VIDEO RELEASE: The Story Behind A Decade of Cheri-on-Shifts
WASHINGTON — Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) released a video that tells the story behind the 120 Cheri-on-Shifts she completed throughout her decade of service.
Since she was first elected to Congress, Bustos has traveled across Northwest and Central Illinois on 120 Cheri-on-Shift job shadowing stops. During these visits, she’s walked in the shoes of local workers to learn more about the jobs sustaining communities across our region.
Now, Bustos is releasing a video that tells the story behind those 120 stops, and how they helped her serve Illinois
WATCH: The Story Behind A Decade of Cheri-on-Shifts
Over the years, Bustos has learned how to drive a forklift, spot weld on cars, process carp from the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, inspect airfields and replace lead water lines – but most importantly, these visits helped her bring the voices of her constituents with her to Washington over the past decade.
Bustos recently completed her final Cheri-on-Shift at the Blaum Bros. Distilling Company in Galena, where she spotlighted the local, family-owned distillery.
Excerpts from Bustos’ remarks in the video can be found below:
“I have done 120 Cheri-on-Shifts. This is something that we started in my very first term. It’s a way to get a feel for what people do for a living, how they support their families, their struggles, why they take pride in their jobs.”
“We have a very large congressional district. It is 7,000 square miles, 14 counties, 711,000 people. And through these Cheri-on-Shifts, we went literally everywhere.”
“It is the way that I understand really, just how hard people work. I was with a home care nurse, and I always like to ask the question ‘Well, what do you do for fun?’ and she said, ‘We have cable.’ And I said, ‘Well, don’t you like to go to the movies?’ and she said, ‘Well, we really can’t, because, by the time you buy four tickets and soda and popcorn, it really isn’t affordable to us.’”
“When you look at things like a living wage, making sure that people can afford their health care, all of those kinds of decisions that I’ve made when I put my voting card in and vote on the House Floor, are influenced by what I’ve learned and the people I’ve met, especially through my Cheri-on-Shifts.”
“We learned several years ago that there were these solid lead pipes that were all over our congressional district. My job was to get rid of lead pipes that deliver water from a watermain into peoples’ homes.”
“We’ve worked very, very hard representing this congressional district, bringing millions of dollars back home to be able to replace these lead water pipes.”
“It is the people back home who are my boss and I just wanted to make sure I never lost sight of that. And doing our Cheri-on-Shifts was really the best way that we could think of to make sure that never happened.”