Hultgren looks forward to challenges as Congressman

Even though he doesn't get sworn in as the new 14th District congressman from Illinois until noon Jan. 5, Randy Hultgren has been busy learning the federal government ropes.

The Winfield businessman and state senator who topped incumbent Democrat Bill Foster in the November election has spent the last month at various leadership orientations and seminars, including a bipartisan session about government at Harvard University.

Hultgren continues to work hard during the orientation process, mainly because he is confident that his seat in the House will remain despite recent Illinois census figures that indicate the state will lose another congressman in the future.

“It's really up to the state legislature and Michael Madigan as to what happens with the districts,” Hultgren said Tuesday morning at the west side Colonial Café in St. Charles, where he was addressing members of the Tri-Cities Exchange Club.

“I think our district is safe because we have the population here,” Hultgren said. “It's Cook County and downstate that lost numbers, but there has to be some discussion about what happens next.”

Regardless of those political machinations, Hultgren is moving forward in his role as an Illinois congressman.

“I'm very excited about being part of one of the biggest freshmen classes in the history of Congress,” said Hultgren, who has already cast routine votes in the Republican caucus for the new leadership of John Boehner as House speaker and Eric Cantor as majority leader, and another calling for a ban on all funding “earmarks” for pork-barrel projects in legislation.

“Over 60 of those freshmen will be Republicans who took former Democratic seats, so there will be some significant change in the direction of Congress,” Hultgren added.

The issues that fueled his election victory will remain top priorities, as Hultgren pointed to “getting people back to work” as his No. 1 aim, followed by a re-examining of the health care bill, and how every decision has to tie in with reducing the federal deficit and creating a budget that will monitor spending.

“We really functioned an entire year without a federal budget, and that is wrong, and people need to realize how devious that is in terms of continuing to spend, spend, spend,” Hultgren said. “We need a real budget in place, and that is ... a main focus of the House of Representatives.”

Hultgren said the solutions would have to come from both political parties.

“When parties come together, that's when the deficit shrinks, and it will take some time, but I believe that will come,” he said.

While Hultgren cut his political teeth in the Illinois General Assembly, he was impressed to learn that more than half of the freshman class won seats in their first attempts at a public office.

“This is refreshing to see, because it means that doctors, businessmen and everyday people are getting a voice as candidates, and they are not hand-picked by the party to seek office,” he said.

In making a commitment to focus on the needs of his constituents, Hultgren announced he would be in his district on weekends and for a full week each month.

The 14th Congressional District office will no longer be in its current Batavia location, Hultgren said, but it would remain central to the district and the location will be announced soon.