Tammy Duckworth - Misplaced Pages

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Ladda "Tammy" Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is a former U.S. Army major and Iraq War veteran from the U.S. state of Illinois. She is the current Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives seat for the sixth district of Illinois in the 2006 House election.

Duckworth suffered severe combat injuries in Iraq resulting in paraplegia. She is married to Captain Bryan Bowlsbey of the Illinois Army National Guard.

Early years

Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand. She is the daughter of Frank L. Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin, a native of Thailand. She has a brother named Tom. Her family moved around southeast Asia when she was young due to her father's jobs with the United Nations and several international companies.

The Duckworth family moved to Hawaii when she was 16. She graduated with honors in 1985 from McKinley High School after skipping the ninth grade. She attended the University of Hawaii, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, and later received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University.

Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia when she deployed to Iraq. She was also working as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston.

Military service

Duckworth joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the Army Reserve in 1992. She chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school and joined the Illinois Army Guard in 1996.

Duckworth lost both legs 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. In addition to losing her legs the explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it." Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3. She was promoted to major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was also presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

Duckworth was fitted for prosthetics and despite her paraplegia is now fully mobile. She helped establish the Intrepid Foundation and is involved in its fundraising to build a rehabilitation center for other injured veterans, and has been critical of the administration of President George W. Bush for its provision of veterans' care:

The Iraqi war has created a new need for these centers...Because of the nature of the combat injuries, wounded soldiers are requiring care of more than just a month or two. We weren't ready for that. But the Army is a huge institution–it can't react as quickly as something like the Intrepid Foundation. And the VA just can't support all the veterans it needs to; its budget needs to be protected from cuts. There are veterans who, after having served this country, have to go without the basic care they were promised they would get.
— Newsweek, January 23, 2006

Although Duckworth disagreed with Bush's decision to invade Iraq, she felt obligated to uphold the oath she had taken.

'We should have been fighting the enemies that attacked us at home on 9/11,' she said in December 2005. 'We should have been out there trying to catch Osama bin Laden.'
— Associated Press, February 7, 2006

Political career

Duckworth is a resident of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Although part of Hoffman Estates is within the sixth district, Duckworth lives outside of the district. The U.S. Constitution requires only that a member, when elected, be "an inhabitant of the state in which he shall be chosen." Illinois does not have a district residency requirement.

In the Sixth Congressional district of Illinois, incumbent Henry Hyde is retiring, leaving an open seat. On March 21, 2006, Duckworth won the Democratic primary with 44 percent of the vote against 2004 Democratic nominee Christine Cegelis, who received 40 percent, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott, who received 16 percent.

State Senator Peter Roskam is the Republican nominee in the general election. Duckworth has called the race a referendum on 32 years of Republican control of the Sixth district.

A July 26, 2006 Suburban Life newspaper article reported the candidates are expected to speak on WTTW/Channel 11, WBEZ radio and WBBM radio — all debates that will be broadcast — and at the College of DuPage. Dates have not been set.

Health care

Duckworth considers health care to be one of the most important issues to the voters of the Sixth District.

The fact that there are kids who don't have access to health insurance, we need to be expanding S-CHIP. The fact that there are 25 percent of Americans between 50 and 64 who don't have access to health insurance, we need to let them buy into the federal employee health care system. And we certainly need to fix the entire mess made out of Medicare Part D by this administration. So that's what I'm worried about.
— 24 March 2006 interview with John Roberts on CNN's American Morning

Criticism of the handling of the war in Iraq

Duckworth has criticized the Bush Administration for "failing miserably to plan for Iraq."

Speaking at a news conference before the dinner, Duckworth said experiencing the war firsthand was frustrating, because she saw how the money was being misused. Instead of having a properly equipped helicopter, she was fed lavish meals. She said simple tasks were contracted to companies for large sums of money, even though soldiers could have easily handled the jobs. She called for more accountability from U.S. leaders when it comes to funding for the war. "I didn't become a soldier to eat steak and lobster," Duckworth said, "but I want my men to be protected."
— Erinn Deshinsky, The Peoria Journal Star

Duckworth's strategic recommendations include requesting an immediate accounting by the Secretary of Defense of the readiness level and the training of the Iraqi forces, followed by aggressive benchmarks for progress and redeployment of U.S. troops linked to the stand-up of Iraqi troops. She believes we should proceed by standing-down a defined number of U.S. units for every Iraqi battalion that can be properly trained and certified as combat-ready.

