Cheri Bustos
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Cheryl Lea Bustos ( ; née Callahan; born October 17, 1961) is an American journalist, healthcare executive, and politician who is the
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Illinois's 17th congressional district The 17th congressional district of Illinois is represented by Democrat Cheri Bustos. It includes most of the northwestern portion of the state, with most of its population living on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, as well as parts of Peo ...
since 2013. A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
, she is the first woman elected to Congress from her district in the northwestern part of the state, anchored by the Illinois side of the
Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...
and partially including Peoria and Rockford. In 2019, Bustos became chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Elected to the East Moline City Council in 2007, Bustos defeated
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
incumbent
Bobby Schilling Robert Todd Schilling (January 23, 1964 – April 6, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a U.S. Representative for from 2011 to 2013. Schilling was a member of the Republican Party. Schilling challenged incumbent Dem ...
in the 2012 election and a 2014 rematch. As of 2021, Bustos and Senator
Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate De ...
are the only Democrats in Illinois's congressional delegation who are not from the Chicago area. On April 30, 2021, she announced that she would retire at the end of the 117th Congress.


Early life, education, and private sector career

Bustos was born in
Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, one of three children of Gene and Ann Callahan. Her grandfather Joseph R. Callahan was a hog farmer and a state legislator. "We had governors over to our house. We had lieutenant governors", Bustos has said. Her father worked for ''
The State Journal-Register ''The State Journal-Register'' is the only local daily newspaper for Springfield, Illinois, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1831 as the ''Sangamo Journal'' by William Bailhache and Edward Baker, and describes itself as "the oldest new ...
'', then served as assistant press secretary to
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Samuel Shapiro, press secretary to Lieutenant Governor
Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
, and chief of staff to
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
Alan Dixon Alan John Dixon (July 7, 1927 – July 6, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the Illinois General Assembly from 1951 to 1971, as the Illinois Treasurer from 1971 to 1977, as the Illinois Secretary of ...
. As a girl she babysat Dick Durbin's children. Her mother worked as a teacher. Bustos graduated from Springfield High School in 1979. She attended
Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois, but the first to grant a degree ( ...
, then transferred to the
University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
, from which she received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1983. From 1983 to 1984, Bustos interned with the Illinois Senate Democrats. She went on to receive a master's degree in journalism from the
University of Illinois Springfield The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a public university in Springfield, Illinois. The university was established in 1969 as Sangamon State University by the Illinois General Assembly and became a part of the University of Illinois ...
in 1985. In 1985, Bustos moved to the
Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...
to work as a night-shift police reporter for the ''
Quad-City Times The ''Quad-City Times'' is a daily morning newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa, and circulated throughout the Quad Cities metropolitan area (Davenport, Bettendorf and Scott County in Iowa; and Moline, East Moline, Rock Island and Rock Isla ...
''. She worked there for 17 years, first as a reporter and then as an editor. From 2001 to 2007, Bustos worked as senior director of corporate communications for Trinity Regional Health Systems. From 2008 to 2011, she worked as vice president of corporate communications for
Iowa Health System UnityPoint Health (known as Iowa Health System until 2013) is a network of hospitals, clinics and home care services in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. The system began in 1993, when Iowa Lutheran Hospital and Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines ...
; in her last full year, she received overall compensation of $306,295.


East Moline City Council


Elections

In 2007, Bustos ran for the East Moline City Council from that city's 4th Ward. She won the Democratic primary with 45% of the vote, and won the general election unopposed. In 2011, she was reelected unopposed.


