Foster Keeps Promise, Donates Pay to Northern Illinois Food Bank
Aurora, IL – Today, Representative Bill Foster (IL-11) donated his pay earned during the period of the government shutdown to the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
"I do not believe Members of Congress should receive a paycheck while people in Illinois and throughout the country were suffering because Congress failed to do their job," said Foster. "I was pleased to be able to donate my pay to the Northern Illinois Food Bank and support the important work they do feeding the hungry throughout northern Illinois."
The shutdown ended on October 16th, after both houses of Congress reached an agreement to continue funding the government until January 15th, 2014, and extending the national debt ceiling until February 7th, 2014.
An analysis by the ratings agency Standard & Poor's estimated that the shutdown cost the nation's economy at least $24 billion.
"I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the coming months to reach a commonsense budget agreement and ensure that we don't continue to govern from one crisis to the next," Foster added.