“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.”

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.