Tenure

Before being elected in 2007, Bustos served on East Moline's Citizen Advisory Committee and the East Moline Plan Commission. In 2009, she received an Athena Business Women's Award. In February 2010, Bustos secured state and federal money to purchase a $40,000 electronic welcome sign that was placed at the border of East Moline. In August 2010, Bustos voted for water and sewer rate hikes. In January 2011, she expressed interest in charging residents who do not recycle extra fees to lower the city's landfill costs. In April 2011, Bustos voted for a budget that raised property taxes 4.9% and raised garbage collection fees, saying, "these decisions have been made thoughtfully and thoroughly and during the course of 17 open and public budget sessions." She also supported water and sewage increases. Bustos was criticized for voting for a $624,000 project to improve 10th Street in East Moline, which runs adjacent to her house; the Schilling campaign dubbed it the "Bustos Parkway". Schilling's claim was called "reckless, irresponsible fiction" by the editorial board of the ''Quad-City Times''. After being elected to a second term in May 2011, Bustos resigned in September to focus on her campaign for Congress.


Committee assignments

*East Moline Downtown Revitalization Committee (Founded and Chaired)


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections


2012

Bustos was endorsed by about two dozen unions active in the 17th congressional district, including the Illinois AFL–CIO, AFSCME and the United Auto Workers. During the primary, she was endorsed by
Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate De ...
. Durbin asked State Senator
Dave Koehler David Koehler (born December 16, 1948) is a Democratic politician from Illinois, and has been the Illinois State Senator from 46th Legislative District since December 2006. The district includes Canton, East Peoria, Fairview, Lewistown, Mapl ...
and Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp to drop out of the race to clear the way for Bustos, a close family friend of his. Gaulrapp reported that during a meeting with Durbin about withdrawing, Durbin said that Bustos had babysat for his family and was a close friend. Bustos won the Democratic primary on March 20, 2012, defeating Gaulrapp and businessman Greg Aguilar 54% to 26% to 20%. In a July 2012 article, Bustos wrote that she was running for Congress in order to create good-paying jobs for middle-class Americans, including many "whose jobs are being shipped to China." In the general election, Bustos was one of 39 candidates considered to be the most viable challengers against Republican incumbents to benefit from "Red to Blue" program offered by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She was endorsed by the ''Quad-City Times''. In November, she defeated incumbent Republican
Bobby Schilling Robert Todd Schilling (January 23, 1964 – April 6, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a U.S. Representative for from 2011 to 2013. Schilling was a member of the Republican Party. Schilling challenged incumbent Dem ...
53% to 47%. She received a significant boost from redistricting, which replaced Quincy, Decatur and the district's portion of Springfield with the more Democratic portions of Peoria and Rockford. She is the first Democrat to represent a significant portion of Peoria since 1927, and only the second Democrat since the 1850s to represent a significant portion of Rockford. In July 2017, Bustos and Representatives
Hakeem Jeffries Hakeem Sekou Jeffries (; born August 4, 1970) is an American politician and attorney and leader-elect of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jeffries has represented New York's 8th congressional district, anchored in s ...
and
David Cicilline David Nicola Cicilline (; born July 15, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 36th mayor of Providence from 2003 to 2011, the first openly ...
co-authored a
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
op-ed charging that thanks to Republicans, "the economy isn't working the way it should", and promising that their own economic plan would create "millions of good-paying, full-time jobs" and "build an economy that puts Americans first." After entering the House, Bustos made national headlines by "interviewing colleagues and posting the short videos on her personal Snapchat account."


2014

Bustos was challenged by Schilling for reelection in 2014. In a 2012 interview with the ''Chicago Tribune'' editorial board, Bustos expressed support for legislation that would cut congressional pay by 10%. When asked by a member of the board if she would voluntarily give up 10% of her pay should the legislation fail, she said she would. During the 2014 campaign, she said, "When I was in Chicago, I said something that I shouldn't have said, but I never said it on the campaign trail. I never made it as a promise to the people in the 17th congressional district." The ''Tribune'' endorsed Schilling. As they did in October 2012, Bustos and Schilling agreed to debate at the
WQAD-TV WQAD-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Moline, Illinois, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of ABC and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Park 16th Street in Moline, an ...
News 8 studio on October 9, 2014, with ''Good Morning Quad Cities'' anchor Jim Mertens as moderator. Bustos defeated Schilling in the November 4 general election, 55% to 45%.


