On the recordDecember 20, 2012
Mr. President, I rise today to honor my friend, Illinois State Senator Jeff Schoenberg, on his more than two decades of service in the Illinois General Assembly. Jeff was elected to the Illinois House in 1990 at the age of 30. He served six terms there before being elected to the Illinois Senate in 2003, where he rose through the ranks, serving as assistant majority leader, chairman on the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, and vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee. More importantly, Jeff Schoenberg has been a dedicated public servant to his constituents in Evanston and to the people of Illinois for 22 years. During his time in the Illinois General Assembly, Jeff sponsored a bill that would provide better access to quality health care and give consumers the opportunity to make better choices for their health. He also secured more than $5 billion in Federal funds for safety net hospitals such as Mount Sinai, Mercy, and Holy Cross. Jeff Schoenberg supported the Illinois Safe Choice Zones Act, which helped pave the way for Illinois' pioneering work in stem cell research, and insisted on greater accountability and oversight at the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. A father of two himself, Jeff was critical to the passage of a measure allowing schools to keep and administer epinephrine for anaphylactic shock following the death of a 13-year-old girl from Chicago who had an allergic reaction to peanut oil while at school.…





