Next Years Congress

Next year's Congress will have nine freshmen who are veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Among them is Tammy Duckworth, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs during President Obama's first term. Duckworth lost both legs while piloting a helicopter in Iraq that was hit with a grenade launcher in 2004. Veterans in Congress have been declining since the mid-1970s, when 400 of the 535 members were vets. Now only 100 members are veterans. The new class includes a former combat surgeon, chaplain, infantry platoon leader and judge advocate.