In The News
Sen. Duckworth: Olympics Diplomacy or Not, North Korea Is Still a Threat
Today, the world will watch athletes from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea unite to march beneath one flag during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, just 50 miles from the DPRK border. For many, the sight of two nations that have been in conflict for generations coming together to compete in the Winter Games exemplifies the core mission of the Olympics: to unite people of the world in the spirit of solidarity and … Continue Reading
February 08, 2018
Trump's Call For Military Parade 'Simply Ridiculous,' Democratic Sen. Duckworth Says
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost her legs while serving in the Iraq War, is one of President Trump's fiercest critics. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) about the budget votes Thursday, Trump's call for a military parade in Washington and other topics. Interview Highlights On whether she could support Senate leaders' two-year budget deal, which leaves out immigration issues "I think that we do need to address the Dreamers. I don't know … Continue Reading
February 08, 2018
Duckworth, others hope political muscle saves veteran with PTSD from deportation, as options dwindle
As the threat of deportation becomes more imminent for a U.S. Army veteran with a green card and felony drug conviction, lawmakers and clergy this week ramped up efforts to keep him in the U.S. On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, using a little-known legislative maneuver intended to help specific individuals, introduced a private bill, requesting relief for Miguel Perez Jr., 39, who served two tours in Afghanistan but has no access to veteran benefits and has been ordered to return to his … Continue Reading
February 07, 2018
Tammy Duckworth, senator and war hero, takes on President Trump, aka 'Cadet Bone Spurs'
Tammy Duckworth, the Democratic U.S. senator representing Illinois, has emerged as one of President Trump's most pointed critics, repeatedly pushing back at his attempts to portray her party as unpatriotic. An Army veteran who lost both her legs while serving in Iraq, Duckworth has needled Trump about his draft deferments during the Vietnam War, giving him the nickname "Cadet Bone Spurs" for the foot diagnosis that allowed him to stay out of the military. "I will not be lectured about what … Continue Reading
February 06, 2018
Duckworth calls out 'Cadet Bone Spurs' after Trump's 'treasonous' remark
Washington (CNN) An Illinois Democrat who was seriously wounded in Iraq derisively referred to President Donald Trump's draft deferments after Trump called Democrats "treasonous" for not clapping during his State of the Union speech. "We don't live in a dictatorship or a monarchy. I swore an oath-in the military and in the Senate-to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not to mindlessly cater to the whims of Cadet Bone Spurs and clap when he demands I clap," … Continue Reading
February 06, 2018
Senator Tammy Duckworth proves it's not unpatriotic to question your superiors
On Nov. 12, 2004, shortly after her troop in the US National Guard had been deployed to Iraq, lieutenant colonel Tammy Duckworth was co-piloting a Black Hawk over Baghdad when she heard a hail of small-arms fire. A rocket-propelled grenade exploded directly beneath the cockpit where she was sitting. She immediately lost both of her legs. She awoke in pain—and anger—11 days later at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. Duckworth would later describe this place as … Continue Reading
February 05, 2018
Duckworth opens Senate constituent office in Carbondale
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., has opened a new Senate constituent service office in Carbondale's Eurma C. Hayes Center, located at 441 E. Willow St. The office can be reached by phone at (618) 677-7000. Duckworth's Carbondale Office will provide a number of services to Illinoisans including assistance with veterans affairs, Social Security, Medicare, small-business development and other issues involving federal agencies. "I'm opening one of my first Senate offices in Carbondale because … Continue Reading
February 05, 2018
Duckworth: 2018 is past time to get real on paid leave
Two weeks ago, I announced that I am pregnant. Since there are only 22 female senators -- and none has ever given birth while they served in the United States Senate -- I knew my announcement was going to get some attention. To be honest, I was a little surprised and overwhelmed by just how much attention our good news received. I was congratulated everywhere I went. I was asked to do tons of interviews. People even said nice things on Twitter, which is not always the friendliest space. … Continue Reading
January 27, 2018
Tammy Duckworth: The mother making history in the US Senate
Tammy Duckworth is used to being a trailblazer. A double amputee, she was the first disabled woman elected to the US Congress. Born in Bangkok to a Thai mother and American father, she was also among the first Asian-American women in Congress. And now, as confirmed in a gleeful tweet this week, she will be the first woman to have a baby while serving in the US Senate. It was "about damn time", the 49-year-old said. "I can't believe it took until 2018." On the day Donald Trump defied the … Continue Reading
January 23, 2018
Sen. Tammy Duckworth Talks About Her Trip To South Korea
Rachel Martin talks to Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq war veteran, who recently returned from a trip to South Korea and the DMZ, about the threat of nuclear war with North Korea. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: There were protests yesterday in Seoul, South Korea, a protest that disrupted a visit by North Korean officials. MARTIN: The protesters told NPR they are skeptical that these new plans for uniting the two Korean teams at the next month's Winter Olympics will ease tensions … Continue Reading
