The ADA is the living testament to our Nation's commitment that we will always stand up for our neighbors' right to live fulfilling lives.
The power of the ADA is that it ended up changing my life long before I ever imagined it would.
The ADA is essential in helping me overcome the obstacles I face as a Wounded Warrior and empowers me to assist other veterans. It allows me to be physically active, have my pilot's license, and serve in Congress.
The ADA allows persons with disabilities the opportunity to participate in the world around them.
I almost can't believe this even needs to be said, but it's not unwarranted to burden retirement advisers with a requirement that they act in their clients' best interest.
You fly. You aviate. You do everything you can to get the aircraft safely on the ground.
In the military, a combatant command is the ultimate job. It's the pointy tip of the spear, overseeing the people carrying the rifles and flying the aircraft.
As I recovered at Walter Reed, I worried about the soldiers who pulled me out of my helicopter that Friday afternoon. Would they make it back okay? And what about all the other soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who were also putting their lives on the line every day?
Those who put their lives on the line overseas are undoubtedly American heroes, but it's time for us to remember that those who serve in civilian life also embody the American spirit and are worthy of our praise as well.
When you're a member of Congress, you can become an expert in a couple of subjects. For example, I've worked on federal procurement reform, the Armed Services Committee, manufacturing, and women's health care.
I was born in Bangkok in 1968 and grew up in Southeast Asia with my Thai mom and my American father, who first came to the region to fight in Vietnam and stayed to work assisting refugees.
If I still had my legs, I would be in line for a battalion command, and instead, I'm flying a desk.
I feel like moderate Republicans, who would support sensible gun violence legislation, are pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA.
Each and every time I went in for IVF treatments, I knew there was a bipartisan group of Congresswomen praying for me, and I was honored that the same group was there at my baby shower.
I was in Congress for six months, and they put me on blood pressure medication. I flew helicopters in combat and I was fine, and I survived 13 months in recovery in the hospital... I got to Congress, and six months later I'm on blood pressure medication. Fourteen months later, they doubled the dosage!
If you come from a military culture, and you go into see the general or the commander, and he talks to you very calmly and says, 'I'm very disappointed in you,' that's devastating.
The lessons I learned as an officer, the challenges I've faced, and the camaraderie I've experienced are at the core of who I am.
I remember my mother taking me as a very little kid to the roof of our home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to look at the bombs exploding in the distance. She didn't want us to be scared by the booms and the strange flashes of light. It was her way of helping us to understand what was happening.
I didn't want to get pregnant while commanding an assault helicopter company and, before I knew it, I was deployed and missed out on many of my childbearing years.
I was so proud when I was commissioned into the Army.
