In the News
A bill crafted with the help of The American Legion would, if enacted, correct a "bureaucratic nightmare" that has caused some servicemembers' children to be billed for thousands of dollars in educational benefits for which they were originally approved. The Legion-backed corrective legislation, "GI Education Benefits Fairness Act", was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 22 by Rep. Bill Foster, a Democrat, and Rep.
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL, 11) kept his word and donated the pay he earned during the government shutdown to the Northern Illinois Food Bank on Friday.
"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 in a press release. "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 numbers are grim: 71 overdose deaths in DuPage and Will counties so far this year. Last year, Kane County tallied 27 heroin fatalities. Fifty percent of all addicts are doomed to die from their dependency.
Still, there is reason for hope.
Vicki Foley can trace her son Chris' drug use back to junior high, when he started smoking cigarettes.
The cigarettes led to marijuana and the marijuana eventually led to heroin.
The heroin led to his death.
"Heroin took his life," Foley said of the 27-year-old. "And it left a big hole in ours."
Foley, president of Chris Walk Against Substance Abuse, joined representatives of other community groups Wednesday at Community Christian Church in Naperville to discuss ways they are fighting the growing tide of heroin use from prevention to treatment.
Inaction on immigration reform will have negative consequences for the mostly white, male-dominated Republican Party during next year's election, according to a group of protesters who vowed Saturday to vote Illinois' GOP congressional delegates out of office if they do not work towards passing legislation that would overhaul the nation's broken immigration system.
Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner is one of 21 elected heads of larger Illinois municipalities who recently wrote to the state's congressional delegation in Washington imploring members to overhaul immigration laws as a way to repair and boost the economy.
The leaders signed a letter that says new laws focusing on all immigrants, regardless of citizenship status, will create jobs and raise revenues. An estimated 11 million immigrants are living in the U.S. illegally.
ICE has worked to develop and implement some critical improvements to the system, though additional reforms remain needed. One overarching obstacle overshadowing much of this: the bed "mandate." As Congress returns from the brink of the fiscal cliff, and as a new candidate prepares for confirmation to lead the Department of Homeland Security, now is a key moment to consider responsible ways to shrink the federal budget.
(CBS) – Suburban Congressman Bill Foster (D-Ill.) says the budget impasse on Capitol Hill could be resolved easily at this point, and with a debt crisis coming, it should be.
While food and airline safety inspectors stay home, national parks remain closed and basic scientific research grinds to a halt, a private gym reserved exclusively for members of the House of Representatives remains open.
A gym for Senators is also still open.
Though congress members pay small monthly fees, the gyms are run largely on taxpayer dollars.