Foster delivers party response

Congressman Bill Foster says spending time back home in the suburbs is a lot less stressful than dealing with the trappings of Washington, D.C.

The Geneva Democrat, recently elected to fill the remainder of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's term, said Saturday he's enjoyed spending the past two weeks meeting with area movers and shakers and greeting people in his 14th Congressional District.

But Foster, who upset Republican Jim Oberweis in a special election three weeks ago, found himself back in the national spotlight Saturday when he delivered the Democratic response to President Bush's weekly radio address.

He said Congress must work to strengthen the economy, offer affordable health care and conserve energy. He talked about the impact of increasing college tuition costs, a mortgage crisis and the Iraq war.

Democrats are fighting to cut taxes and have pledged to put middle-class families first, he said in his speech. Foster called Bush's economic stimulus plan a good start, but said more must be done to strengthen the economy.

"Moving our economy forward and making our nation energy dependent will be difficult if we continue a war with no idea how to pay for it and no idea how to end it," he said.

The speech was taped Friday. Foster said the Democrats didn't know what Bush would say but took an educated guess about the issues.

"I intended it to reflect what I thought were strong messages I got in the election," Foster said. "It was my chance to interpret the election for a national audience."