January 23, 2018
Tammy Duckworth is pregnant; will be 1st senator to give birth
WASHINGTON - In the history of the nation, only 10 members of Congress have given birth while in office and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is one of them. Soon Duckworth will be in a class by herself. Duckworth told me she is expecting her second child, another girl, in late April, a few weeks after she turns 50. The birth will make Duckworth the nation's first senator to have a baby while serving in the chamber. Sen. Dick Durbin D-Ill., said in a statement, "I am proud to have her as my … Continue Reading
December 18, 2017
Tammy Duckworth reflects on first term in U.S. Senate
CHICAGO (WLS) --From partisan bickering and sexual harassment scandals to a battle royale over tax cuts, freshman Senator Tammy Duckworth's first year in office has been quite a ride. Senator Duckworth began her first term in the Senate at the same time Donald Trump was taking over the White House. And for anyone who has remotely followed this past year in Washington, the term "interesting" might be the most polite way to describe it.Duckworth is no stranger to battles: the Iraqi War veteran … Continue Reading
December 08, 2017
Trump’s Scare Tactics on North Korea Scare Us
North Korea's launch last week of a type of missile that may soon be able to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States mainland set off the Trump administration on a troubling new trajectory. In the space of a week: Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, warned that tensions with North Korea made it an "open question" whether American athletes would be able to compete in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February. (The White House press secretary, Sarah … Continue Reading
December 07, 2017
US senator on North Korea: “Most Americans don’t realize how close we are to this war”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a decorated veteran of the Iraq War, is scared - scared that the Trump administration may be getting the US into a devastating war with North Korea without much of the public noticing or seeming to care. "Most Americans," she says, "don't realize how close we are to this war." Duckworth, who lost both of her legs after her helicopter was shot down by insurgents, has closely followed both aggressive rhetoric from the White House and the way the US military has been … Continue Reading
November 17, 2017
Search for World War II medals reveals new honors
PEORIA - For years, Dan Welch wondered whatever came of his father's old medals from World War II. After his dad, Woodrow "Woody" Welch died in 1986, his mother found his old jacket at their home in Smithfield, a small village in Fulton County about an hour southwest of Peoria. The wool coat had been aggressively attacked by moths and, well, it was tossed into the trash. On that jacket was his father's coveted Combat Infantryman's Badge, which can only be earned by soldiers who were involved … Continue Reading
November 01, 2017
Senator to Donald Trump: Americans Deserve to Know the Costs of a North Korea Conflict
This morning, Tammy Duckworth, a Democratic senator from Illinois, wrote Donald Trump to demand an accounting of what the president and his advisers mean when they talk, with growing urgency these days, of "military options" against North Korea and its nuclear-weapons program. "We must never allow the consequences of war to be hidden from Americans," she asserts in a letter obtained exclusively by The Atlantic. Duckworth, a retired lieutenant colonel, lost her legs in 2004 when Iraqi … Continue Reading
October 17, 2017
Congress wants to make Americans with disabilities second-class citizens again
On May 28, 1988, Lisa Carl went to her local movie theater, something millions of Americans can do with ease and comfort. Yet when Lisa tried to go into the theater, the manager refused her ticket, denying her entry because Lisa had cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair. When an advocate called the theater owner about the incident, the manager coldly stated, "I don't want her in here, and I don't have to let her in." Lisa later testified before Congress, "I was not crying on the outside, but I … Continue Reading
October 13, 2017
Duckworth: Ending ACA Subsidies Affect The Most Vulnerable
CHICAGO (CBS) - Illinois' junior U.S. Senator is among those highly critical of President Donald Trump's Executive Order ending federal payments to health insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Senator Tammy Duckworth says President Trump's order ending the subsidies for health insurance marketplaces is going to push many people out of being able to afford the healthcare they need. "The subsidies help keep the cost low so that we could actually afford the … Continue Reading
October 04, 2017
How Trump's budget will make your commute worse
Every day, millions of Chicagoans rely on public transportation to commute to work, head to school, and attend concerts, festivals and baseball games. Whether they use the el, Metra, or a bus system, everyone benefits from the opportunity to efficiently and affordably crisscross the Chicago area and avoid the stresses of sitting in traffic and dealing with parking. Improving our country's second-busiest public transportation system is not a flashy political issue-and it's certainly not the … Continue Reading
September 27, 2017
Our Troops Need a New War Resolution From Congress
Most people would run away from gunfire, but our nation's servicemembers run towards it. They watch their brothers and sisters die. They've been tired, hungry, frustrated, broken down and pissed off. They miss holidays, anniversaries, births and funerals before coming home with the physical and emotional scars of war. They laugh and cry about it all - a gallows humor only those of us who have deployed can appreciate. Despite the toll, our men and women in uniform continue to deploy time and … Continue Reading
