In The News

August 07, 2019

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth ask MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred for more data on ballpark fan injuries

by Phil Rosenthal

U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois have written Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred for the second time in six weeks, this time asking MLB “to collect and report data” about ballpark fan injuries. “This will provide a more honest public dialogue and help protect baseball’s biggest — and littlest — fans,” the two Democrats wrote in their letter Tuesday. They said it is their understanding teams collected data on seating areas that are most … Continue Reading


August 07, 2019

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth says improving health and education in the U.S. would lead to a stronger military

by Rick Pearson

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth on Wednesday called for a "holistic" approach to national security, saying that dealing with domestic issues to improve education, health care and infrastructure will help the nation's military preparedness. "We can't just keep throwing together huge defense budgets every year and thinking that's enough," the Democratic senator told an audience at the City Club of Chicago. "Instead, we need to balance investing in our weaponry with investing in our … Continue Reading


July 27, 2019

Duckworth revives nuclear-waste plan that could provide Zion with more than $15 million in aid -- this time with a Republican ally

by Emily K Coleman

The city of Zion could receive up to $15.3 million a year for five years under a plan to compensate communities impacted by stranded nuclear waste, a plan that U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said now has support from across the aisle. Despite the bipartisan support, the Hoffman Estates Democrat said in an interview it might still take two or three attempts to push the proposal through Congress. Duckworth reintroduced the bill - called the Sensible, Timely Relief for America's … Continue Reading


July 26, 2019

Duckworth, Durbin Reintroduce Bill to Halt Sewage Dumping Into Great Lakes

by Alex Ruppenthal
Source: WTTW

U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin of Illinois have reintroduced legislation aimed at ending the inadvertent dumping of untreated sewage waste into Lake Michigan and the entire Great Lakes basin. Tens of billions of gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater runoff are dumped into the Great Lakes each year, polluting the water and prompting beach closings and swimming advisories, according to the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes. The Democratic senators' Great Lakes Water … Continue Reading


July 24, 2019

After wheelchair was lost for 12 hours, couple speaks out about traveling with a disability

by Meghan Holohan
Source: Today

As soon as Nic and Rachel Cole touched down in Minneapolis, she received an alert that one of their two bags wasn't arriving. At first, the couple was confused. They had only checked one bag. But soon Rachel realized what happened — and it was worse than missing clothes and toiletries. The airline forgot Nic’s wheelchair. “I heard one of the flight attendants say, ‘They didn’t load his wheelchair?!’ Yes, you read that correctly, They Didn’t Load His … Continue Reading


July 23, 2019

Durbin, Duckworth bill inspired by Cairo would allow HUD to redirect fines to communities harmed by fraud

by Molly Parker

WASHINGTON - A bill introduced Monday night by U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth would allow the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to redirect any fines and assessments collected from the program fraud cases to communities that have been harmed. Under current law, when HUD brings an administrative claim against a public or private landlord, any money collected goes back to the U.S. Treasury, and is not recouped by HUD. The Fairness for Housing Communities Act … Continue Reading


July 13, 2019

On Southern Illinois tour, Duckworth hears from flooded communities; talks levee needs

by Gabriel Neely-Streit

CARBONDALE - With thousands of acres still beneath flood waters, Senator Tammy Duckworth met with officials from Alexander, Union, Randolph and Jackson counties to discuss their recovery, Saturday, as part of a multi-day tour of Southern Illinois. Duckworth and fellow Senator Dick Durbin have been "actively working to change how the federal government values property, to get compensation for rural areas, fix levees and get the dollars back into landowners' pockets," she told the … Continue Reading


July 12, 2019

Why are many of America's military families going hungry?

by Cynthia McFadden, Christine Romo and Kenzi Abou-Sabe
Source: NBC News

SAN DIEGO - Dozens of people formed a line outside Dewey Elementary School on a recent Monday, awaiting the arrival of a Feeding San Diego truck that gives out free groceries every other week. The vast majority weren't homeless or even newly unemployed. They're the husbands and wives of U.S. military service members. "I knew we wouldn't be wealthy, but I thought it would be a lot more manageable," said Desiree Mieir, a mother of four whose Navy husband's most recent deployment lasted almost … Continue Reading


July 11, 2019

Duckworth: Deporting military families 'cruel, inhumane, a threat to national security'

by Greg Hinz

As the nation's civil war over how to handle immigration turns even meaner, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is taking aim at a new move by the Trump administration to deport family members of active-duty military personnel if they originally entered the country illegally. In a letter signed by Duckworth and 21 colleagues, all Democrats, Illinois' junior senator said terminating the "parole in place program" would be "cruel, inhumane and will result in separating military families." Beyond that, she … Continue Reading


July 09, 2019

Politicians Roll Out New Legislation to Aid LGBTQ Veterans

by Jacob Ogles
Source: Advocate

New legislation in Congress aims to address health care disparities for LGBTQ veterans. Filed by U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., the LGBT VA Advocacy Inclusion Act would include LGBTQ individuals in the Department of Veterans Affairs' definitions of minority group members, according to the Military Times. "We owe all veterans who have defended our nation access to the health care and benefits we promised, and they have rightfully earned - regardless of their … Continue Reading


