Progress Illinois

A day after Tammy Duckworth's relatively smooth confirmation hearing before the Veterans Affairs Committee, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) inexplicably decided to delay a scheduled April 2 vote on her nomination as assistant secretary for the federal V.A., citing his pursuit of "answers to some questions".  Burr's action came among numerous other instances of GOP senators slow-pedalling Obama administration nominees.  The fact that he provided no rationale for the delay only amplified the outrage among veterans groups.  

Then, as MSNBC's Rachel Maddow reported on her program last night, Burr mysteriously green-lighted the nomination yesterday:

Once again, Burr's office has only said that his questions related "to confidential questionnaires Duckworth submitted to the committee."  His spokesman also confirmed that the inquiries did not pertain to former Gov. Blagojevich, who appointed her director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs in 2006.

Gotta love the U.S. Senate.

This morning, we wrote that Tammy Duckworth had "all but seal[ed] up her nomination to serve as an assistant secretary for the federal V.A.," after her confirmation hearing before the Senate Veterans Affairs Commmittee yesterday.  Duckworth had been expecting a committee vote today, followed by a swearing-in ceremony tomorrow at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C., where she recovered in 2004 after losing both of her legs as an IL National Guard major serving in Iraq.  

But Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) scuttled that plan by blocking the committee vote this morning.  Army Times has the details:

Burr aides said the senator is not blocking her nomination. They described the delay as a matter of paperwork and timing. [...]

Duckworth’s nomination won’t come to a vote until Burr gets answers to some questions, Senate sources said, without specifying exactly what Burr wanted to know. [...]

The Senate will be wrapping up its work on Thursday or Friday and will then take a two-week Easter recess, which means the veterans committee won’t be prepared for another vote before April 21.

Hmmm.  Jon Soltz, Iraq War veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org, released the following statement in response:

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CBS 2's Mike Flannery sorted through the speculation about Obama's U.S. Senate replacement last night and offered up some interesting -- and unsourced -- developments.  According to Flannery, the top three names on Gov. Blagojevich's shortlist are Tammy Duckworth, Emil Jones, and Rep. Luis Gutierrez.  He further reported that former 10th District congressional candidate Dan Seals is perhaps being considered and that sources "all but rule out Jesse Jackson Jr." as a potential pick.  Finally, Attorney General Lisa Madigan distanced herself from the process.  Watch it:

Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin indicated yesterday that he's hoping to meet with Blagojevich to discuss the matter today:

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Keeping with tradition, the best seats at the Democratic National Convention are reserved for the presidential nominee's home state delegates. This year, aside from the myriad of speeches by party leaders, the Illinois delegation will be front and center for a special appearance by Illinois Dept. of Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth:

An Iraq war veteran who lost both legs when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade will lead a tribute to service members and veterans on the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

Tammy Duckworth, who lost a bid for Congress in Barack Obama's home state of Illinois in 2006, has become a well-known advocate for veterans and military families.

The focus Wednesday will be on honoring the military and a "new, tough foreign policy approach that is neither Republican nor Democratic," the Obama campaign said. The theme is "Securing America's Future." The headline prime-time speaker will be the vice presidential nominee, who has not been named.

Could this be a try-out for a Senate appointment? Only time will tell.

(H/T Think Progress)

We know that Jan Schakowsky is interested (not to mention the strongest progressive on the short list). And to everyone's surprise -- even his own -- Rahm Emanuel's name recently surfaced in a Robert Novak column on the subject. Now the Sun-Times' Michael Sneed is telling us that Tammy Duckworth could be tapped to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate if he is elected president:

Sneed hears rumbles that U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who is this/close to Sen. Barack Obama, and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel are talking up Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth as Obama's replacement -- if Obama is elected president.

Duckworth, a moderate Democrat, came a hair's breadth from defeating GOP Rep. Peter Roskam in 2006. Her name has already been proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who would ultimately make the decision about Obama's replacement. If Sneed is right, Duckworth might have some support from the Democratic nominee as well (Durbin and Obama most likely stay in communication about such things).

Regardless, November is a long way off and we'll probably see more names ground through the rumor mill before the whole thing is done.

A Rand Corporation study released in April found that a startling 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan — 300,000 in all — report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment. As soldiers complete multiple tours, the rate of stress-induced illnesses grows even higher. The director of the National Institute of Mental Health went so far as to predict that by the end of the war, the number of suicides among Iraq and Afghanistan vets may exceed the combat death toll thanks to inadequate care.

Such devastating figures highlight the importance of veteran care, an issue that Tammy Duckworth has been focusing on since losing her congressional race in 2006. (She was appointed director of the Illinois Veterans' Affairs Department shortly after the election.) Be sure to check out her Memorial Day interview with the Chicago Tribune's Judith Graham in which she discusses the needs of Illinois veterans, the recently-launched Illinois Warrior Assistance Program, and her own personal bout with PTSD:

I think I probably do [have PTSD]. Recently, the other pilot in my aircraft sent me an e-mail and said he was deploying back to Iraq. And that night, I closed my eyes and (in my dream) I was in Iraq. It’s a dream I have over and over. I’m living an entire day in Iraq. I fly missions. I’m working. There’s nothing scary that happens. I’m not reliving getting shot down. It’s actually very mundane. But I’m working hard (in the dream) and when I wake up, I’m usually exhausted because I’ve just spent eight hours on the job in my sleep. And I actually have a little bit of joy and sadness right away. Because in my dreams I still have my legs and I’m flying still, something I love to do. And then, of course, I experience the sadness that it wasn’t real.

Our service members need to know these are combat wounds. The same as if you’d been shot or had your legs blown off. I just hope they don’t wait to come forward and get help before it’s too late.