In The News
For second time this year, Duckworth leads congressional trip to Indo-Pacific
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is leading a congressional trip to the Indo-Pacific region for the second time this year with stops set for Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. The follow-up trip comes with the aim of further bolstering military and economic partnerships between the U.S. and several countries in the region. It can be viewed as a projection of American power as the country enters a greater level of competition with China, as well as an opportunity to promote Illinois … Continue Reading
August 03, 2023
Democratic leaders seek $837 million in federal funding to revamp Chicago’s Union Station
Illinois leaders on Thursday applied for nearly $900 million in federal funding for a plan that would speed up rail service to and from Union Station and even create a direct connection between O’Hare Airport and McCormick Place. “If it rolls, floats or flies, it comes through Chicago,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley at a press conference in the West Loop. “Union Station, this is the ballgame. But the track and the bridge system around it in the Chicagoland area is at least 100 years old — and … Continue Reading
July 31, 2023
Sen. Duckworth took her daughters to see ‘Barbie.’ Because she uses a wheelchair, she had to wait outside.
Over the “Barbie” movie’s opening weekend, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, like many Americans, went to see it with her young daughters and a few friends from their play group. “Barbie” has been the No. 1 movie in America since it opened on July 21. Many viewers have put on their pinkest outfits for showings, and Duckworth’s family was no exception. “We got all dressed up in pink, and my girls put on their sparkly shoes,” Duckworth told … Continue Reading
July 28, 2023
Duckworth says a broken elevator prevented her from taking her kids to ‘Barbie’
Sen. Tammy Duckworth says she was ready to go party with “Barbie” — until a broken elevator turned her Barbie dreams into a wheelchair-inaccessible bummer. The Illinois Democrat recounted how she had plans this week to join the millions of theatergoers heading to see “Barbie,” which stars Margot Robbie as the famed doll. The hit film so far has reportedly grossed more than $214 million in North America since its release last week. “Barbie is a … Continue Reading
July 28, 2023
Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s Barbie moment cut short
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot who lost her legs in combat, issued a statement this week on the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “It’s past time we make sure accessibility is the default in America—not an afterthought,” she said in her statement. But she realized when she went to go see the Barbie movie this week that even the best intentions put forth by the ADA can sometimes fall … Continue Reading
July 25, 2023
Emmett Till National Monument Will Include Chicago Church That Hosted Teen’s Funeral
Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, the site of Emmett Till’s open-casket funeral, will be included in a national monument set to be created by President Joe Biden on the anniversary of Till’s birth. Roberts Temple Church, 4021 S. State St., will be preserved as part of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, according to the Associated Press. Till, a 14-year-old Chicagoan, was lynched by white supremacists in Mississippi nearly 70 years … Continue Reading
July 24, 2023
We’ve Been on the Front Lines. We Know What Ukraine Needs.
Both of us have been the targets of enemy fire. It nearly cost one of us her life. We know a truth every combat veteran learns: For all the planning and consideration that goes into a war, much of it gets thrown out the window the moment the shooting starts. You often learn more about your enemies in the first 24 hours of a conflict than you do from years of studying them. This has unequivocally been the case in Ukraine. At the outset of the war, Russia had one of the largest militaries in … Continue Reading
July 16, 2023
Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Tuberville’s military blockade is 'jeopardizing our nation’s ability to lead the free world'
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of the Armed Services Committee, on Sunday decried Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of hundreds of military nominations as a political move that will jeopardize the U.S.' "ability to lead the free world." Tuberville, an Alabama Republican who is a member of the Armed Services Committee, has blocked hundreds of military appointments, citing his objection to a Defense Department policy that provides paid time … Continue Reading
July 16, 2023
Calling it a danger to national security, Duckworth blasts Tuberville’s hold on military promotions
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) slammed Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on Sunday, calling his controversial blockade of more than 270 military promotions a threat to national security. “It is bizarre for Senator Tuberville to say that he’s not jeopardizing national security when he injects politics into the defense process. And frankly this is not the time to do it, not when there is a war going on in Europe, not when American leadership is vital to the international global … Continue Reading
July 14, 2023
I’m tired of my Senate colleague threatening national security
For months now, thanks to one man who has never served in uniform a day in his life, the United States Senate has been failing our troops and military families. In March, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., began blocking all senior Department of Defense nominations, protesting a Defense Department policy that helps service members stationed in anti-choice states travel for basic reproductive care. With that decision, my Republican colleague effectively told the … Continue Reading
June 22, 2023
