Jan Schakowsky was elected to represent Illinois' 9th Congressional District in 1998, after serving for eight years in the Illinois State Assembly. She is in her twelfth term.
Schakowsky serves in the House Democratic Leadership as a Senior Chief Deputy Whip. She is a member of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, House Budget Committee, as well as the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where she serves as Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, and as a member of the Environment and Oversight & Investigations Subcommittees.
Our government is founded on the belief that individuals have a number of “inalienable rights” enshrined in the Constitution. I believe that the protection of those rights is a fundamental obligation for each member of Congress, and I take that duty very seriously. It is important that we work to end discrimination and human rights abuses wherever they occur.
In my work in the House of Representatives, where I was previously a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Vice Chair of the Human Rights Commission, I do my best to make sure a proper balance between security and liberty is maintained, and that government’s reach into our private lives is kept to a minimum.