Ladda Tammy Duckworth was born on March 12,1968 and is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017.
72 Facts About Tammy Duckworth
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Tammy Duckworth was the first female double amputee from the war.
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Tammy Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011.
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In 2012, Tammy Duckworth was elected to the US House of Representatives, where she served two terms.
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Tammy Duckworth was elected to the US Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk.
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Tammy Duckworth is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office.
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Tammy Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the US Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
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Tammy Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Tammy Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin.
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Tammy Duckworth's father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the US Army and US Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War.
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Tammy Duckworth's mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai.
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Tammy Duckworth's father was a Baptist who worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia.
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Tammy Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
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Tammy Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School.
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The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Tammy Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985.
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Tammy Duckworth was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award.
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Tammy Duckworth's father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance.
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Tammy Duckworth graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.
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Later, Tammy Duckworth began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service.
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Tammy Duckworth completed a PhD in human services at Capella University School of Public Service Leadership in March 2015.
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Tammy Duckworth's dissertion was titled Exploring Illinois physicians' experience using electronic medical records via the UTAUT model.
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Tammy Duckworth became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time.
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Tammy Duckworth worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
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Tammy Duckworth lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12,2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.
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Tammy Duckworth was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War.
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Tammy Duckworth retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
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On November 21,2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Tammy Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich.
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Tammy Duckworth served in that position until February 8,2009.
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On September 17,2008, Tammy Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district.
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Tammy Duckworth used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities.
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Tammy Duckworth acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
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Tammy Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office.
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On February 3,2009, President Barack Obama nominated Tammy Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Tammy Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the US House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
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Tammy Duckworth was endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police.
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In July 2011, Tammy Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district.
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Tammy Duckworth defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20,2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election.
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Tammy Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald.
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On June 26,2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Tammy Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status.
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On March 30,2015, Tammy Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican US Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois.
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Tammy Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15,2016.
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Tammy Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
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In March 2021, Tammy Duckworth announced her candidacy for reelection in the 2022 election.
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On November 8,2022, Tammy Duckworth won her reelection to the US Senate, defeating Republican challenger Kathy Salvi.
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Tammy Duckworth's win makes her the first woman reelected to a senate seat in Illinois.
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In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Tammy Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:.
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In 2018, Tammy Duckworth became the first US senator to give birth while in office.
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Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Tammy Duckworth introduced on April 12,2018, by unanimous consent.
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The day after the rules were changed, Tammy Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
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Tammy Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020.
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Tammy Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent".
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Tammy Duckworth sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law.
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On January 3,2021, Tammy Duckworth received one vote for Speaker of the House of Representatives from Jared Golden despite not being a member of that legislative body and therefore not a serious candidate.
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Tammy Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.
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Tammy Duckworth's mission was planned in conjunction with the US Trade Representative's office, which leads the Initiative for Washington.
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In February 2023, Tammy Duckworth was named chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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Tammy Duckworth has spoken at the 2008,2012,2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions.
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Tammy Duckworth was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
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Tammy Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection.
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Biden nominated Tammy Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
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On September 30,2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W Bush's weekly radio address.
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In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Tammy Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
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Tammy Duckworth supports continued US military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.
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Tammy Duckworth voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
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In May 2019, Tammy Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
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Tammy Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record.
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Tammy Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster.
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Tammy Duckworth would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
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In May 2010, Tammy Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Northern Illinois University.
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Tammy Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had received.
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Tammy Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018.
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The day after the rule change, Tammy Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Tammy Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
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Tammy Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.