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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 1:59 p.m., Monday, April 20, 2009

Duckworth confirmation to VA post appears to be imminent

By John Yaukey
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The stalled nomination of wounded Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth for a top post in the Department of Veterans Affairs appears poised for imminent confirmation.

Sen. Richard Burr, R- N.C., senior Republican on the committee that must approve Duckworth's nomination before the full Senate votes on it, had asked that she clarify financial information provided on questionnaires.

Duckworth has done that, Burr's spokeswoman said today.

"He got the paperwork, and he's satisfied with it, and he supports her nomination," said Samantha Smith, Burr's press secretary.

Duckworth could be confirmed as soon as this evening or tomorrow morning as the VA's assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs.

Senators have the option of placing a hold on nominations and bills if they have concerns. Burr did not place a hold on the nomination, but he had questions about how Duckworth had categorized certain assets and income.

His questions initially raised eyebrows because some of President Barack Obama's top nominees have admitted to making substantial errors on tax returns, and have had to withdraw their nominations.

The questionnaires that high-level administration nominees must fill out are typically long, complicated and written in bureaucratic language.

Duckworth, 41, is a graduate of McKinley High School in Hawaii and the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

During her confirmation hearing before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Burr praised Duckworth for her "courageous service to our nation." In 2004, she was piloting a Blackhawk helicopter in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade struck. The explosion took her right leg above the knee and her left leg below the knee and almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places.