery. The state was awarded a total of $2,414,009 in federal funding to offset costs related to the historic flooding from February 24 to July 3, 2019. It will go to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. The money will reimburse them for emergency work … Continue Reading
August 25, 2020
Sen. Duckworth meets with Peoria leaders on long-awaited COVID funding
PEORIA (HOI) - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) met with Peoria's mayor and city manager Monday on what's next for the city, and their needs for federal funding. Duckworth said if she had it her way, help would be on the way. However, she says Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is halting the process. Duckworth said she's trying to get money in the next COVID package to go directly to cities and counties. "I'm fighting as hard as i can to make sure that there's money in … Continue Reading
August 24, 2020
Duckworth Working To Funnel More COVID-19 Relief To Local Governments
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said she's working to get more financial relief for Illinois municipalities struggling to keep services going after COVID-19 took a big bite out of tax revenues. "We are going to fight as hard as we can to get money in there for the municipalities," she said in a Monday news briefing. "I have also been in contact with [the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity] to try to get some of the money that had been released for COVID relief to be passed along … Continue Reading
August 21, 2020
IL Sens Durbin, Duckworth Advocate For First-Class Postage For Ballots
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
