Press Releases
Duckworth Secures Support from Defense Secretary Austin on Her Proposal to Improve Access to Quality Patient Care for Servicemembers and Their Families in the Indo-Pacific
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of both the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC)—secured support from U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Lloyd Austin for a proposal she plans to push strongly to be included in the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) aimed at improving DoD medical readiness and ensuring servicemembers and their families have access to … Continue Reading
April 10, 2024
Duckworth Meets with Diaper Bank Advocates, Underscores Efforts to Pass Her Bill to End Diaper Need for Low-Income Families Nationwide
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) met with diaper bank leaders and advocates—including members of the National Diaper Bank Network and Cradles to Crayons Founder & CEO Lynn Margherio—to discuss her efforts to help make it easier for low-income families to afford the diapers that they need for their children. In her meetings, Duckworth highlighted that she was able to successfully secure $20 million in the final fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations … Continue Reading
April 10, 2024
Duckworth Discusses Chicagoland Transportation Priorities with Regional Transportation Authority
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) this week met with Chicago Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Executive Director Leanne Redden and other RTA leaders and members to discuss the agency’s funding and priorities for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2025. The RTA region’s system provides more than two million rides each weekday on bus and rail services in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties and serves approximately 8.4 million residents. A photo of this meeting … Continue Reading
April 10, 2024
Duckworth Commends Biden EPA’s New PFAS Rule That Will Protect Public Health and Children
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), co-founder and co-chair of both the U.S. Senate Environmental Justice Caucus and the U.S. Senate Lead Task Force, today released the following statement commending the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for announcing the first-ever legally enforceable limit on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water for 5 PFAs chemicals including, PFOA, PFOS and GenX—which will require water systems to monitor and abate PFAS … Continue Reading
April 09, 2024
Duckworth: Donald Trump is Solely Responsible for Arizona Abortion Ban Ruling
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement after the Arizona Supreme Court issued a ruling that effectively upheld a near-total abortion ban in that state by allowing a law written during the Civil War in 1864—which criminalizes abortion for patients, providers and anyone who helps a patient obtain an abortion with exceptions only to save the mother’s life—to be “prospectively” enforced. This ruling from the Arizona Supreme Court could never have … Continue Reading
April 09, 2024
Duckworth Statement on Video of Fatal Police Shooting of Dexter Reed
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability today released bodycam footage capturing the fatal police shooting of 26-year-old Dexter Reed on March 21 in Chicago: “The video released today and the violence captured in it is shocking and disheartening. My thoughts are with the friends, family and loved ones of Dexter Reed as they continue to mourn his tragic death. I’m also hoping for a full … Continue Reading
April 08, 2024
Duckworth Applauds President Biden’s New Plan to Cancel Student Loan Debt for Millions of Borrowers
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today issued the following statement applauding President Biden’s new plan to cancel student loan debt for millions of Americans: “Higher education should be a ticket to the middle class, not the barrier to opportunity that mountains of student debt have made it for millions of hardworking Americans. I’m pleased President Biden is continuing to deliver on his promise to eliminate more of these barriers by taking new action to provide … Continue Reading
April 04, 2024
Duckworth Calls on FAA to Review Boeing’s Disturbing Pattern of Failing to Disclose Critical 737 MAX Safety Information to Pilots
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator and pilot Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) and Chair of the CST Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation—today urged Federal Aviation Administrator (FAA) Michael Whitaker to examine why pilots were not aware that the cockpit door on the 737 MAX 9 was designed to automatically open during a rapid depressurization event until after the door plug fell out of Alaska Airlines … Continue Reading
March 29, 2024
Duckworth Accepting Applications for FY2025 Congressionally Directed Spending Projects
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced she is accepting applications for Fiscal Year 2025 Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) requests. The CDS process does not represent new spending, rather it enables Members of Congress to allocate existing funding for specific local projects by units of government, nonprofit organizations and other organizations that meet strict eligibility requirements. Applications to Duckworth’s office are due by Friday, April 5. … Continue Reading
March 28, 2024
Duckworth, Durbin Send Letters Urging Medicaid Health Insurance Companies in Illinois to Address Lead Poisoning Risk to Children
[CHICAGO, IL] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited the Erikson Institute today to announce letters they sent to five Medicaid managed care companies (MCOs) in Illinois, urging them to address lead poisoning risks to children in Chicago by preemptively sending drinking water test kits, water filters, home visitors and educational materials to all enrolled children in the city. The letters are being sent to: Aetna, BlueCross, CountyCare, … Continue Reading
