Jan Schakowsky

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Jan Schakowsky

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 9th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 6, 1999–
Preceded by	Sidney Yates
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	May 22, 1944 (age 62) Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Robert Creamer
Religion	Jewish

Janice D. "Jan" Schakowsky (born May 22, 1944), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing Illinois's 9th congressional district (map). The district includes many of Chicago's northern suburbs, including Evanston, Skokie, Glenview and Rosemont. It also includes a large portion of Chicago's North Side bordering Lake Michigan.

1 Personal Background
2 U.S. Congress
3 Controversy
4 External links

[edit] Personal Background

She was born in Chicago of Polish and Jewish origin and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1965. A longtime consumer rights advocate, she was responsible for a 1969 law requiring the printing of freshness dates on groceries. She was Program Director of Illinois Public Action, Illinois' largest public interest group, from 1976 to 1985. She then moved to the Illinois State Council of Senior Citizens as executive director for five years until 1990, when she was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. She served there for four terms.

Sidney Yates, who had represented the 9th District since 1949, except for an unsuccessful run for the Senate in 1962, had announced in 1996 that he wouldn't run for reelection in 1998. Schakowsky easily won the Democratic primary, which all but assured her of election in the heavily Democratic 9th. She won in November with 75 percent of the vote and has easily won reelection three times with 70 percent or more of the vote.

[edit] U.S. Congress

In the House, Schakowsky serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where she is ranking member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection; she also serves on the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Schakowsky has been known for her support of women's issues while in Congress, and is a close friend of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D, CA). She reportedly phoned every female partner of a law firm in Chicago during her first run for office in 1998, and has gained national acclaim for her fundraising prowess.

She was one of the earliest and most emphatic supporters of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama before his win in the 2004 Illinois Democratic Primary.

[edit] Controversy

In August 2005, Schakowsky's husband, lobbyist Robert Creamer, the executive director of the Illinois Public Action Fund, pleaded guilty to one count of failure to collect withholding tax, and bank fraud for writing checks with insufficient funds. All of the money was repaid. According to USA Today Congresswoman "Schakowsky has not been accused of any wrongdoing." [1] However, she did serve on the organization's board. [2] U.S. District Judge James B. Moran noted no one suffered "out of pocket losses" and Creamer acted not out of greed but in an effort to keep his community action group going without cutting programs, though Creamer paid his own $100,000 salary with fraudulently obtained funds. [3] On April 5, 2006, Creamer was sentenced to five months in prison and 11 months house arrest. Creamer served his 5 month incarceration at the Federal Correction Institute in Terra Haute Indiana and was released on November 3, 2006. [4]

In hearings held by the House Energy and Commerce subcomittee in July of 2006, Rep Schakowsky expressed concern that a report from the National Academy of Sciences showing discrepancies among scientists studying global warming might be "used in a way to discredit the whole notion that our country and the rest of the industrialized and developing world ought to do anything about global warming".[5]

[edit] External links

U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky official site
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Federal Election Commission - Janice D. Schakowsky campaign finance reports and data
On the Issues - Jan Schakowsky issue positions and quotes
OpenSecrets.org - Jan Schakowsky campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart - Representative Janice D. 'Jan' Schakowsky (IL) profile
SourceWatch Congresspedia - Jan Schakowsky profile
Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Jan Schakowsky voting record
Jan Schakowsky for Congress official campaign site

Articles

Schakowsky, Jan Patriot Corporations, The Nation, January 19, 2006.
Interview: Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, BuzzFlash, February 2001
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, The Huffington Post, archives of her posts

Political offices
Preceded by Sidney R. Yates	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 9th congressional district 1999-Present	Succeeded by Incumbent