Foster's first week as congressman a whirlwind
March 17, 2008
(BEACON NEWS) — The learning curve for Bill Foster has had to be quick.
The new Democratic Congressman from the 14th District was elected, flown to Washington, D.C., sworn in, thrown into several key votes, criticized by the Republican National Congressional Committee, and flown back home to meet with constituents -- all in his first week.
It was just one way Foster realized how quickly things can move in the nation's capital.
"I am absolutely convinced that I will be able to make a difference," he said Sunday, while meeting constituents at the Jewel Food Store on Aurora's west side.
One thing that convinced him was voting on a resolution establishing a House Office of Ethics just four hours after his family -- including his elderly mother -- got to see him sworn in as the newest member of the House of Representatives. He turned out to be one of the deciding votes in a close count.
"Anytime I say, 'What am I going to be able to do as just one member of Congress? Does it matter?'" he said. "Well, I can say at least it did on my first day."
Foster met with long lines of voters, constituents and well-wishers on trips to St. Charles and Aurora on Sunday afternoon, most of whom mainly wanted to congratulate the new congressman. Still, Foster said the topics people had for him included "everything" from the war to the budget, from the recent election to specific problems they have had with the federal bureaucracy.
"I'd say half were here because they voted for me and wanted to meet me," he said.
"About one in five told me they had never voted for a Democrat before. I said, well, maybe I'm not the kind of Democrat you had to vote for before."