Our Candidates
Judy Biggert
Judy Biggert is a U.S. Congresswoman from Illinois running for re-election.
A lifelong Illinois resident, Judy Biggert combines a wealth of experience as a legislator, lawyer, community leader, and small business owner to serve the suburban Chicago residents of Illinois' 13th District in the US House of Representatives.
As the only Republican member of the Illinois delegation on the Education and Workforce Committee, Judy worked to help craft the No Child Left Behind Act, which included her bill to nearly double annual funding for homeless education programs. She is the sponsor of legislation to promote financial literacy among our youth and she wrote legislation, now law, to increase funding for the training of math and science teachers.
As Co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues during the 107th Congress, Judy worked to improve funding for women's health research, victims of dating violence and child care assistance for low income families. In 2001, she introduced legislation that expands legal assistance for victims of domestic violence and worked with the Bush Administration to pass a bill that fast-tracked money to Afghan women and children for their basic health and educational needs.
In the 111th Congress, Judy is a member of three committees -- Financial Services, Education and Labor, Science and Technology – and of seven subcommittees. She serves as Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
In addition, Judy serves as a member of: the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education; the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness; the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development; the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises; the Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment; and the Science and Technology Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.
On the Financial Services Committee, she helped write the Sarbanes Oxley legislation that reformed the accounting and auditing industries in the wake of the Enron and Anderson scandals.
As a member of the Committee on Science and Chairman of the Energy Subcommittee, Judy has helped strengthen our country's basic science research facilities, including Argonne National Laboratory, located in her congressional district.
Cited by Glamour as one of the "New Female Power Players" and by Fortune as one of "The Picks of Congress' New Litter," Judy met and matched expectations. Shortly after her election in 1998, she was selected as the only Member-Elect to serve on the Congressional Delegation to the White House Conference on Social Security. Judy was also the only freshman Member of Congress to be named Vice-Chair of two subcommittees. During her first term in office, two of her initiatives became law: the Cybertipline legislation made it easier to report and track down computer-based sex crimes against children, and another bill that increased penalties for traffickers of club drugs such as Ecstasy.