Most Republicans believe in limited government especially in terms of economic policies Duckworth on the other hand was a Democrat In general this party supports liberal views Democrats also tend to want greater government involvement especially to support people in need On October 28 Duckworth and Kirk faced off in a debate The election was less than two weeks away In the debate Duckworth discussed her family’s long history of serving in the US military In response Kirk doubted her claims about her family He made a joke about her ethnicity Duckworth could have addressed the joke However she stayed focused on the debate She talked about issues she cared about such as foreign policy According to the polls Duckworth was already in the lead Kirk’s comments during the debate did 6
not help him make up any ground Many people had found them disrespectful On November 8 2016 the people of Illinois voted for Duckworth to represent them She became the second Asian American woman in history to serve as a US senator PEOPLE OF COLOR IN CONGRESS When Duckworth first joined the Senate in 2017 she was one of only 15 Asian Americans in Congress 1 7 25 1 8 26 1 7 26 2 11 31 1 10 29 2 11 32 2 15 39 41 41 39 42 42 46 50 2 6 22 37 4 17 43 56 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 Black Latino Asian American American Indian 7
LIFE ON THE MOVE Tammy Duckworth was born in 1968 in Bangkok Thailand Her father Franklin was a US Marine He had first moved to the region to serve in the Vietnam War 1954 1975 After serving he got a job with the United Nations This position led him to Thailand where he helped refugees During this time he met Tammy’s mother Lamai a Thai person with Chinese ancestry She was working at her parents store A refugee from Laos sits with her baby in Xieng Khong Thailand in 1962 9 CHAPTER 2
