Aaron Schock

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U.S. Representative

Aaron Schock (R)

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IL-18

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Positions
Leadership: No leadership position
Committees: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Committee on Small Business, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
(subcommittees and past assignments)
Next election: Nov. 6, 2012

Primary challenge: No

Incumbent running: Yes

2012 candidates for IL-18

Confirmed: Steve Waterworth, Aaron Schock
Possible: None so far
Out: None so far
(more info & editing for IL-18)
On the Web
Official website


Aaron Schock has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 18th district of the State of Illinois, since 2009.

Contents

Positions, record and controversies

Congressional scorecards

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Organization 2007 Scorecard
Score - Agree ratio 		2008 Scorecard
Score - Agree ratio
American Civil Liberties Union not avail. not avail.
American Conservative Union not avail. not avail.
AFSCME not avail. not avail.
Americans for Democratic Action not avail. not avail.
Club for Growth not avail. not avail.
Drum Major Institute not avail. not avail.
Family Research Council not avail. not avail.
Information Technology Industry Council not avail. not avail.
League of Conservation Voters not avail. not avail.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People not avail. not avail.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce not avail. not avail.


Positions

During the 2008 campaign, Aaron Schock took the following positions:

Agriculture

According to Schock, agriculture is the largest industry in his district. Schock said that he will introduce legislation increasing the proportion of ethanol in gasoline from 10% to 15% and then 20%. Schock also said that Congress should fund its recent authorization to rebuild dams and locks on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, as better transportation will help farmers be more competitive. Schock favors an "income safety net" for farmers covering years when prices and yields are low. Schock opposes the estate tax, which he says often leads to family farms being broken up and sold.[1]

Veterans

Schock said that if elected he would make the new veterans' clinic in Peoria, plans for which were running behind schedule, a priority. He is also committed to providing constituent service to veterans and to working to clear up the backlog of claims in the Veterans Administration system. He also plans to introduce legislation that would provide pension benefits to veterans who were discharged early because of severe injuries.[2]

Health

Schock supports placing a higher priority on giving people access to preventative health care. He has outlined ten steps for reform:

  1. Reform the insurance market to enable better-value products for consumers.
  2. Establish non-discriminatory tax treatment for all individuals.
  3. Allow full tax deductibility of all qualified medical expenses (premiums, out-of-pocket spending, deductibles, and co-payments.
  4. Help low-income people purchase private health insurance.
  5. Push enrollment of those currently eligible for public health care coverage who are not enrolled. In the Illinois Legislature I have learned there is a very large number of people eligible for programs that do not sign up.
  6. Create mechanisms to control costs (i.e. generic drugs).
  7. Provide portability of health insurance as people go through different jobs.
  8. Enact federal medical liability reform.
  9. Promote Medicaid innovation so that States can implement creative reforms.
  10. Establish medical savings accounts.[3]

Schock also supports the use of electronic medical records along with research, based on those records, into health care efficiency and best practices.[3]

Energy

Schock believes that in the long run the U.S. needs to eliminate its dependence on oil. In the shorter run, he supports shifting oil consumption towards a higher percentage of oil from domestic sources. He supports energy conservation, higher standards for car fuel economy, and tax credits for energy efficiency. He would eliminate all taxes on the production of renewable energy. In an interview with the Peoria JournalStar, he described the transition in the following terms:

But to power America, we need more nuclear power, domestic oil and gas drilling offshore and in ANWAR in Alaska, streamlined approval process for wind farms, hydroelectric, more refineries, and many more clean coal power plants, until we transition to a preponderance of mass produced, sustainable, renewable energy such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydrogen power.[3]

Economy

Schock believes that the Bush tax cuts should be made permanent but that otherwise taxes do not need to be raised or lowered.[3]. Schock says that he probably would have voted for the financial bailout plan that passed Congress in October 2008.[4]

Schock supports maintaining Social Security for senior citizens but favors "exploring voluntary add-on accounts" for younger people. He places a higher priority on reforming Medicare's finances.[3]

Earmarks

Schock does not oppose Congressional earmarks altogether, but supports bringing a higher level to the earmark process:

Earmarks and the process that allows them need to be taken out of the shadows by shining a spotlight on each one with full disclosure and a proscribed amount of time after they are included before the bill is passed so that they may have time to be scrutinized fully in public.[3]

Controversies

In November 2007, Schock generated controversy when he suggested that the U.S. should sell nuclear weapons to Tawiwan in order to pressure the Chinese to go along with U.S. policy towards Iran. According to the Springfield Journal-Register, Schock stated:

“If China continues to be irresponsible about nuclear proliferation in Iran, we should tell them that if they do not care about proliferation — and since they are enablers of it in Iran — that if they don’t change their position, we will sell Pershing nuclear missiles to Taiwan for their defense.”
“Non-proliferation will either be enforced universally or not at all — it is their choice,” Schock continued. “The Chinese will come around, I have no doubt.”[5]

Schock later retracted the suggestion, saying that it had been a mistake.[4]