A year after Dobbs ruling, lawmakers reflect on impact
Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization - a ruling that overturned the national right to abortion. The decision has sparked a flurry of state legislative efforts, advocacy, litigation and a resurgence of decades-old abortion policies. It has also spurred federal pushes to set national rights to or limits on abortion. Five women in the House and Senate spanning the political spectrum shared both how the … Continue Reading
June 20, 2023
Senators look to establish sustainable aviation fuel standards
A proposed Senate bill would establish standards for the Federal Aviation Administration's definition of Sustainable Aviation Fuels. Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Joni Ernst- R-Iowa, and Amy Klobuchar, D- Minn. introduced the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act June 13. "One of the most important things we can do to make American aviation more sustainable is increase the supply of American-grown, American-made, sustainable aviation fuel," Duckworth says. "I'm proud … Continue Reading
June 17, 2023
Sen. Duckworth commemorates Juneteenth in Carbondale
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth celebrated the Juneteenth holiday in Carbondale on Saturday, June 17. According to a release from the senator's office, Sen. Duckworth attended a breakfast hosted by Mayor Carolin Harvey at the African American Museum of Southern Illinois. After the breakfast, she joined the Carbondale community for their second annual Juneteenth parade. Sen. Duckworth also visited the city's Juneteenth block party on Friday, June 16. "While Juneteenth became a federal holiday … Continue Reading
June 16, 2023
Senator Duckworth visits Sesser to discuss $750K secured in water infrastructure improvements
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) visited Sesser, Ill. to meet with the city's leadership and discuss the $750,000 she secured. On June 16, Senator Duckworth discussed the funding she secured through a Fiscal Year 2022 Congressionally Directed Spending Request for City of Sesser for the rehabilitation of its sanitary sewer collection system. The funding will be used to update and renovate Sesser's outdated sewer collection system, addressing a vital public health threat. In 2014, the … Continue Reading
June 16, 2023
Officials break ground on the new Southern Illinois Multimodal Station in Carbondale
SIMMS will be located on the southeast corner of Illinois Avenue and Wall Street. The new building will extend to just outside the north wall of the current Amtrak station. "We are thrilled to have you here to witness the beginning of a significant project that has been in the works since 2010 when the City of Carbondale purchased property just adjacent to where we are standing," said Carbondale Mayor Carolin Harvey. "Nine years ago tomorrow, the city held its first meeting with Amtrak … Continue Reading
May 31, 2023
One Illinois Senator has introduced a bill to improve airline evacuations
Sen. Tammy Duckworth introduced legislation Wednesday to set standards for the Federal Aviation Administration to test how quickly passengers can escape a plane during an emergency. Some lawmakers aren't sure modern planes can be evacuated in 90 seconds, as federal rules require. Duckworth says FAA tests a few years ago were unrealistic because they only used able-bodied adults under 60 - no children, seniors and those with disabilities took … Continue Reading
May 31, 2023
Airplane evacuation tests had major limitations. A key senator wants a redo.
The most recent Federal Aviation Administration tests to determine how long it would take passengers to exit an airliner in the case of an emergency had limitations: The 60 mock passengers were healthy adults and carry-on luggage was nowhere to be found. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), chair of an aviation subcommittee, said the results don't provide a realistic guide to how long it would take people to leave a plane. She is introducing legislation Wednesday that would require the FAA to … Continue Reading
May 22, 2023
Tuberville Draws Fire For Holding Hundreds Of Military Promotions ‘Hostage’ Over Abortion
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) sharply criticized her colleague Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on Sunday for his continual blockade of military nominations, saying the Alabama Republican is "holding the entire nation's national security hostage." Tuberville has for months refused to support about 200 promotions for military officers over a Pentagon policy that provides travel reimbursements and leave for service members to seek abortions out-of-state, which was updated after the Supreme … Continue Reading
May 19, 2023
Corps of Engineers breaks ground for new Mississippi River lock
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground Thursday on a new lock chamber adjacent to - and twice as long as - the existing lock at Winfield near Batchtown, Illinois. The lock chamber will be 1,200 feet long and 110 feet wide. It will be constructed next to the current lock chamber built in 1939 that is 600 feet long and 110 feet wide. "[The] groundbreaking was what the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was all about - bringing new life into our existing infrastructure while … Continue Reading
May 14, 2023
First US senator to give birth in office offers heartfelt Mother’s Day message: ‘You’re what keeps this country strong’
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the first sitting US senator to give birth while in office, offered a heartfelt Mother's Day message on Sunday, celebrating moms nationwide for "growing the next generation for our nation." "Hang in there, sister. We're in this together, and nobody has perfect work-life balance, everybody struggles, and so do the best that you can," the Democrat told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "You're what keeps this country strong." Duckworth and her husband, … Continue Reading
