An open letter to Illinois' new senator

Dear Roland Burris:

At last, you are actually on the verge of achieving the distinction you've been claiming these past three weeks. On Thursday, if all goes as scheduled, you indeed will become the junior U.S. senator from Illinois.

We are not impressed by the route you took to get this job. Despite your protestations of distance, you joined league with a manipulative governor and permitted yourself to become a tool for distracting the public and defying his enemies.

This is not an auspicious beginning. Let us hope more substantial activities lie ahead. With almost two years to demonstrate that your appointment was indeed in the best interest of the state, here are some broad issues we hope you will address:

• The economy. As President-elect Barack Obama has stated, helping the nation work its way out of the disastrous morass in which we find ourselves will require true bipartisan cooperation, which means a mixture of tax cuts, economic incentives and reduced spending. We challenge you to rise above partisanship in examining and promoting economic solutions.

• Illinois infrastructure. The state's dysfunctional government has put billions of dollars in federal transportation aid at risk. This money is desperately needed for Illinois road, rail and general transportation projects. Key challenges for you, Sen. Durbin and the congressional delegation are, one, to ensure that we don't lose the funds and, two, to influence the political factions in Springfield that are holding up the process.

• The CN juggernaut. Canadian National Railway officials promise their takeover of EJ&E will result in more efficient delivery of goods throughout the Chicago region. Make sure they keep that promise. What's more, make sure that they and the federal government play an assertive role in minimizing the disruptions and safety threats the merger means for many suburban communities.

Other issues important to all suburbanites also await the attention of Congress. Immigration reform, once high on the national agenda, seems to have fallen out of the picture. Terrorism and homeland security matters have attracted millions of dollars in spending, but few of us actually feel safer. The Great Lakes, one of the region's precious resources, must be kept clean and safe.

Sen.-designate Burris, in your opportunistic zeal to assume an appointment that almost surely would not have been made had the governor not been caught in a legal firestorm, you allowed your race to become a factor. We hope you will put that brand of politics behind you.

And, in the process, remember us in the suburbs. You are a downstater by birth and a Chicagoan by choice, so you are familiar with the needs of those constituencies. Get to know us, and be sure our interests do not get lost along the way.

Asked this week what you intend to pursue, you could offer only the vague promise that "my actions will speak louder than my words." We hope, Mr. Burris, that your actions on issues like these will demonstrate that your appointment was deserved and not merely a symbiotic exploitation by two self-serving politicians.