Infrastructure and Transportation
Reliable and safe infrastructure drives economic growth and connects us to the places that are important to us and our families. One of my biggest priorities is making sure that Illinois is not systematically shortchanged by federal transportation money. Smart investments in infrastructure yield very large returns on investment for the federal taxpayer. Underinvestment in infrastructure is detrimental to economic growth and job creation. I believe it is critical that we continue to invest in infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and railways, to support efficiency and safety.
My Work on Infrastructure and Transportation
The newly-named Grand Prairie Water Commission was announce Aug.18. It consists of six municipalities: Channahon, Crest Hill, Joliet, Minooka, Romeoville and Shorewood.
A bill meant to ramp up federal government participation in the digital identity ecosystem is inching closer to passage. The bill is poised to be advanced by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and a Senate version was just introduced.
The bipartisan "Improving Digital Identity Act" was first introduced by Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) in 2020, but never never voted out of committee. It also didn't get a Senate version in that session of Congress. Foster reintroduced the measure last year.
Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) has spent more than a decade in Congress and is the only current lawmaker to hold a PhD in physics. “One of the reasons I feel occasionally useful in Congress is actually having some background in business and technology, I have some idea of where the puck is going,’’ says the 66-year-old lawmaker representing the state’s 11th congressional district, which includes parts of five counties roughly 30 miles west of Chicago.
The reversal of Roe v. Wade is expanding the conversation in Congress around biometric data and data privacy.
The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held a hearing Wednesday to discuss privacy issues around biometric data, and the benefit of biometric technology. Biometric data is information such as facial IDs and fingerprints.
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) announced the introduction of the Closing the Digital Divide for Students Act to expand broadband access for low-income families in HUD-assisted housing. This bill would allow families living in HUD-assisted housing, whose children qualify for free or reduced lunch, to use federal assistance on broadband internet access.
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) announced support for 15 community projects in the 11th Congressional District as part of the House Appropriations Committee’s Community Project Funding (CPF) program. The projects listed have been submitted to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration as part of the FY2023 government spending bills.
U.S. policy on alternative fuel vehicles is at a turning point in the transition away from gasoline-powered engines, according to witnesses at a congressional hearing Thursday.
Delays in securing the metals and minerals to manufacture rechargeable electric motors are likely to mean China jumps in to take over the market, they said.
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to discover and develop new electric vehicle technologies, said Venkat Srinivasan, a director of energy storage science at the Argonne National Laboratory.
Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly more popular in the United States at a time when lawmakers acknowledge the country should make better investments in battery technology and its supply chain.
On Thursday, Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois) led a field hearing in suburban Woodridge to discuss the expected surge in demand for electric vehicle batteries over the next decade, while considering the implications for the metals required in EV battery manufacturing.
The U.S. needs to create a “road map” to the batteries of the future even as it solves existing supply chain issues, experts told a House panel on Thursday.
President Biden has pushed domestic automakers to electrify their vehicle fleets, a goal that in the short term will require securing supply chains for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt that are used in lithium-ion batteries, experts say.
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) announced that all 10 Community Project Funding (CPF) requests he made on behalf of the 11th Congressional District of Illinois were included in the final House-passed omnibus spending bill for a total of $18,870,000.