What Duckworth said to her daughter while off mute during conference call

Many of us are at home, juggling work and kids, including U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., the mother of two young girls.

Duckworth’s youngest, Maile Pearl Bowlsbey, was born on April 9, 2018. The older daughter, Abigail was born Nov. 18, 2014.

On Wednesday morning, the Senate Democrats were having a conference call, and let’s let Duckworth’s tweet pick it up from there:

“So today I didn’t realize I was off mute and told the Democratic Caucus (including a couple recent presidential candidates) that “...mommy is working honey, please go potty and wash your hands then mommy will come downstairs.” How’s your working from home going?”

On a more serious note, Duckworth, a wounded Iraq war vet, Thursday tweeted about the discrimination against Asian Americans in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, linking an NPR article to the tweet. “Here’s what I know from my time in the military, where one of my jobs was to brief my colleagues on global pandemics: This kind of virus strikes indiscriminately and inexplicably — it doesn’t target people based on the color of the skin or the language they speak,” Duckworth tweeted.

On Wednesday, the Senate passed the giant coronavirus stimulus legislation on a 96-0 roll call. The Senate is out of session until Monday, April 20, at 3 p.m.

In discussing her vote for the stimulus, Duckworth said in a statement: “The last few days have been stressful for all Americans, but this bipartisan compromise — while far from perfect — shows that in times of crisis Congress is still able to address some of our nation’s most pressing challenges, and I will support it.

“My vote does not diminish just how bitterly disappointed I am that this compromise still includes a provision to make it harder for women to access healthcare as well as a provision punishing healthcare providers that offer critical services to people with disabilities, the elderly and even survivors of rape and abuse— but it also does not diminish my will to continue fighting for Americans who have not traditionally had a voice in Congress. Know that in the days and weeks ahead I will do everything in my power to protect these critical providers and the Americans who rely on their services.”