Tammy Duckworth is a war veteran who lost both of her legs in Iraq, after her Black Hawk helicopter was tragically shot down. After retiring from the Army, she got into politics, as a member of the Democratic party. She won two terms in the House of Representatives, representing Illinois, and in 2016, she won a seat in the United States Senate. Back in 2004, Tammy made history as the first female double amputee from the War in Iraq. Now she's making history again, having announced that she's six months pregnant. That makes her the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. (I mean "while serving in office." Not giving birth directly inside of her office. That would make a mess.)
"[My husband] Bryan and I are thrilled that our family is getting a little bit bigger, and [our 3-year-old daughter] Abigail is ecstatic to welcome her baby sister home this spring,” said Tammy, in a statement. "As tough as juggling the demands of motherhood and being a Senator can be, I'm hardly alone or unique as a working parent, and Abigail has only made me more committed to doing my job and standing up for hardworking families everywhere." (There have been nine members of the House of the Representatives who have given birth, including Tammy herself, but never a U.S. Senator.)
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Just last week, Senator Duckworth made the news for criticizing
President Trump, after he claimed that Democrats were "holding the military hostage" in budget negotiations. "I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger," she said on the Senate floor, as well as in a tweet. Then presumably she dropped the mic, slowly put on sunglasses and Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who started blasting. (YEEEEAAAAAAAAHH!)
Currently the Democratic party is searching for candidates to take on President Pence in 2020 - I mean, President Trump in 2020. Many of the rumored Democratic candidates are 1,000 years old, or just
Hillary Clinton in various cheap disguises. However, Tammy Duckworth is relatively young, at age 49, and has some formidable experience. It's possible we may see much more of her in the years to come. Maybe she'll run for president just to get out of dealing with her toddler - I hear that's a difficult age.
It seems appropriate that this news broke just a couple days after the second annual Women's March. The groundbreaking protest drew enormous crowds in cities all over the world, as women (and men and children) marched to advocate legislation for women's rights, reproductive rights and human rights, among other issues. (Also, there were
a lot of great signs.) While women are still grossly under-represented in Congress (and we have yet to have a female president after over 240 years), Tammy's announcement reminds us that progress is still being made.
Plus, after dealing with Senator Mitch McConnell for the past few years, she's gotten some great experience working with babies.
