In the News

U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-11th, traveled an uncommon path on his way to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Foster talked about his journey from working as a particle physicist to serving as a national politician during the Woodridge Rotary's weekly luncheon Tuesday at Seven Bridges Golf Club. That journey, Foster said, has given him a unique perspective when dealing with many of the issues he faces in Washington.

AURORA — U.S. Rep. Bill Foster was in town Wednesday with Aurora education and business leaders to sell a new jobs bill that would aim to connect students with training needed to pursue careers in math, science and technology.

The STEM Competitive Jobs Act legislation would provide competitive grants to school districts that connect students and their coursework with future employers.

The bill would help prepare students for careers in high-demand technical fields by supporting collaboration between schools and employers, Foster said Wednesday at Aurora University.

In science, answers bring more questions. That's how it's been for the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, especially since the Tevatron particle collider was turned on in 1985.

The Tevatron produced the first proton-antiproton collisions, paved the way for about 1,000 doctorates, produced about a paper a week through its experiments and led to the discovery of the top quark before it was shut down due to lack of funding in October 2011.

On Friday, May 24, US Senator Dick Durbin and US Congressman Bill Foster joined with Cholly Smith of the US Chamber of Commerce and Mark Segal, the Chicagoland Chamber's Public Policy Committee Chairman, on a panel hosted by the Chamber's Employment Law Forum for a discussion on the need to pass federal comprehensive immigration reform.

As school districts across Illinois begin to implement the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Joliet Township High School is working hard to ensure that students are experiencing relevant curricular projects that push students to think critically, while applying the information that they learn.

Congressman Bill Foster praised President Obama's signing of the federal disaster declaration for Illinois. The declaration covers those affected by April flooding in 11 Illinois counties including all five counties in the 11^thDistrict -- Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will. Following the announcement, Congressman Bill Foster offered help to any 11^th District resident, business or community having difficulty applying for federal assistance.

Joliet City Councilman Jim McFarland wants to hear firsthand – and publicly – what Corrections Corp. of America plans to do if it builds an immigration detention center in Joliet.

McFarland, who called for a public meeting to learn about what has been discussed privately with city officials, was one of several community leaders at a news conference Thursday to speak against a controversial proposal to build a for-profit immigrant detention center in Joliet.

Some suburban lawmakers are demanding an explanation of why the U.S. Department of Justice aggressively pursued phone records of Associated Press journalists while investigating the release of classified information to the media about a failed al-Qaida plot last year.

Illinois Republicans and Democrats alike joined the chorus of outrage Tuesday.

"I am very concerned whenever I hear of any government secretly monitoring the press," said U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat. "When it's our government, I want to know exactly how and why this happened."