People in the news

L. Tammy Duckworth

Assistant Veterans Affairs Secretary (since April 2009)

(US Dept of Vets Affairs)

Why She Matters

Duckworth, a veteran who lost both her legs while serving in Iraq in 2004, resigned from her post as assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs in June 2011.

Duckworth was recruited to run for Congress in 2006 by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, chaired by then-Illinois Rep. Rahm Emmanuel (D), to run for the seat vacated by retiring Congressman Henry Hyde (R).

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Director, Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, (2007-2009); Illinois Congressional candidate (2006); Captain, helicopter pilot, Iraq war (2004);Manager for District Administration, Rotary International (2002-2004);Coordinator, Center for Nursing Research, Northern Illinois University (1991-2001)
Hometown: Bangkok, Thailand
Alma Mater: B.A., Political Science, University of Hawaii; M.A., George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs

Spouse: Major Bryan Bowlsbey
Email : N/A
Website : N/A

Path to Power

Born in 1968, in Bangkok, Thailand, daughter of a U.S. Marine who fought in Vietnam and an ethnic Chinese mother, Duckworth spent most of her childhood in Southeast Asia, as her father moved around for his work with the United Nations.

She graduated with a bachelor's in political science from the University of Hawaii, a master's from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, and started work on a Ph.D in political science from Northern Illinois University.

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Iraq War

In November 2004, Duckworth was serving in Iraq as an Illinois National Guard pilot when the cockpit of her helicopter was struck by a rocket- propelled grenade.

She lost both legs, now replaced by prosthetics, and the partial use of one arm. In an interview with Stars and Stripes, she describes how the explosion at knee-level punched a gaping hole in her Black Hawk's floor and control systems. She couldn't work the control pedals with her legs and at first didn't understand why. "I found out later the pedals were gone and so were my legs." Her co-pilot, Chief Warrant officer Dan Milberg, got the helicopter safely to the ground and summoned a rescue crew. Duckworth won a Purple Heart and an Air Medal. Milberg won a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions that day.

After emergency surgery in Germany, Duckworth was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she learned to walk again - using prosthetic legs. She remained at Walter Reed through December 2005, staying for 11 months in a home called the Fisher House, built for military families and located on the grounds of the medical center.

Duckworth met both Illinois Senators Richard J. Durbin (D) and Barack Obama (D) while recuperating; Durbin brought her as his guest to watch the 2005 State of the Union address. Introducing Duckworth at the April 1, 2009, confirmation hearing, Durbin described how taken aback he was by her attitude when they first met, despite the serious nature of her injuries. "When I heard the story I couldn't believe it because she was sitting in front of me with a big smile on her face." He was even more astounded by her answer to a reporter's question about anti-war protesters. "She said 'isn't that why we're fighting this war, so we can have freedom of speech?'"

Political Debut

In 2006, Duckworth was recruited by Durbin and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, chaired by then-Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel (D), to run for the seat vacated by retiring Congressman Henry Hyde (R). It was part of an effort by Democrats to identify veterans as candidates for Congress. Her personal story brought attention and campaign funds to the district, which represents suburbs west of Chicago. But in the Republican-leaning district, the race was won by State Sen. Peter Roskam (R) with 51 percent of the vote.

Shortly after that defeat, on November 21, 2006, then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) appointed Duckworth as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. She left the Illinois position to await her April 1, 2009, Senate confirmation hearing. Duckworth was confirmed on April 22, 2009.

Duckworth was briefly considered for the Democratic nomination for Illinois lieutanent governor in 2010, but decided to stay at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In June 2011, Duckworth resigned from her post as assistant secretary to the Veterans Affairs Department. Duckworth plans to return to her home in Illinois, where political insiders speculate that she will run for the House seat in fall 2012.

The Issues

Though she served in Iraq, Duckworth has voiced opposition to President George W. Bush's decision to go to war there. She was a prime-time speaker at the Democratic convention in Denver, and used the platform to protest the policy the Bush administration crafted, and that 2008 GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) intended to follow. "We have diverted our military might to Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11," she said. Supporting Obama's views, she said the war on terror should be fought instead in Afghanistan, "where al-Qaida and the Taliban are on the offensive."

Health Care for Veterans

Duckworth has positioned herself as an advocate for wounded veterans with first-hand experience that sharpens her focus on what the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) could do better, given available modern medical technologies.

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While head of Illinois' VA, Duckworth worked to improve services for vets suffering from two categories of long-term injuries emerging from the Iraq war: traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD).

