A strong first term for Duckworth

Fortunately, if you like your U.S. congressional representative, you can keep her. Finally, after two years of Joe Walsh and his obstructionism, we got someone who listens and cares about her constituents. Rep. Tammy Duckworth is and has been accessible to the people of the 8th District and willing to work across party lines to help veterans and members of the military, students, small-business owners, seniors, flood victims, working families, people with disabilities and the uninsured.

She has been inspirational the way she's working to cut waste and fraud in government and to stop the exploitation of loopholes meant to assist veterans with disabilities. I loved watching her on TV confronting an individual who claimed disabilities for an injury he got playing football at a military prep school to gain “veteran-owned small business status.”

I want people in Congress who will represent me and my family, friends and neighbors. I don't want people who want to privatize Social Security and Medicare or repeal Obamacare. I went online to see the Republican plan for health care and saw that people would still be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition unless they already had coverage. The problem is that if you have a pre-existing condition and lose your job or when COBRA runs out after 18 months, you cannot get coverage. I know - it happened to me.

Their plan would also put a new tax burden on people who are now exempt from federal income tax and they don't even know what the overall cost will be under their legislation or what impact it would have on the uninsured population.

I feel that Rep. Duckworth has been a “selfless servant” her whole life, be it her heroic service in Iraq, her years working for the Veterans Administration, her service in the Army and the Army National Guard and as congressional representative in the 8th District. She should be returned to Congress.

Joan Brody

Schaumburg