Bill Foster (politician)

George William Foster (born October 7, 1955) is an American businessman, physicist, and U.S. Representative for Illinois's 11th congressional district, winning the seat in 2012.[1] He was previously the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 14th congressional district from 2008 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Bill Foster
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Judy Biggert (Redistricting)
Constituency	11th district
In office March 8, 2008 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Dennis Hastert
Succeeded by	Randy Hultgren
Constituency	14th district
Personal details
Born	George William Foster October 7, 1955 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Ann ​ (div. 1996)​ Aesook Byon ​ (m. 2008)​
Children	2
Education	University of Wisconsin–Madison (BS) Harvard University (MS, PhD)
Website	House website

Early life, education, and business career

Foster was born in 1955 in Madison, Wisconsin. As a teenager, he attended James Madison Memorial High School He received his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1976 and his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University in 1983.[2] The title of his doctoral dissertation is "An experimental limit on proton decay: ${\displaystyle p\rightarrow \mathrm {positron} +\pi ^{0}}$."[3]

At age 19, Foster and his younger brother Fred started a business in their basement with $500 from their parents. The company, Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC), now has over 650 employees worldwide and manufactures over half of the theater lighting equipment in the United States. Installations include Broadway shows, Rolling Stones tours, opera houses, Super Bowl halftime shows, and at schools, churches, and community centers around the world.[4]

Physics career

After completing his Ph.D., Foster moved to the Fox Valley with his family to pursue a career in high-energy (particle) physics at Fermilab, a Department of Energy National Laboratory. During Foster's 22 years at Fermilab he participated in several projects, including the design of equipment and data analysis software for the CDF Detector, which were used in the discovery of the top quark, and the management of the design and construction of a 3 km Anti-Proton Recycler Ring for the Main Injector.[5][6]

He has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society, was on the team receiving the 1989 Bruno Rossi Prize for cosmic ray physics for the discovery of the neutrino burst from the supernova SN 1987A, received the Particle Accelerator Technology Prize from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and was awarded an Energy Conservation award from the United States Department of Energy for his application of permanent magnets for Fermilab's accelerators.[7]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008 special

On November 26, 2007, former House Republican Speaker J. Dennis Hastert resigned as the Representative from Illinois' 14th congressional district. Foster announced his candidacy to fill the vacancy on May 30, 2007.[8] In the March special election, Foster defeated Republican nominee and Hastert-endorsed candidate Jim Oberweis 53%–47%.[9][10]

2008 general

In November, Oberweis ran against Foster again in a rematch. Foster won re-election to a full term 58%–42%.[11]

2010

Foster was challenged by Republican nominee State Senator Randy Hultgren and Green Party nominee Daniel Kairis. Despite winning the endorsements from the Chicago Tribune,[12] the Chicago Sun-Times[13] and The Daily Herald,[14] Foster lost to Hultgren 51%–45%.[15][16]

2012

In May 2011, Foster sold his home in Geneva, moved to Naperville and announced plans to run for Congress in the 11th district, which encompasses Aurora, Joliet, Lisle in addition to Naperville. It also includes roughly a quarter of his old district.[17][18] The district had previously been the 13th, represented by seven-term Republican Judy Biggert. Although Biggert's home in Hinsdale had been shifted to the Chicago-based 5th district, Biggert opted to seek election in the 11th, which contained half of her old territory.[19]

On November 6, 2012, Foster won the election for the 11th district with 58% of the vote; Biggert conceded the race at 9:45pm.[20]

2014

Foster ran again and was unopposed in the Democratic primary in March 2014.[21] For the general election, he faced Republican nominee, State Representative Darlene Senger, and defeated her with 53.5% of the vote to her 46.5% of the vote.[22]

Tenure

Although it was initially thought that Foster would not be sworn in until April due to the need to count absentee ballots before the first election would be certified, he took the oath of office on March 11.[23]

Foster joined Vern Ehlers (R-MI) and Rush Holt Jr. (D-NJ) as the only research physicists ever to be elected to Congress.[24] On his first day in office, he cast the deciding vote to keep from tabling an ethics bill that would create an independent outside panel to investigate ethics complaints against House members.[25][26]

Fundraising

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Bill Foster received $637,050 from labor related political action committees during his runs for Congress. $180,000 of this money came from PACs linked to public sector unions. $110,000 of these donations came from PACs linked to industrial labor unions.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Nancy Pelosi gave $4,000 to Bill Foster’s 2012 campaign committee. PACs under the control of Pelosi have donated $10,000 to his 2012 campaign.

