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Watch: Tammy Duckworth and daughter make Senate history

Tammy Duckworth's daughter became the first senator's baby to be allowed on the chamber floor.
Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) arrives at the U.S. Capitol with her newborn baby daughter Maile Pearl Bowlsbey for a vote on the Senate floor April 19, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth and daughter Maile have made Senate history.

The Illinois Democrat brought her daughter, in a pink hat, onto the Senate floor under new rules that permitted it. Duckworth already is the only senator to have given birth while serving in the Senate. Maile, born April 9, is the first senator's baby to be allowed on the chamber floor.

The history was made under a new rule passed a day earlier that permitted newborns of senators on the floor during votes. The Republican-controlled Senate held the vote open so Duckworth and Maile could adhere to the new rule. Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran and double-amputee, arrived in a wheelchair with Maile on her lap, voted no with a downturned thumb, and laughed. Her colleagues crowded around to see.

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