From OpenCongress Wiki

George William "Bill" Foster is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 14th District of Illinois. He defeated Jim Oberweis (R) in a special election on March 8, 2008. Foster replaced former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert(R-Ill).^[1] Foster again defeated Oberweis in the general election in November 2008.^[1]

Contents 1 Positions, record and controversies 1.1 Iraq 1.2 Economic and fiscal policy 1.3 Energy 1.4 Immigration 1.5 Health care 2 Bio 2.1 2008 elections 2.1.1 Special election 2.1.2 General election 3 Money in Politics 4 Committees and affiliations 4.1 Committees 4.1.1 Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008) 4.2 Affiliations 5 More background data 6 Contact 6.1 Campaign contact information 7 Articles and resources 7.1 Related SourceWatch articles 7.2 Sources 7.3 External resources 7.4 External articles 7.4.1 Local blogs and discussion sites

Positions, record and controversies

Congressional scorecards

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During the 2008 campaign, Foster took positions on the following issues:

Iraq

Foster believes that the war in Iraq requires an Iraqi political solution and that American troops should be withdrawn as soon as it is possible. Foster also stated:

We must also learn from our mistakes, and never again start an unprovoked war of choice without the full debate and formal declaration of war that was intended by our Constitution.^[1]

Economic and fiscal policy

Foster places a high priority on paying down the national debt. He said that he intends to work with groups such as the Blue Dog Democrats who focus on deficit reduction, but that in other areas such as mortgage reform he does not agree with their policies. ^[1]

Energy

Foster believes that the U.S. needs to change its energy consumption in order to reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil, increase the use of cleaner and more efficient sources of energy, and fight climate change. His policy proposals include:^[1]

• Shifting tax incentives and subsidies away from oil and natural gas and towards the development of alternative, cleaner energy sources.
• Encourage conservation at an individual level through loans and other forms of government support for replacing less efficient with more efficient vehicles, better home insulation, and the use of fluorescent light bulbs.
• More research into biofuels. Though farmers in his district have benefited in the use of ethanol as a fuel, he is sceptical of its long-term viability.
• The creation of a carbon emissions market in the form of a so-called "cap and trade" plan.
• Commitment to international cooperation and wide-ranging agreements on climate policy.
• Better accounting for the costs of nuclear energy.

Immigration

Foster supports stronger border security and stricter enforcement of employment laws relating to undocumented immigrants, along with more comprehensive immigration reform, with particular emphasis on employment visas and immigration quotas.^[1]

Health care

Foster supports making health insurance available to all Americans through a plan similar to the ones proposed by the Democratic presidential candidates for the 2008 election. He favors plans that include providing a basic level of coverage, giving people the option to purchase coverage beyond the basic level, strengthening Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, better cost control and more efficient administration, promoting evidence-based medicine, the creation of electronic medical records, comparative effectiveness research, and more emphasis on preventative medicine.^[1]

Bio

Bill Foster has had careers in both science and business. In science, he worked for over 20 years at Fermilab, a physics research lab in Illinois that houses a particle-accelerator. Foster also started a business at age 19 with his younger brother Fred that manufactures theater lighting equipment.^[1]

2008 elections

Special election

On March 8th, 2008, Foster defeated Jim Oberweis (R) in a special election to fill the open seat of retired Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Il).^[1]

General election

Foster defeated Jim Oberweis (R) once again in the general election in November 2008.^[1]

This information was gathered by volunteer researchers as part of the Superdelegate Transparency Project on the superdelegates for the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. For more info see the Illinois superdelegate tracker or visit the STP homepage.

Before Hillary Clinton conceded the race, Bill Foster, as a superdelegate, had endorsed Barack Obama for President.