2016

Bustos was reelected to the House in the 2016 general election, defeating Republican nominee Patrick Harlan, an insurance agent, truck driver, and local Tea Party activist. In a long profile of Bustos on May 12, 2017, ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' noted that in 2016 she was the only Democrat to win a House seat by a more than 20-point margin in a district that Trump also won. "If Democrats are going to wrest control of the House from Republicans, argue many party strategists, it's going to happen in large part by doing more of whatever it is Bustos is doing three hours west of Chicago in her nearly 7,000-square-mile district of small towns and soybean fields", ''Politico'' wrote. Calling her "one of the party's rising stars", ''Politico'' quoted her as saying, "I'm a little bit of a different kind of Democrat."


2018

In the 2018 election, Bustos was challenged by Bill Fawell, a real estate broker who attracted media attention for his conspiracy claims that the
9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...
were an inside job perpetrated by the U.S. government. Bustos was reelected with 61.9% of the vote to Fawell's 38.1%.


Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

For the 2020 election, Bustos resigned from the office of the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee because the Democrats had lost over 10 seats when they were expected to make gains. But
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
placed her in the position of co-chair of the House Democratic Steering Committee, replacing
Rosa DeLauro Rosa Luisa DeLauro (; born March 2, 1943) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in New Haven and includes most of its suburbs. DeLauro is ...
, who was chosen as chair of the House Appropriations Committee.


Potential runs for other offices

Bustos considered running for the U.S. Senate in the 2016 election, but announced in March 2015 that she would not. In September 2016, reports emerged that Bustos was a possible candidate for
Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...
in the 2018 election. In February 2017, Bustos declined to run in that election. During the election for Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in January 2019, Bustos received 4 votes, from Joe Cunningham of South Carolina;
Jared Golden Jared Forrest Golden (born July 25, 1982) is an American politician and a Marine Corps veteran serving as the U.S. representative for Maine's 2nd congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, his district, the largest eas ...
of Maine;
Mikie Sherrill Rebecca Michelle "Mikie" Sherrill (; born January 19, 1972) is an American politician, former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, attorney, and former federal prosecutor An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service ...
of New Jersey; and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, instead of their party's nominee,
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
.


Committee assignments

* Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management ** Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development, and Credit *
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...
**
United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation The Subcommittee on Aviation is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Jurisdiction The Subcommittee on Aviation has jurisdiction over all aspects of civil aviation, including safety, infrastructure, labor, co ...
** Subcommittee on Highways and Transit *
Committee on Appropriations The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...


Caucus memberships

*
New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of ...
*
Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus The Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus, a United States Congress caucus, works to improve the 9-1-1 phone system and emergency response systems.Blue Collar Caucus


Political positions

Shortly after taking office, Bustos joined the bipartisan No Labels group. In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, she was ranked the 28th most bipartisan member of the House by the Bipartisan Index, a metric published by
The Lugar Center Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in Indianapolis, Lugar graduated from Den ...
and Georgetown's
McCourt School of Public Policy The McCourt School of Public Policy is one of ten constituent schools of Georgetown University. The McCourt School offers master's degrees in public policy, international development policy, policy management, data science for public policy, an ...
to assess congressional bipartisanship.


Economic issues

In 2013, Bustos's first sponsored legislation was to create a congressional government waste reduction board. Bustos has said she wants to create a "manufacturing triangle" connecting Peoria, the Quad Cities, and Rockford and anchored by Caterpillar, John Deere, and the aerospace industry, respectively. She supports putting in place job-training programs at area community colleges to better prepare workers for skilled jobs in manufacturing. Bustos opposed a full extension of the
Bush tax cuts The phrase Bush tax cuts refers to changes to the United States tax code passed originally during the presidency of George W. Bush and extended during the presidency of Barack Obama, through: * Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act o ...
. She does not support lowering salaries or pensions for federal government employees. During a debate, Bustos opposed the three trade agreements approved by Congress in 2011 for being " NAFTA-style" and said they would result in job losses for Illinois. In 2016, Bustos sponsored legislation exempting minor league baseball players from minimum wage laws.


