In the News

Representative Foster on Trump Administration Science Policy

Representative Bill Foster (D-IL) talked about his concerns over the Trump administration's science policy and personnel on CSPAN's Washington Journal.

Usually when U.S. Rep. Bill Foster visits a school in his district, he's checking out the science projects students created.

While the subject of science came up Wednesday afternoon, students from Metea Valley High School were more interested in the Naperville congressman's take on the recent government shutdown and net neutrality.

Nearly 100 students grilled Foster on those subjects and other matters the teens deemed important, such as the opioid crisis, global warming, and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

A House Democrat will bring a "Dreamer" to President Trump's inaugural State of the Union address next week as lawmakers try to keep the heat on the White House and Congress to shield young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation.

Scientists at Fermilab were told Tuesday by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry the particle physics research facility is one of the "jewels" of the United States.

"The things that you do right here in Fermi and the ability to change people's lives in a powerful way has never been greater than it is today," Perry said in a speech at an "all-hands" event in its headquarters in Wilson Hall.

Speaking Monday in Aurora, U.S. Rep.

Ending a tax deduction for interest paid on student loans. Raising taxes for more than 100,000 graduate students who receive tuition waivers. Imposing a levy on endowments at certain private colleges and universities.

These actions are anathema to higher education leaders across the country. Yet they all appear in the House-approved Republican tax overhaul, evidence of a growing disconnect between large segments of the GOP and colleges that, for generations, have wielded enormous clout on Capitol Hill.

Local Congressional members toed the political party line Thursday when the U.S. House voted 227-205 in support of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which calls for major changes in the personal and corporate tax structure.

The nearly $1.5 trillion tax overhaul drawn up by the GOP would lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, cap the deduction for property taxes at $10,000, and eliminate the deduction for state and local income tax and sales tax.