Criticism of earmarks

In August 2006, Duckworth criticized the use of earmarks and pork-barrel spending in Congress. Duckworth says that earmarks should be eliminated to rein in spending and to reform ethics, arguing that they often are divvied out in exchange for votes. Duckworth's opponent opposes earmark reform.

Call for Congressional audit of spending on war

In August 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since Sept. 11, 2001.

Real and meaningful oversight has taken a back seat to partisan inaction. With the right kind of leadership Congress can bring greater fiscal discipline and accountability to the billions of dollars we are spending on our military efforts.
— Northbrook Star, August 17, 2006

A target for swiftboating

It has been alleged that the same group of political consultants, media strategists and communication experts who swiftboated, or smeared, John Kerry in 2004 will reportedly now target, among other veterans, Duckworth.

Criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act

On 23 August 2006, Duckworth was endorsed by the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. In accepting the endorsements, Duckworth criticized the Bush Administration's education policy.

The strict, one-size fits-all approach under the No Child Left Behind Act doesn’t offer the flexibility that our local schools, teachers and parents need. The fact that schools in our District are on the “watch list” shows that current adequate yearly progress rules are sorely in need of flexibility,” she said. “In our community, too many good schools and their resources are at risk and it’s time for real relief and results for students in the Sixth District.
— "Duckworth outlines steps that can be taken to improve education"

NRCC mailings

In August 2006, the National Republican Congressional Committee spent $200,000 on seven mailings attacking Duckworth. It was the first congressional race in the country for which the NRCC sent out direct mailings.

Without mentioning Roskam's name, the mailings assail "liberal Tammy Duckworth" on taxes and immigration. One features a blue-eyed baby and asks "Taxes or Diapers?" Another shows a ghost with the letters IRS on it and warns: "If you vote for Tammy Duckworth you may be visited by the `ghost of taxes future.'"Republicans base the attacks on what they say are Duckworth's vague statements about repealing some of the Bush administration's tax cuts. Duckworth rebutted with mailings of her own--accusing "Roskam and his friends in Washington" of telling "ghost stories" that distort her stance, which includes making permanent the marriage-penalty reduction and the child tax credit. The mailings imply she opposes them.
"Essentially they are sending lies through the mail," said Duckworth spokeswoman Christine Glunz.
— John Biemer, Chicago Tribune

Notes

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/030906/news2.html
http://www.cqpolitics.com/images/Illinois-DemCongress.pdf
http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/story.php?pub=1&sid=57336
http://mediamatters.org/items/200603240014
Erinn Deshinsky, "Duckworth cheered at dinner", Peoria Journal Star Monday, August 7, 2006 http://www.pjstar.com/stories/080706/REG_BAJPI6J0.045.shtml
http://www.duckworthforcongress.com/newsroom_details.asp?id=921
John Biemer "Hospital plea raises issue in Congress race", August 5, 2006, Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-0608050188aug05,1,89587.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorth-hed
"Duckworth calls for investigation of foreign spending since 9/11" BY PAT CORCORAN http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/nb/08-17-06-1005047.html
Dave Johnson, "The Swiftboaters Are Back in the Water" July 17, 2006 http://www.patriotproject.com/2006/07/dave_johnson_th.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-boyce/how-much-is-that-admiral-_b_24967.html
http://www.duckworthforcongress.com/newsroom_details.asp?id=916
John Biemer, "Race for Hyde's seat in Congress heats up" September 7, 2006 Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/nearwest/chi-0609070273sep07,1,1503876.story?coll=chi-newslocalnearwest-hed
John Biemer, "Race for Hyde's seat in Congress heats up" September 7, 2006 Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/nearwest/chi-0609070273sep07,1,1503876.story?coll=chi-newslocalnearwest-hed

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