Images
You fly. You aviate. You do everything you can to get the aircraft safely on the ground.
Tammy Duckworth
When I joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 1992, there were no female four-star generals. I still remember the day in 2008 when a woman first achieved that rank.
I don't know why I survived Iraq and I don't know why I made it home, but I do know that this is my second chance at life and I can do whatever I want now.
Food Stamps helped keep me from going hungry, and Pell grants helped me go to college.
We have an obligation to our men and women in uniform - and to future generations - to do something about the issue of climate change.
I didn't want to get pregnant while commanding an assault helicopter company and, before I knew it, I was deployed and missed out on many of my childbearing years.
Like many moms in this country, I work to provide my child the best life she can have. It's tough. It's hard to take care of a sick baby all night, wake up tired, and have to go to work when all I want to do is spend time holding her.
Whether defending our nation as a Black Hawk pilot abroad or serving our veterans and those in need at home, my life has been enriched by the opportunities I've had to serve my country and fellow citizens, both in and out of uniform.
When I was young, my dad, a veteran who attended college on the GI Bill, lost his job at age 55 when the company he worked for was sold. My entire family pitched in - my mom took in sewing, and I got a minimum wage job after school.
My arm bones looked like chicken bones.
Female service members are so integrated into the military, so critical and vital to all functions of the military, from combat service support to combat support, to direct combat, that we could not go to war as a nation - we could not defend America - without our women.
We should have completed the fight in Afghanistan instead of starting a new war in Iraq.
Energy is one of the most precious battlefield resources, but it is risky and expensive to deliver in combat zones.
The ADA is essential in helping me overcome the obstacles I face as a Wounded Warrior and empowers me to assist other veterans. It allows me to be physically active, have my pilot's license, and serve in Congress.
Veterans are my life's work. From the day my buddies saved my life in Iraq, I've woken up every single day dedicated to taking care of veterans and doing my best for veterans.
If I still had my legs, I would be in line for a battalion command, and instead, I'm flying a desk.
I almost can't believe this even needs to be said, but it's not unwarranted to burden retirement advisers with a requirement that they act in their clients' best interest.
I spent twenty years in the Army; of course it's going to color the things I talk about. If anyone spends twenty years doing anything, that's going to play a part in who you are as a human being.
When you're a member of Congress, you can become an expert in a couple of subjects. For example, I've worked on federal procurement reform, the Armed Services Committee, manufacturing, and women's health care.
I actually shoot. I enjoy target practice. I find it really zen. You focus on nothing but the target. You have to control your breathing. It's all part of my years in the military, where I was taught to become a marksman but also to respect my weapon.
Illinois' economy will benefit from the modernization of the power sector.
Our troops do an incredible job every single day, but our policymakers have not lived up to the sacrifices that our troops make every day.
Like so many women, especially military women, I waited to have children.
Our military men and women are our greatest national treasure. They should be safeguarded as such upon their return.
I'm glad that people know my military service. But, like this nation, we are more than our military. And the rest of our story is the same as the rest of my story.
I get up every single day trying to repay a debt that I can never repay. Never. And I will work hard. Because I don't know why I was saved. I don't know.
Every day, members of the LGBTQ community deal with challenges that most Americans will never have to face. These challenges appear in the workplace, in your homes, in your community, and even in the halls of Congress.
My experience in Iraq made me realize, and during the recovery, that I could have died. And I just had to do more with my life.
How can you have an educated workforce, how do you equal the economic disparities in this country, if you can't make college more affordable for those who are struggling to make it?
Men view life to be as precious as women do, and to say that men have a more violent nature is insulting to men.
My therapist would be so happy to know I'm doing all this walking. They've done a great job of putting me back together, haven't they?
I think back to the 1990s, when I joined the Army, and all those peacetime years that we had, thinking, 'Will we ever go into combat?'
I was born in Bangkok in 1968 and grew up in Southeast Asia with my Thai mom and my American father, who first came to the region to fight in Vietnam and stayed to work assisting refugees.
I was in Congress for six months, and they put me on blood pressure medication. I flew helicopters in combat and I was fine, and I survived 13 months in recovery in the hospital... I got to Congress, and six months later I'm on blood pressure medication. Fourteen months later, they doubled the dosage!
I consider myself lucky to have been born into a family that valued service to both one's country and one's community.
As a nation, we need to do everything we can to make sure those who have served have the tools they need to succeed in civilian life.
I am just one of the overwhelming majority of Americans who is responsible and hard-working and at one point in their life benefited greatly from government programs such as student loans, Medicare, and Social Security.
We owe it to all our veterans to make sure they have a chance to achieve the American Dream, just like the rest of us.
I grew up a daughter of a United States Marine, a daughter of a man so proud to be an American.
The summer before I started college, my parents walked everywhere instead of taking the bus. Once a week, they would hand over $10 to the university housing office, a deposit so I could move into the dorms in the fall.
I did not know I was a Midwesterner until I got there. I just fell in love with the people.
I do not have PTSD, but if I watch part of a movie like 'The Hurt Locker', or when I spend time around Blackhawk helicopters, I will close my eyes that night and live an entire day in Iraq, flying my missions. I remember the smell and the feel and the heat and everything about it. Then I wake up in Illinois, and I'm exhausted.
As Assistant Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a constant concern for me is having our veterans dragged into partisan politics.
Our soldiers show every single day that they are more than good enough.
We must be an inclusive nation that respects and supports all of its citizens: a nation that doesn't give up on anyone who hasn't given up on themselves.
When I first ran, being a woman in politics was seen as both a negative and also a positive. You could attract more women voters, but on the other hand, a lot of men wouldn't vote for you.
I remember my mother taking me as a very little kid to the roof of our home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to look at the bombs exploding in the distance. She didn't want us to be scared by the booms and the strange flashes of light. It was her way of helping us to understand what was happening.
I commanded an Army unit, and I placed the highest priority on a commander's authority to lead, manage, and discipline the men and women under his or her command within the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
I had 12 years in the Army before I ever faced combat.
I know from personal experience that engaging with your community and helping others helps foster a sense of shared sacrifice and - at a time when our politics seem more focused on tearing us apart than bringing us together - that shared sacrifice will help us rekindle the national unity that has made us the strongest nation in the world.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10