Bio

Aaron Schock grew up on a farm where he and his siblings sold strawberries from their strawberry patch. At age fifteen, Schock started working in a gravel pit and earned up to $18,000 per year in his teens. He bought his first piece of real estate on his eighteenth birthday. After completing a degree in Finance in only two years at Bradley University, Schock and a partner started a business together.[6]

At age 19, Schock decided to run for school board because he wanted to reform some of the high school's policies. Though more than enough people signed his petition to be placed on the ballot, Schock was thrown off the ballot because some people wrote in ditto marks for part of their addresses. After improvising as a write-in candidate, Schock defeated the school board president by garnering 60% of the vote.[7]

Illinois State Representative

In 2004, Aaron Schock ran for and won election as an Illinois State Representative, making him at age 23 the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly. He passed eleven of his bills during the first five months in office, and over his first three years, eighteen bills he sponsored were passed. The bills' matters varied, relating to education reforms, child protection, prescription drug savings, helping veterans, road construction, and fighting identity theft. Schock also opposed many of Governor Rod Blagojevich's economic policies. He was part of a group of representatives that defeated Blagojevich's proposed Gross Receipts Tax and employer tax. Schock also participated in community gatherings, and met with neighborhood organizations and non-profits.[8]

Committees on Illinois General Assembly

Aaron Schock served on the following committees: Financial Institutions; Environment and Energy; Appropriations-Human Services; Veterans Affairs; Gaming; Approp-Elementary & Secondary Education; and Committee of the Whole.[9]

Community Service

  • Big Brother mentor for several years
  • Board of Directors for Youth for a Cause
  • Peoria's Vision 2020 Youth Education and Learning Committee
  • Chamber of Commerce's Education Task Force
  • Heart of Illinois Kid's Count board of directors
  • St. Jude Telethon V.I.P.
  • Volunteer on medical missions in the most impoverished areas of Mexico
  • Former President of the Peoria Public Schools Education Foundation[10]

Awards

  • Jaycees Good Government Award, 2004
  • Illinois Committee for Honest Government Outstanding Service Award for Outstanding Legislative and Constituent Service, 2007
  • Peoria's 40 Leaders Under 40, 2004
  • Guardian Angels Arc-Angel Award, 2005
  • Community Workshop and Training Center Advocacy Award, 2005
  • Richard Mautino Excellence in Government Award, 2005
  • Life Services Network Legislator of the Year, 2006
  • Illinois Health Care Association, Legislator of the Year, 2005, 2006, 2007[11]

2008 elections

He won the Republican primary on February 5, 2008 to replace incumbent Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.).[12] Schock then went on to defeat Democratic nominee Colleen Callahan in the general election.[13]

Money in Politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

Top Contributors to during the 2008 Election Cycle
DonorAmount (US Dollars)
Madison Dearborn Partners$ 35,000
Exelon Corp$ 24,000
Pachulski, Stang et al$ 20,000
Consumer Financial Services$ 16,500
Kirkland & Ellis$ 15,500
New York Life Insurance$ 15,000
Caterpillar Inc$ 13,800
State Farm Insurance$ 13,705
PricewaterhouseCoopers$ 10,500
United Parcel Service$ 10,500
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics' www.OpenSecrets.org site.
Note: Contributions are not from the organizations themselves, but are rather from
the organization's PAC, employees or owners. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.
Links to more campaign contribution information for Aaron Schock
from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile: 2008 election cycle Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation: 2008 election cycle Career totals
Top contributors by industry: 2008 election cycle Career totals

Committees and affiliations

Committees

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

Schock has not yet been assigned to committees in the 111th Congress.

Affiliations

More background data

Contact

DC office
  • 328 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
    Ph: 202-225-6201 Fax: 202-225-9249
    Webform email
District offices
  • 100 N.E. Monroe, Room 100, Peoria, IL 61602
    Ph: (309) 671-7027 Fax: (none entered)
On the Web
Campaign office
  • No campaign website entered.
  • No campaign webform email entered.
  • 5901 N Prospect Road, Peoria, IL 61614
    Ph: 309-693-9393 Fax: (none entered)

Articles and resources

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Schock Outlines Agriculture Proposals", Aaron Schock for Congress. Accessed March 31, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Schock Unveils Proposals on Veteran Issues", Aaron Schock for Congress. Accessed March 31, 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Election Guide: Aaron Schock", Peoria JournalStar. Accessed March 31, 2009.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Adriana Colindres, "Schock: Energy, defense, taxes the big issues", The State Journal-Register, October 27, 2008.
  5. ↑ Bernard Schoenburg, "Bernard Schoenburg: Some Schock-ing ideas about U.S. foreign policy", Springfield Journal-Register, November 8, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Aaron's Story", Aaron Schock for Congress. Accessed March 26, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Aaron's Story, continued", Aaron Schock for Congress. Accessed March 26, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Aaron's Story, continued", Aaron Schock for Congress. Accessed March 26, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Representative Biography", Illinois General Assembly. Accessed March 26, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Biography", Aaron Schock for Congress.
  11. ↑ "Awards", Aaron Schock for Congress.
  12. ↑ Chicago Sun-Times Election results
  13. ↑ Illinois - Election Results, New York Times.

External resources

External articles


Local blogs and discussion sites


Semantic data (Edit data)


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