Illinois Congressional Candidate Tammy Duckworth to Deliver Democratic Radio Address

(Washington, D.C.) – Democratic congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth delivered the national Democratic response to the president’s weekly radio address. Duckworth is running against Republican Rubber-Stamp-In-Training Peter Roskam and her address was the ninth by a Democratic congressional candidate this cycle. Duckworth focused her remarks on Iraq and securing America. Right now, President Bush and the Republican Congress have failed to come up with a strategy for success in Iraq and this week, we learned from the National Intelligence Estimate, that the U.S. invasion of Iraq has not made us safer, and in fact, has spread the threat of terror across the globe. It is time for a new direction in Washington because it’s long past time that Congress does their job of holding the president accountable and long past time that our brave soldiers had a plan for success in Iraq.

Tammy Duckworth is a Major in the Illinois National Guard. She served in Iraq and on November 12, 2004, the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting north of Baghdad was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade. Ten days later she woke up in Walter Reed Hospital outside Washington, D.C. and learned she had lost both of her legs. She returned to Illinois and began talking to her friends in the sixth district about the issues facing our country. She decided to run for Congress because while our brave soldiers are fighting and doing their duty, our leaders in Washington are not doing theirs.

WHO: Illinois congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth

WHAT: Weekly Democratic Radio Address

Tammy Duckworth
National Radio Address
“We Need a New Congress, and a New Direction in Iraq”

Hello. My name is Tammy Duckworth.

Almost two years ago, the Black Hawk helicopter I was co-piloting in Iraq was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. When I woke up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center ten days later, my husband Bryan told me that I had lost both my legs.

Despite that, I don’t regret my service for a minute. I was honored to serve when my country called. In fact, I’m still an active member of the National Guard.

I’m extremely proud of the thousands of brave U.S. troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan under the most difficult circumstances. They’re doing their duty, and doing it well.

But as I went through my recovery, I started asking myself whether our leaders in Washington are doing their duty.

After more than three years, more than 2,700 U.S. deaths and tens of thousands of wounded, this administration still lacks a plan for securing Iraq. And the leaders of Congress still refuse to do their job of holding the administration accountable.

So, instead of a plan or a strategy, we get shallow slogans like Mission Accomplished and Stay the Course.

Those slogans are calculated to win an election. But they won’t help us accomplish our mission in Iraq.

Just this past week, the National Intelligence Estimate revealed the unhappy truth: the war in Iraq has led to more terrorism, not less. These are the conclusions of our sixteen national intelligence agencies. Yet the response from the White House is a predictable “stay the course.”

And anyone who challenges our failed policies, or suggests the need for a new strategy, is accused of “cutting and running.”

Well, I didn’t cut and run, Mr. President. Like so many others, I proudly fought and sacrificed.

My helicopter was shot down long after you proclaimed “Mission Accomplished.”

And I believe the brave men and women who are serving in Iraq today, their families and the American people deserve more than the same empty slogans and political name-calling.

They know what we’re doing isn’t working and that it’s time to change course.

We need a new Congress that will ask the tough questions and work together for solutions rather than attacking the patriotism of those who disagree.

It is time to encourage Iraqi leaders to take control of their own country and make the tough choices that will stop the civil war and stabilize the country.

We also need much better oversight of the billions of U.S. tax dollars we’re spending in Iraq.

So far, the leaders of this Congress have been unwilling to perform this basic task.

We simply can’t go on this way. It’s time for a new direction. And it starts by putting politics and partisanship aside.

Our nation was united after nine-eleven. There was overwhelming support to go after those who attacked us. We all wanted to punish bin Laden and the Taliban who protected him.

But President Bush took his eye off of al Qaeda in Afghanistan to invade Iraq. As a result, our military is stretched to the limit. And the sympathy and support we received from others around the world has been lost.

If I’m elected to Congress, I will go to Washington next year to continue my service by asking the tough questions of administration officials. And if we’re not meeting our goals, I’ll demand to know why.

I want real accountability for the billions of dollars we’re spending in Iraq.

Like all Americans, I want to get our troops home – as quickly and safely and in the most responsible way possible.

And the next time that Congress considers committing our young men and women to combat, I want to make sure that we’ve asked the right questions:

Is the intelligence correct? Have we planned for the aftermath? Do our troops have the equipment and support that they need?

We’ve had enough banners. We’ve had enough slogans.

We need a new Congress -- and a new direction in Iraq.

This is Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, thank you for listening.