Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka, Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, issued the following statement today on President Barack Obama's intended nomination of L. Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

"President Obama has made a fine choice in selecting Tammy Duckworth to join Secretary Shinseki's team at VA.  She is a rising star and a source of inspiration for the newest generation of veterans.  She has seen the system from many sides - as a wounded warrior at Walter Reed, an expert witness before Congress, and the head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.  I look forward to working with her," Akaka said. 

Duckworth testified before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on November 6, 2007 and March 27, 2007. 

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February 3, 2009