Democrat Bill Foster is a former businessman and physicist who was elected to the United States House of Representatives in Illinois's District 14.http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000454 He won a special election in March 2008 to replace Republican Speaker of the House John Dennis Hastert, who resigned mid-term.http://foster.house.gov/Biography/ Foster was reelected in November of 2008, but lost to Republican Randy Hultgren in the 2010 midterm elections.http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101228/news/712299933/ He will leave office January of 2011.http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101228/news/712299933/

In December of 2009, Foster supported bipartisan legislation that would block Congressional pay raises.http://foster.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=163658 Congress was scheduled to receive a salary increase starting October of 2010, but Foster maintained that the state of the economy was too poor to justify the raise.http://foster.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=163658 The action saves taxpayers approximately 2.5 million dollars.http://foster.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=163658

Born on October 7, 1955, Madison native William Foster earned a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1976 and a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University in 1983.http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=101632 When he was 19-years-old, Foster and his brother started a theater lighting company called ETC, Inc. that provides equipment to Broadway shows, Rolling Stones tours and opera houses.http://www.billfoster.com/about/business/ Before being elected into Congress, Foster worked as a researcher at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory for 22 years.http://foster.house.gov/Biography/ While there, he helped discover the top quark, the heaviest known form of matter, and won numerous physics award from organizations like the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the U.S. Department of Energy.http://foster.house.gov/Biography/

Foster supports a restoration of fiscal discipline that will create jobs and revive American manufacturing.http://www.billfoster.com/issues/ He is also an advocate of legislation that will prevent irresponsible economic practices and lower taxes for middle-class families.http://www.billfoster.com/issues/ Along with the majority of Democrats, Foster voted for the federally funded healthcare plan and for increasing funds for alternative energy research.http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=412257 He is a member of the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=412257