As Assistant Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a constant concern for me is having our veterans dragged into partisan politics.
— Tammy Duckworth
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 love the Army with every bone in my body.
In the military, a combatant command is the ultimate job. It's the pointy tip of the spear, overseeing the people carrying the rifles and flying the aircraft.
Southeast Asia was home for much of my childhood, but I moved to Hawaii when I was in high school.
I said three things when I woke up in Walter Reed. 'I love you.' 'Put me to work,' and 'You stink! Go shower!'
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.
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.
You fly. You aviate. You do everything you can to get the aircraft safely on the ground.
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?'
In the Senate, you can become one of the nation's leading voices on the issues.
If you come from a military culture, and you go into see the general or the commander, and he talks to you very calmly and says, 'I'm very disappointed in you,' that's devastating.
One of the good things about losing your feet is I can wear all the pointy shoes I want, and it doesn't hurt anymore. I can wear shoes just for fashion now.
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.
I feel like moderate Republicans, who would support sensible gun violence legislation, are pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA.
If I still had my legs, I would be in line for a battalion command, and instead, I'm flying a desk.
My strength is in finding ways to make the government work for the people: finding waste, or money that is not being properly used... or finding opportunities that are out there and making them work for the community.
Had I been injured on the freeway and not in combat, it is likely that I would be bankrupt even though I had medical insurance through my civilian employer.
The military is a place of discipline, technical proficiency, and personal sacrifice for the greater good.
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.
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.
My first direct encounter with the military was when I joined ROTC as a graduate student, although my father, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, can trace the military service in our family all the way back to the Revolutionary War.
I did not know I was a Midwesterner until I got there. I just fell in love with the people.
Barack Obama will never ignore our troops.
I'm going to find solutions wherever I can. I think it's all a priority. You can't just say, 'OK, I'm going to work on this but not that.' You have to work on all of it.
Our soldiers show every single day that they are more than good enough.
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.
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 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 don't ever want to be sad about my life.
The bottom line is, when you're in the Senate, you have more of a voice in the beginning than a new House member.
Running for Senate is a very involved process.
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.
Sometimes it takes dealing with a disability - the trauma, the relearning, the months of rehabilitation therapy - to uncover our true abilities and how we can put them to work for us in ways we may have never imagined.
I have personally seen what a devastating medical condition can cost.
The lessons I learned as an officer, the challenges I've faced, and the camaraderie I've experienced are at the core of who I am.
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.
I had been pursuing a Ph.D. in political science when my National Guard unit was sent to Iraq. Eight months into our deployment, in November 2004, a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents tore through the pilot's side of the Blackhawk helicopter I was flying.
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.
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 admire Governor Blagojevich's unbending commitment to giving every person in Illinois access to health care.
When I got to Iraq, my world focused in on one mission. It was incredibly rewarding.
I had 12 years in the Army before I ever faced combat.
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?
I'd do anything to help veterans.
I always wanted to be an ambassador.
I shouldn't even be here, so if I'm here, I better do something good.
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.
Men view life to be as precious as women do, and to say that men have a more violent nature is insulting to men.
I absolutely welcome a full investigation into the for-profit schools because I think a majority of them are predatory.
