Recognizing City of Joliet

Floor Speech

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Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the great city of Joliet, Illinois. For the last 10 years, I have had the honor of representing Joliet and the surrounding areas as part of Illinois' 11th Congressional District.

Joliet is the third largest city of Illinois, with a storied history intertwined with our State. Due to changing of the Congressional maps, however, I will no longer be representing Joliet. This great city will be represented by my colleague, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood in the 118th Congress.

No matter what opinion you have about the redistricting procedures in Illinois, and all around the country, for that matter, one thing is clear: I was not in the room when these maps were drawn that took Joliet away from me.

While I am sad that my work with the Joliet communities and all of the great organizations there is coming to a close, I am so proud to reflect upon what we have accomplished for the Joliet community and of the tremendous upward arc of progress in Joliet that we have seen over the last decade.

I have so many fond memories of my time representing Joliet. For the last decade, Joliet has given me, a scientist, a reason to celebrate the work of science fiction with the Joliet Public Library's annual Star Wars Day.

Every June, the community comes together to parade down Ottawa Street along with the Imperial Storm Troopers, Jedi Knights, and Ewoks in full costume.

Aside from giving everyone an excuse to channel their inner child, Star Wars Day also promotes literacy, science, technology, engineering, and math in a fun and exciting atmosphere that captivates young minds.

Joliet was also the backdrop for the 1980 classic film, The Blues Brothers, which features Joliet Jake and Elwood leaving the Old Joliet Prison at the beginning of the movie.

That is why I was, as Elwood says in the film, ``on a mission from God'' to help secure the $3 million for the Old Joliet Prison to repair and rehabilitate this cultural and historical landmark for generations to enjoy, as well as to benefit what seems to be an endless stream of German tourists who stop by the prison, take a selfie in front of it on the way down the historic Route 66 corridor that travels through the Joliet area.

And just this past August, the entire community came together to watch Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi perform at the Old Joliet Prison.

Joliet has accomplished many things of national significance, as well, including being chosen as the site for what will be the largest manufacturing plant for electric school buses in North America, and which recently started production.

One of my greatest priorities in Congress was securing funding for the Joliet's Brandon Road Lock and Dam, which is currently the last line of defense in preventing invasive Asian Carp from reaching Lake Michigan and all of the lakes and tributaries of the Great Lakes Basin.

We worked for many years to fast-track this funding, and thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Army Corps of Engineers finally has the resources it needs to begin construction on this project to help protect Illinois waterways and every lake and tributary in the entire Great Lakes Basin.

Just this past year, I was proud to secure over $8 million of community project funding for various projects in Joliet, including $3.5 million to support the work being done to replace aging service lines in our plumbing, including lead lines, so that every resident in the Joliet area has access to safe drinking water.

These are just two of the many projects in Joliet that I have had the honor of working on throughout the years. What is more important is all that Joliet has given the Chicago suburbs.

The Blues Brothers' concert at the Old Joliet Prison was a fitting camp to wrap up my time in Joliet and one that represents one of the many reasons why I will miss representing the city in Congress so much.

Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to thank everyone in the Joliet area for sending me to Congress on your behalf. It has been an honor of a lifetime serving you and making your communities a better place for future generations. Continue Fundamental Research Through Adversity

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Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I rise to emphasize the importance of long-term and reliable funding for scientific projects, especially when the going gets tough.

During my years as a scientist, I was involved in building of giant particle accelerators to smash protons and antiprotons together to make particles that have not been around since the Big Bang. Back in August of 2019, I was honored to speak at the 10th anniversary of the National Ignition Facility, which at the time had achieved all of its technical goals but was frustrated by scientific uncertainties and was struggling with neutron yields on the order of 10 to the 16th.

The point that I made and the point that I am making today is that it is important to continue fundamental research even when the going gets tough.

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