“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.”

American politician and Army National Guard veteran

Ladda Tammy Duckworth is an American politician and Army National Guard veteran. She has served as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017 and previously represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Duckworth's public career has centered on federal office and military service. She is known for her work in Congress and the Senate, where her name is associated with Illinois politics and national policymaking.