June 28, 2019

Senators Durbin, Duckworth Call for MLB to Mandate Extended Netting in Stadiums

by Staff

Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth are calling for extended netting to be installed in all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums after a string of high-profile incidents involving fans being hit by foul balls. In one of the most discussed incidents, Chicago Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. hit a foul ball that struck a 2-year-old girl at Houston's Minute Maid Park last month. The girl suffered a fractured skull and is currently on anti-seizure medication, according to her … Continue Reading


June 27, 2019

Durbin, Duckworth send letter to commissioner Rob Manfred urging MLB to expand protective netting

by Madeline Kenney

After a series of incidents in which fans have been struck by foul balls, ballpark safety has become a key concern. Now, two United States senators representing Illinois are joining the discussion by sending a letter to Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred calling for all 30 teams to extend protective netting down the right- and left-field corners. The letter - obtained exclusively by the Chicago Sun-Times - comes one day after new details emerged on the injuries suffered by a … Continue Reading


June 26, 2019

Duckworth: Trump Must Bring Military Action Before Congress

by Jennifer Fuller

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth says the Trump Administration should come to Congress before it authorizes any military action against Iran. U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) Photo Credit: U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth's office Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday morning, the Illinois Democrat accused the Trump Administration of trying to manufacture a war. She says that decision should be left to the House and Senate. "They must bring their case to Congress, and give the American people … Continue Reading


June 25, 2019

Senators want Springfield’s 183rd to get flying mission again

by Cassie Buchman

Springfield's 183rd Wing, a unit of the Illinois Air National Guard, would receive a flying mission once again under an amendment proposed by Illinois' two U.S. senators. The amendment, made to the National Defense Authorization Act, which the U.S. Senate is currently debating, would allow the U.S. secretary of the Air Force to transfer A-10, F-16, F-15E/X or F-35 aircraft to the local Guard unit, which is housed at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport. The 183rd Wing flew F-16s until the … Continue Reading


June 14, 2019

U.S. farm state senators introduce bill to overhaul biofuel waiver program

by Jerrett Renshaw, Richard Valdmanis, Bernadette Baum
Source: Reuters

Two Midwest senators said Friday they had introduced a bill to reform the Environmental Protection Agency's biofuel waiver program, which the corn industry says helps oil companies at the expense of farmers here by threatening ethanol demand. The bill, introduced by Democrat Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Republican Deb Fischer of Nebraska, would impose a June 1 deadline for refineries to apply for the waivers that exempt them from blending ethanol into gasoline, so the EPA has time to … Continue Reading


June 13, 2019

Duckworth Pushes McDonald's Again On Sexual Harassment Policies

by Ryan Denham
Source: WGLT

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said Wednesday that new sexual harassment policies at McDonald's don't go far enough because franchise locations are not required to follow them. Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, and seven other senators sent a letter to McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook this week about the issue. They said "it is imperative that the McDonald's Corp. require all franchise locations to adopt the updated policies to guarantee that all workers will be covered by the new protections … Continue Reading


May 24, 2019

Duckworth secures $10M for Scott Air Force Base project in defense spending bill

by Joseph Bustos

Scott Air Force Base is in line to receive money for a new joint operations center under a spending bill that was approved by a Senate Committee earlier this week. The Senate Armed Services Committee included $10 million in the 2020 fiscal year National Defense Authorization Act so Scott Air Force Base can have a new joint operations center. The center would "assist the joint force commander's planning, monitoring and guiding the execution of decisions," according to a news release from U.S. … Continue Reading


May 24, 2019

Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Now is not the time to leave Iraq

by Tammy Duckworth

First, it was the familiar weight of my body armor. Then, as I approached the helicopter the feeling grew. The growl of the engine, the smell of hydraulic fluid and JP-8 fuel, the communication traffic in my headset - it was as if I were no longer in 2019 but was back with my crew in 2004, in the thick of the war. It had been 14 years, five months and 10 days since I'd last been in Iraq, since the afternoon when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded in the Black Hawk helicopter I was piloting, … Continue Reading


May 18, 2019

Tammy Duckworth: We cannot leave work in Iraq unfinished

by Tammy Duckworth

The recent video of Islamic State terror leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reasserting his presence was a jarring reminder of a grim reality: The battle against terror, in Iraq and Syria and worldwide, is evolving - not over. Contrary to some public perception, ISIS is diminished, but not yet defeated. Moving forward, it is vital that America's resolve and commitment to the Iraqi people remain strong. Iraq has the potential of establishing itself as a self-sustaining, sovereign nation that can be a … Continue Reading


May 15, 2019

Why we formed the Senate’s first Environmental Justice Caucus

by Tammy Duckworth, Cory Booker and Tom Carper

As a series of trucks headed toward Warren County, North Carolina, a crowd of residents gathered together to lie down in the middle of the road. It was September 1982, and as they got down onto the ground, a movement rose up. The residents were protesting North Carolina's decision to dump 6,000 truckloads of toxic soil into their poor, predominantly African American community. They cried foul after officials brushed aside concerns that the toxic chemicals could bleed into their … Continue Reading

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