Taxes

Foster supported allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. During a debate with his opponent in the 2012 election Foster said, “The tax cuts were promised to generate job growth, but did not. If you follow the money, when you give a dollar to a very wealthy person, they won’t typically put it back into the local economy.” He said the tax benefits ended up in overseas accounts and spent on luxury purchases.[27]

Bill Foster has opposed efforts to repeal the estate tax. On 31 August 2005, U.S. Newswire reported that Foster said, "The proponents of estate tax repeal are fond of calling it the ‘death tax’. It’s not a death tax, it’s a Rich Kids’ tax." In 2009, just before the estate tax was scheduled for a one-year repeal, Foster voted to permanently extend the then current estate tax rate of 45%.

Card check

According to the official Thomas website, Bill Foster co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act of 2009, which would enable unionization of small businesses of less that 50 employees. On 25 February 2012, the Daily Herald reported, “Foster pointed to his support for the Employee Free Choice Act while serving at the congressman in the 14th District as proof of his union support."

Stimulus spending

Foster voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009[28]

Health care reform

Foster voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.[29] On June 29, 2012, the Chicago Tribune reported that Foster said the following about his vote for Obamacare, "I’m proud of my vote, and I would be proud to do it again."

Dodd-Frank

He also voted for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, with all ten of the amendments he proposed being added to the final bill.[30]

Environment

He voted against the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would create a Cap and trade system.[31]

Second Amendment

Asked if the Second Amendment should be up for reinterpretation, Foster said “It always has been up for reinterpretation. The technology changes, and the weapons thought to be too dangerous to be in private hands change. A civil war cannon is frankly much less dangerous than weapons we are allowed to carry on the streets in many of the states and cities in our country today. This is something where technology changes and public attitude changes and both are important in each of the generations.”[32]

Committee assignments

Current

• Committee on Financial Services (2008–2011; 2013–present)
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade
• Committee on Science, Space, & Technology
  • Subcommittee on Environment
• Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis[33]

Past

• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (2008–2011)

Caucus memberships

• New Democrat Coalition[34]
• Congressional Arts Caucus[35]
• U.S.-Japan Caucus[36]

Electoral history

Illinois 14th Congressional District Special Democratic Primary, 2008[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster	32,982	49.60
	Democratic	John Laesch	28,433	42.76
	Democratic	Jotham Stein	5,082	7.64
Total votes			66,497	100.0

Illinois 14th Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2008[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster	32,410	42.47
	Democratic	John Laesch	32,012	41.94
	Democratic	Joe Serra	6,033	7.90
	Democratic	Jotham Stein	5,865	7.68
Total votes			76,320	100.0

Illinois 14th Congressional District Special Election, 2008[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster	52,205	52.53
	Republican	Jim Oberweis	47,180	47.47
Total votes			99,385	100.0

Illinois 14th Congressional District General Election, 2008[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster (incumbent)	185,404	57.75
	Republican	Jim Oberweis	135,653	42.25
Total votes			321,057	100.0

Illinois 14th Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2010[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster (incumbent)	25,446	100.0
	Democratic	Bobby G. Rose	1	0.00
Total votes			25,447	100.0

Illinois 14th Congressional District General Election, 2010[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randall M. "Randy" Hultgren	112,369	51.31
	Democratic	Bill Foster (incumbent)	98,645	45.04
	Green	Daniel J Kairis	7,949	3.63
	Write-in votes	Doug Marks	50	0.02
Total votes			219,013	100.0

Illinois 11th Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2012[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster	12,126	58.48
	Democratic	Juan Thomas	5,212	25.13
	Democratic	Jim Hickey	3,399	16.39
Total votes			20,737	100.0

Illinois 11th Congressional District General Election, 2012[44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster	148,928	58.57
	Republican	Judy Biggert (incumbent)	105,348	41.43
	Write-in votes	Chris Michel	19	0.01
Total votes			254,295	100.0

Illinois 11th Congressional District General Election, 2014[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster (incumbent)	93,436	53.46
	Republican	Darlene Senger	81,335	46.54
	Write-in votes	Constant "Connor" Vlakancic	1	0.00
Total votes			174,772	100.0

Illinois 11th Congressional District General Election, 2016[46]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster (incumbent)	166,578	60.45
	Republican	Tonia Khouri	108,995	39.55
Total votes			275,573	100.0

Illinois 11th Congressional District General Election, 2018[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster (incumbent)	145,407	63.84
	Republican	Nick Stella	82,358	36.16
Total votes			227,765	100.0

Personal life

Foster and his wife, Aesook Byon, live in Naperville, Illinois.[48][49] He has two adult children from his first marriage.[18] Foster has lived and worked in northern Illinois (Naperville, Geneva, Batavia, and St. Charles) since 1984.