A theme runs through Duckworth's public statements and testimony: that as injured combat soldiers are more likely to survive and bring home lasting physical and mental scars, wounded vets require a more sophisticated response from the VA.

Duckworth says that in Illinois, her department began the first-ever program to offer free TBI screening to all Illinois vets. The agency also developed a hotline with trained clinicians available 24- hours-a-day to veterans suffering from PSTD. This service is especially important, she says, because it is accessible to veterans living in rural and under-served areas, and available at all hours. "When one wakes up from a nightmare at 2 a.m. on a Friday night, one needs help immediately, not at 8 a.m. on the following Monday," she said.

On the national level, Duckworth wants the VA to increase employment services for returning vets, housing for vets now living on the streets and step upVA medical services to keep pace with advances in privately-funded health care.

While living in the western suburbs of Chicago following her recuperation at Walter Reed, Duckworth went to Hines VA hospital in Maywood, Ill. It had a prosthetics department that "while eager to meet my needs, is many decades behind in prosthetics technology," she testified before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, in 2007.

She told the Senate committee that she paid her own way to travel to a civilian practitioner in Florida for high-tech artificial legs and again to Walter Reed for prosthetics follow-up care. She wants to see the VA system change, to accommodate other veterans who need advanced care.

Above all, Duckworth values a dignified approach to veterans. VA medical personnel should be trained in what she calls "the unique culture of the military," a point she illustrates with the example of her late father, also a Purple Heart-decorated veteran. "At the end of his life my father could be a difficult patient. However, if a doctor called him by his military rank my dad would have gladly slept in the hallway to make sure that the lower ranking soldier was cared for."

The Network

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Daniel K. Akaka (D) is a fan, which boded well for Duckworth's confirmation.At the hearing, Senators welcomed her warmly, expressing concerns only that in her new role, she not gloss over any inadequacies found in VA service to veterans. She assured the committee she would approach the job with "candor, transparency, and integrity."

Duckworth's circle of Illinois political connections has brought her to Washington, including President Obama, Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D), and now-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

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Campaign Contributions

None.

Additional Resources

http://www.veterans.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?pageid=16&release_id=11926&view=all
Testimony for the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 6 November 2007
"The Pedals Were Gone, and So Were My Legs," by Leon Shane III, Stars and Stripes, June 12, 2005
The Almanac of American Politics, 2008 edition
Democratic National Convention speech, Tammy Duckworth, Illinois, Wednesday August 27, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Democratic National Convention speech Tammy Duckworth, Illinois, Wednesday August 27, 2008 at 8:00 pm
"Gov. Rod Blagojevich appoints Tammy Duckworth as new Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, " press release, Office of the Governor, Nov. 21, 2006
"We Weren't Ready for it," by Jessica Bennett, Newsweek, Jan. 13, 2006"Iraq war veteran wins star support; Despite key national backers, Democrat wages uphill battle in congressional race," by John Biemer, Chicago Tribune, March 15, 2006,
Testimony for the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 6 November 2007
"ARRESTED; U.S.: Blagojevich tried to sell Senate seat in 'political corruption crime spree'," Chicago Tribune, December 9, 2008
"Gov. Rod Blagojevich appoints Tammy Duckworth as new Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs," press release, Office of the Governor, Nov. 21, 2006
"Duckworth a Leading Contender for VA Secretary," by Phillip Rucker, Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2008, "Akaka Announces Confirmation Hearings on VA Nominees Gould and Duckworth," U.S. Senate press release, March 18, 2009
"Duckworth Tapped for VA Assistant Secretary," The White House Office of Press Secretary, February 3, 2009
"Duckworth Tapped for VA Assistant Secretary," The White House Office of Press Secretary, February 3, 2009, New York Times Topics
U.S. States News press release, September 28, 2008, "Lt. Gov. Quinn,USO, Hundreds of Relatives, Friends to Honor Families of Fallen Illinois Heroes at Gold Star Mothers Ceremony"
The Almanac of American Politics, 2008 edition
O'Keefe, Ed."Tammy Duckworth leaving VA post." The Washington Post, June 13, 2011
O'Keefe, Ed."Tammy Duckworth leaving VA post." The Washington Post, June 13, 2011
O'Keefe, Ed."Tammy Duckworth leaving VA post." The Washington Post, June 13, 2011
O'Keefe, Ed, "Tammy Duckworth Passes on Illinois Lieutenant Governor Race," Washington Post, Feb. 23, 2010