Congressman Jerry Weller, 49, was first elected to Congress in 1994 and is now serving in his sixth term representing the 11th district of Illinois. Born in Streator, he was raised on his family’s fifth generation farm near Dwight and graduated from the University of Illinois. Upon graduation, Weller worked for Procter and Gamble, then began his public service career for Illinois families.
The 11th district of Illinois blends a mix of suburban and rural communities that include Grundy County, La Salle County, Kankakee County and parts of Will, Bureau, McLean, Woodford and Livingston Counties. Weller’s home district comprises a suburban landscape of manufacturing firms, small and large industrial complexes and extensive farmland. The 11th district is most famous for its historic I&M Canal, Starved Rock National Park, and the former Joliet Arsenal, redeveloped through legislation authored by Weller.
Weller has drawn from his experience, of growing up and living in the district, to guide his legislative goals of economic growth, job creation and national security. In 1995, Weller successfully passed into law his top local priority, the redevelopment of the former Joliet Arsenal. Weller’s Arsenal redevelopment legislation ensured environmental preservation by creating the nation’s largest national prairie, the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, honored our local veterans by creating the Abraham Lincoln National Veterans Cemetery, and facilitated economic growth and job creation through the development of North America’s largest intermodal truck, rail, and freight facility. This important project created thousands of good paying union jobs, both construction and permanent, and will eventually replace the jobs lost when the Arsenal closed in 1977.
Other local priorities include Weller’s efforts to establish & expand veterans’ outpatient health clinics in the 11th District, preservation of the Kankakee River and south suburban and urban revitalization through Weller’s Brownfields tax incentive. He continues to work toward improved transportation and increased job creation through the expansion of METRA and I-355 and the building of the Will County Regional Airport in Peotone, each of these projects garnering the strong support of organized labor.
The needs of the 11th District drive Weller’s legislative agenda. For example, when it was brought to his attention, in 1996, that an internet predator had targeted a constituent’s daughter, he acted quickly to combat the technology-based threat. Weller introduced the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act of 1997. With some adjustment, this legislation was included in the Child Protection and Sexual Predator Punishment Act, which made it illegal to use the internet to transmit identifying information of a child to encourage, offer or solicit sexual activity.
A tireless advocate for Illinois families, Weller serves on the powerful House Ways & Means Committee where he supports the protection of Social Security and the prescription drug benefit for seniors in Medicare. In 2001, Weller earned national recognition as a leader for his successful efforts to eliminate the Marriage Tax Penalty and to reform business depreciation schedules. Weller has successfully passed into law tax incentive legislation to promote environmental clean up of abandoned Brownfield sites across the nation. Additionally, Weller is the leading voice on the Ways & Means Committee in promoting straightforward depreciation laws and pro-economy expensing legislation.
A leader in the effort to expand markets for Illinois manufactured goods and agricultural products, Weller earned a seat on the House International Relations Committee in 2003. On this committee, he serves as Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere as well as on the Terrorism and Nonproliferation Subcommittee. Through his role on the committee, Weller leads in promoting job creation through expanded exports, securing our borders from terrorism and narcotics, and increasing economic opportunity in our hemisphere.
Weller has taken an active role with U.S. Government agencies in combating narco-trafficking, including supporting Plan Colombia and hemispheric narcotics eradication. He has also authored legislative language included in the 9/11 Bill to discourage foreign governments from selling passports.
His long-term commitment to reducing America’s dependence on foreign petroleum is stronger than ever. Weller has recently introduced legislation that would increase the renewable content of gasoline to 25 billion gallons by 2025. At that level of usage, the need for petroleum imports from Saudi Arabia or Venezuela is eliminated. Weller wants to see government agencies expand their use of alternative fuels and create a new tax credit that will provide for consumers who purchase vehicles that combine both hybrid and flexible fuel technologies.
After graduating from U of I, in 1979, with a degree in Agriculture, Weller served as an aide to former U.S. Rep. Tom Corcoran (1980-1981) and as an aide to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture John Block (1981-1985). He served three terms in the Illinois General Assembly before being elected to serve in Washington, D.C. Weller lives in Morris, Illinois, with his wife Guatemalan Congresswoman Zury Rios Sosa. On August 17th, 2006 they were blessed with the birth of their daughter Marizú Catherine Weller.