References

1. "Judy Biggert Concedes Race To Bill Foster". CBS Chicago. Nov 6, 2012.
2. "Bill Foster - Who Runs Government". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
3. Foster, George William (1983). A Experimental Limit on Proton Decay: Proton ---> Positron + Neutral Pion. Harvard University. Bibcode:1983PhDT........48F.
4. Electronic Theatre Controls (2008). "Lighting Solutions from ETC". Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
5. Foster, G. William (May 12–16, 1997). "[4C.01] The Fermilab Permanent Magnet Antiproton Recycler Ring". The 1997 Particle Accelerator Conference Meeting Program Vancouver BC, Canada. Fermilab. Archived from the original on July 18, 2003. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
6. Spotts, Peter N. (2004-05-01). "Physicists hope to win support for new subatomic smasher". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
7. American Astronomical Society – High Energy Astrophysics Division (1989). "HEAD AAS Rossi Prize Winners". Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
8. "Geneva man seeks position in Congress". Courier News (Elgin, IL). 2007-05-31. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
9. "General election results". Chicago Tribune. 2008-03-08.
10. "IL – District 14 – Special Election". Our Campaigns.
11. "IL – District 14". Our Campaigns.
12. "For the US House". Chicago Tribune. 2010-10-07. Archived from the original on 2010-10-09. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
13. "Foster for 14th District". Chicago Sun-Times. 2010-10-06. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010.
14. "Congress, 14th District: Foster". The Daily Herald. 2010-10-16.
15. "Our Campaigns – IL – District 14 Race – Nov 02, 2010". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
16. "Clout St. Democrat Foster concedes defeat in 14th District". Chicago Tribune. 2010-11-02.
17. Lynn Sweet (31 May 2011). "Illinois Congress 2012: Bill Foster running in new 11th district". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on 2 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
18. Katherine Skiba (31 May 2011). "In wake of remap plan, ex-lawmaker to run again". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
19. Mike Flannery, Dane Placko (Aug 9, 2012). "FOX Chicago Sunday: Biggert, Foster debate to represent 11th Congressional District". Fox Chicago. Archived from the original on 2012-11-26.
20. Matt Hanley, Jenette Sturges (November 6, 2012). "Foster returns to Congress with win over Biggert". The Herald-News. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013.
21. "Official Illinois State Board of Elections Results – March 18, 2014 Primary Election (P. 31)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
22. "Illinois General Election 2014". Illinois State Board of Elections. 2014-11-04. Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
23. Hague, Leslie (2008-03-11). "Foster sworn into Congress". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
24. Cornelia Dean (2008-07-10). "Physicists in Congress Calculate Their Influence". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
25. "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 121". 2008-03-11.
26. Jim Tankersley. "First day, swing vote for new Rep. Bill Foster". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on 2008-03-17.
27. Dauskurdas, Sherri (September 2, 2012). "Biggert, Foster sit down for first debate of new 11th district". The Bugle. Archived from the original on 2012-09-10.
28. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll046.xml
29. "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 165". HR 3590 Recorded Vote : Bill Title: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. U.S. House of Representatives. 21 Mar 2010.
30. "Bill's Congressional Career". Billfoster.com. Bill Foster for Congress. Archived from the original on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
31. "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 477: HR 2454". Recorded Vote; Question: On Passage; Bill Title: American Clean Energy and Security Act. U.S. House of Representatives. 26 Jun 2009.
32. Hegarty, Erin. "Rep. Bill Foster: Second Amendment meant to be reinterpreted by each generation". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
33. "Pelosi Names Select Members to Bipartisan House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis". Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
34. "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
35. "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
36. "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
37. "Election Results 2008 SPECIAL PRIMARY". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
38. "Election Results 2008 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
39. "Election Results 2008 SPECIAL GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
40. "Election Results 2008 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
41. "Election Results 2010 GENERAL PRIMARY". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
42. "Election Results 2010 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
43. "Election Results 2012 GENERAL PRIMARY". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
44. "Election Results 2012 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
45. "Election Results 2014 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
46. "Election Results 2016 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
47. "Election Results 2018 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
48. "Three House Members Wearing New Rings in the 111th". The Washington Post.
49. "Foster, Bill – Statement of Candidacy". Federal Elections Commission. 2011-09-29. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2011-10-04.

Further reading

• Biggert, Foster square off in 11th Dist. debate, ABC 7 Chicago, October 13, 2012, complete video
• 2012 candidate questionnaire at the Daily Herald
• 2012 candidate questionnaire at the Northwest Herald
• 2012 candidate questionnaire at the Chicago Sun-Times
• 2012 candidate questionnaire at WTTW Chicago Tonight
• 2012 candidate questionnaire and video at ABC 7 Chicago

External links

• Congressman Bill Foster official U.S. House website
• Bill Foster for Congress
• Bill Foster at Curlie

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Works by or about G. William Foster in libraries (WorldCat catalog) academic papers