Money in Politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

Top Contributors to during the 2008 Election Cycle
Donor	Amount (US Dollars)
US Dept of Energy	$ 156,791
ActBlue	$ 78,703
Exelon Corp	$ 33,570
University of Chicago	$ 29,951
Stanford University	$ 25,201
University of California	$ 23,550
American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees	$ 20,000
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers	$ 20,000
Laborers Union	$ 20,000
Our Common Values PAC	$ 20,000
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union	$ 20,000
Prairie PAC	$ 20,000
Service Employees International Union	$ 20,000
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics' www.OpenSecrets.org site. Note: Contributions are not from the organizations themselves, but are rather from the organization's PAC, employees or owners. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Bill Foster from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by industry:	2008 election cycle	Career totals

• Revolving door profile for Bill Foster from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• 2006 privately funded travel profile for Bill Foster from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• Personal finance profile for Bill Foster from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.

Committees and affiliations

Committees

• House Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Domestic Policy
  • Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

Foster will be assigned committees when he arrives in Congress.

Affiliations

More background data

Contact

DC office
2304 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Ph: 202-225-2976 Fax: 202-225-0697 Webform email
District offices
27 North River Street, Batavia, IL 60510 Ph: (630) 406-1114, Toll Free: (866) 324-6128 Fax: (none entered) 119 W. First Street, Dixon, IL 61021 Ph: (815) 288-0680 Fax: (none entered) 137 S. State St., Suite 344, Geneseo, IL 61254 Ph: (309) 944-3558 Fax: (none entered)
On the Web
Official website This member of Congress does not use Twitter. This member of Congress does not have a YouTube channel.
Campaign office
No campaign website entered. No campaign webform email entered. No campaign office information entered.

Campaign contact information

Official Foster for Congress Web site

Bill Foster for Congress
50 N. Island Ave.
Batavia, IL 60510

Phone: 630-406-1145

Email: info@foster08.com

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• 2008 U.S. congressional elections
  • 2008 U.S. congressional election dates
• Portal:Illinois and the U.S. Congress

Sources

Wikipedia also has an article on Bill Foster. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

External resources

• 2008 Race Tracker page on Illinois's 14th Congressional District
• Official Bill Foster for Congress website
• George William Foster Homepage (personal website)

External articles

• "Geneva man seeks position in Congress," Courier News, May 31, 2007.

Local blogs and discussion sites

• Prairie State Blue- Statewide Illinois Progressive Politics Blog
  

Semantic data

From the Sunlight Foundation API
Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
Title: Rep	First name: Bill	Middle name:	Last name: Foster
Suffix:		Nickname:
Party: D	State: IL	District: 14 District short: 14	Currently in office? True
Gender: M
Phone: 202-225-2976	Fax: 202-225-0697	Website: http://foster.house.gov/	Webform email: http://foster.house.gov/Contact/ Email address:
DC office: 2304 Rayburn House Office Building
Bioguide ID: F000454	Votesmart ID: 101632	FEC ID: H8IL14067	Govtrack ID: 412257
CRP ID: N00029139	Eventful ID:	Old Sunlight ID:	Twitter ID:
OpenCongress Wiki URL: http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Bill_Foster		YouTubeID:	Senate class:

Entered manually within the Template:Politician
Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
111th Congress
Leadership Position:	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
Committees:
110th Congress
Leadership Position:	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
Committees:
Congressional Career
First Elected to Current Office: March 8, 2008	First Took Current Office: March 11, 2008	Next Election: November 2, 2010	Term Ends:
Freshman Member? No	Previous Political Work?	Other Party Membership:
District Offices:
27 North River Street, Batavia, IL 60510 Phone: (630) 406-1114, Toll Free: (866) 324-6128 / Fax: (630) 406-1808 119 W. First Street, Dixon, IL 61021 Phone: (815) 288-0680 / Fax: (815) 288-0743 137 S. State St., Suite 344, Geneseo, IL 61254 Phone: (309) 944-3558 / Fax:
Campaign Contact:
Website: Webform Email: / Email: Campaign Offices: Phone: / Fax:
Zip Code Affiliations:
Misc:
Date of Birth:

Latitude: 41°51′2.422″N
Longitude: 88°18′21.666″W Latitude: 41°50′36.849″N
Longitude: 89°28′58.63″W Latitude: 41°27′9.722″N
Longitude: 90°9′21.036″W