Foreign policy

In March 2012 Bustos called for cuts in defense spending. In August 2015, Bustos announced her support for President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's
Iran nuclear deal The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...
. "While the agreement is not perfect, it is the right step for our national security and the security of the global community", she said. "With this agreement, Iran's stockpiles of
enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...
will be reduced and the country will be opened up to strict transparency and monitoring, including robust on-the-ground nuclear inspectors". In October 2015, Bustos went to Cuba on a trip organized by the Illinois Cuba Working Group. In January 2016, she backed a bill to remove barriers to trade with Cuba. In March 2016, Bustos was part of the congressional delegation that took part in Obama's trip to Cuba and said that Cuba represented a "huge trade opportunity" for the US "when it comes to agriculture".


Donald Trump

In a December 2016 interview, Bustos said she would "make every attempt to work with President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
where we can find common ground" but "if he takes us down a dark place, then we're going to have a fight on our hands." During an April 2017 interview, she "verbally thrashed President Trump". The same month, she said that his first 100 days in office had been "a disaster" and that his health care plan would rip out "the beating heart of rural America". ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' described her as "practically...taunting Trump". She said that if she were president, "in my first 100 days, I'd want to have a lot of wins—and, you know, I wouldn't want to have wins that I have to lie about." In June 2017, Bustos argued that her party's "anti-Trump" message was not a winning
electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
formula. In December 2017, Bustos signed a letter asking for a House investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct against Trump.


Women's rights

Responding in 2016 to ''
People v. Turner ''People v. Turner'', formally ''The People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner'' (2015), is a high-profile criminal case in which Brock Allen Turner was convicted by jury trial of three counts of felony sexual assault. On Januar ...
'', Bustos said that there is a need for more women in Congress in order to bring greater attention to the issue of sexual assault. In February 2018, Illinois House Speaker
Mike Madigan Michael Joseph Madigan (born April 19, 1942) is an American politician who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. He was the longest-serving leader of any state or federal legislative body in the history of the United St ...
announced that a group of three legislators, including Bustos, would serve on an independently funded panel that would "lead a statewide discussion about the role of women in the Democratic party and how to 'change the culture of politics.'" In April, she withdrew from the panel, citing criticism by the
House Ethics Committee The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The House Et ...
and legal advisers.


Marijuana

Bustos was one of six House Democrats to vote against the
Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, also known as the MORE Act, is a proposed piece of U.S. federal legislation that would deschedule cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and enact various criminal and social jus ...
to legalize cannabis at the federal level in 2020. She said she voted against it because it lacked clarity on what constitutes a nonviolent offense.


Health care and abortion

Bustos supports the
Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
(commonly known as Obamacare). She supports legal abortion. She also supported Obama's order that all health plans cover birth control and "morning after" pills.


Immigration

Bustos supports the
DREAM Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States a ...
.


Electoral history


Personal life

Bustos met and married Gerry Bustos, a Quad Cities local, not long after moving to the Quad Cities. He is the Rock Island County Sheriff and commander of the Quad City Bomb Squad. They have three sons and two grandchildren. Bustos is Catholic.Religious affiliation of members of 117th Congress
/ref>


See also

*
Women in the United States House of Representatives Women have served in the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber, since the 1916 election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana, the first woman in Con ...


References


External links


Representative Cheri Bustos
official U.S. House website
Cheri Bustos for Congress
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bustos, Cheri 1961 births 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American telecommunications industry businesspeople American health care businesspeople American women journalists Businesspeople from Illinois Catholics from Illinois Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois Female members of the United States House of Representatives Journalists from Illinois Illinois city council members Illinois College alumni Living people Editors of Illinois newspapers Politicians from Springfield, Illinois University of Illinois at Springfield alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni Women city councillors in Illinois