Senator Tammy Duckworth
speaker
70 appearances
2 recordings
2 series
first heard Jan 2025
last heard Apr 2025
Senator Tammy Duckworth’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
I think the message that's not getting through here, what Trump did was he spoke to a group of Americans who were disaffected, who really felt that this country was leaving them behind. And he made these promises. And a lot of people were watching the reality TV show. And I get from a lot of people, it's like, oh, I voted for him, but I didn't think he was going to come after me.
I didn't think he was going to deport my wife. I didn't think that he was going to cut funding to my kid's public school.
Well, no, no, because he said he was going to do all of these things, right? He said he was going to cut the Department of Education. You know, people were saying, well, yeah, but we didn't think he was going to go after my special needs kids funding. Right. They just thought that it was all an act. Sure. And it's not. And it's not. And now people are being fired. They're losing their jobs.
They're seeing the reality of where we are with the economy tanking, with us less safe than we were before. And they're realizing, oh, I made a mistake. That's just why you're seeing people talk about, I voted for him, but I wish I had. I made a mistake. And what Democrats need to do is talk to all of those people
and say, you know, Illinois, where I'm from, is 102 counties, only six are blue, 96 are red. And I go into the red parts of my county, of my state, and I say, listen, it's about loving this country. It's about putting America first. It's not about a guy who hugs the flag and then shits on America by starting trade wars and cutting funding for veterans. That's not what this is about.
This is about making sure that we support our farmers who grow the food that we eat, a country that can't feed itself. It's not a country that can defend itself. This is about making sure that our male veterans have the services that they earn. This is about making sure our military has capable, competent leadership who knows better than to plan war plans on group chat, unsecured group chat.
This is about putting America before yourself. And this president has never done that. And Democrats need to start talking to the heartland and talking to people and saying, We are here to fight for you and we're going to fight for you every step of the way.
And that's why you're seeing folks like me getting out there, especially from the Midwest, talking about industrial America, about what we need to do to regrow our economy and what we need to do to stand up to this president, to make sure that we make those investments in this country and not in the oligarchy billionaires that he surrounded himself with, because that's all they care about themselves.
I think it is. You know, when I talk to the ag sector, for example, they've seen body blows after body blows. Farmers tended to vote for Trump. But when I go to talk to them, they're like, well, these tariffs are killing. I'm not going to be able to hand my family farm off from my generation to the next generation. I'm the seventh generation. There will not be an eighth generation.
The tariffs are going to hurt me. John Deere is losing jobs because the steel coming from Canada is now going to be more expensive. And so they're seeing the difference. And we need to just continue to pull out those people together and let people understand that
The way that we make America great, greater than she already is, is to come together and work together, not by dividing us, which is what this president is trying to do.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And also, Secretary Mattis had to have this waiver as well. Mr. Hacksmith, this hearing is about whether you qualify to be Secretary of Defense. And one of the qualifications, to answer my colleague's question, is to actually be win the votes of every member of this committee and to be confirmed by the United States Senate.
And you need to convince us that you're worthy of that vote because the people of the state of Illinois voted for me to be their senator so that I could cast that vote when it comes to picking who is going to be the next Secretary of Defense.
This hearing now seems to be a hearing about whether or not women are qualified to serve in combat and not about whether or not you are qualified to be Secretary of Defense. And let me just say that the American people need a SecDef who's ready to lead on day one. You are not that person. Our adversaries watch closely during times of transition.
And any sense that the Department of Defense that keeps us safe is being steered by someone who's wholly unprepared for the job puts America at risk. And I am not willing to do that. With that in mind, Mr. Hexeth, I want you to try to explain to the American people this committee...
who have to vote for you, and to our troops who are deployed around the world, why you are qualified to lead the Department of Defense. We already know that you've only led the largest 200-person organization. We already know that you so badly mangled a budget that after you left, they had to bring in a forensic accountant to figure out what went wrong. And the largest budget you ever made.
never led an audit. What guidance did you give the auditors? None, because you've never led an audit. Nobody expects you to be an accountant, Mr. Hexath. What we expect is for you to understand the complexity of this Pentagon budget process that is absolutely necessary to outfit our warfighters.
Look, the Secretary of Defense is required to make quick decisions every single day with high-level information that's being provided for them. A Secretary of Defense has to have breadth and depth of knowledge. Right now, I am concerned that you have neither. Mr. Hextech, what is the highest level of international negotiations that you have engaged in, that you have led in?
Because the Secretary of Defense does lead international security negotiations. There are three main ones that the Secretary of Defense leads and signs. Can you name at least one of them?
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