March 27, 2024
Duckworth Announces $2.5 Million in Congressionally Directed Spending for Medical Clinic Improvements in Flora
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $2,505,000 she secured through a Fiscal Year 2023 Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) Request was sent by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Community Facilities Program to Clay County Hospital and Medical Clinics for the expansion of its Flora Clinic facility. This investment would help support a more than 5,000-square-foot expansion of the existing facility to allow for expanded group behavioral … Continue Reading
March 26, 2024
Duckworth on Harmful USPS Proposal: We Must Protect Jobs in Rural Communities and Support, Not Weaken our Postal Service
[SPRINGFIELD, IL] - In advance of today’s United States Postal Service (USPS) Public Meeting in Springfield, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth today is speaking out in support of safeguarding jobs and protecting efficient mail delivery times after the USPS, led by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, proposed changes to several Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) in Illinois, including in Springfield, that will negatively impact delivery times and harm working families across the … Continue Reading
March 25, 2024
Duckworth, Durbin Announce Illinois Priorities Secured in Second "Minibus" Government Funding Bill
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced the Illinois priorities they helped secure in the second “minibus” of government funding bills, which follows passage of the first “minibus” of six funding bills earlier this month. The package includes funding bills for Defense; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, … Continue Reading
March 25, 2024
Aviation Safety Subcommittee Chair Duckworth Reacts to Boeing CEO Stepping Down Amid Management Overhaul
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST) and Chair of the CST Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation—issued the following statement regarding Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun stepping down at the end of the year amid a management overhaul at the aerospace company: “This is not the first leadership shakeup we’ve seen at Boeing, yet problems still persist and Boeing’s safety … Continue Reading
March 23, 2024
Duckworth Reaction After Senate Votes to Fully Fund Government for Remainder of 2024 Fiscal Year, Averting a Prolonged Government Shutdown
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement after the Senate passed a bipartisan package that includes the final set of appropriations bills needed to fund our government through the 2024 fiscal year and avert a prolonged shutdown, which is now expected to be signed into law by President Biden: “This bipartisan funding package makes critical investments that support small businesses, servicemembers and military families as well as students at every … Continue Reading
March 22, 2024
Ahead of ACA Anniversary, Duckworth, Durbin Highlight Record Enrollment and Slam Donald Trump and Republicans for Continuing to Push ACA Repeal
[WASHINGTON, DC] - Ahead of the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) this Saturday, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined their Senate Democratic colleagues to tout record-breaking ACA enrollment, highlighting how Democrats have built on the successes of the ACA, and speaking out against Donald Trump threatening to repeal the ACA in a potential second term. Trump recently vowed that he would “never give up” on repealing the … Continue Reading
March 22, 2024
Duckworth, Durbin Announce More Than $7 Million for Rockford's Whitman Street Interchange Project
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $7,148,000 for the City of Rockford’s Whitman Street Interchange Reconfiguration Project through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Grant Program to remove the urban interchange constructed in the early 1960s and re-establish the grid roadway system. “Updating this critical interchange means helping families in Rockford … Continue Reading
March 20, 2024
Duckworth Meets with Illinois Pork Producers Association Leadership
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with members and leadership of the Illinois Pork Producers Association to discuss how they can continue working together to ensure Illinois’s pork producers have the resources they need to remain a leader in the industry. “Illinois is a national leader in pork production—ranking fourth in the United States and contributing an estimated $1.1 billion to our state’s economy,” said Duckworth. “When we support our pork producers … Continue Reading
March 20, 2024
Duckworth Reminds Republican Senators Claiming to Support IVF That They Can Simply Stop Blocking Her Pro-Family, Pro-Freedom Bill to Protect IVF Nationwide
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - During today’s U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on continued assaults on reproductive freedom in post-Dobbs America, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) chastised Republicans’ dangerous efforts to define a fertilized egg as a human child, calling them insults to millions of hopeful parents who struggle to conceive and rely on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to start the family of their dreams. In her testimony, Duckworth shared her own personal experience undergoing … Continue Reading
March 19, 2024
Duckworth Statement on Illinois National Guard Commander Major General Neely’s Retirement
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released a statement following the announcement of Illinois National Guard Commander Major General Richard Neely’s retirement in May: “General Neely exemplifies what it means to be a leader, and the Illinois National Guard is—without question—stronger because of his steadfast leadership. I not only had the honor of working with General Neely as a U.S. Senator, but my husband Bryan and I also had the pleasure of … Continue Reading