Campaign News

The MidWeek News

by By Dennis Hines

Wednesday, 10/3/2007

State Sen. Chris Lauzen hopes to bring his years of experience to the 14th Congressional District. Lauzen, R-Aurora, recently announced his candidacy for the congressional seat, which will be vacated by Republican Dennis Hastert. Lauzen visited the DeKalb-Sycamore area as part of his “Faith, Family and Fruits of Freedom” Tour, which he conducted from Sept. 19-21. As part of the tour, Lauzen visited eight counties in three days. “I hope that it demonstrates a certain commitment to service and energy and the idea that I understand that it's my job to bring my campaign to the people who I hope to serve,” he said. Lauzen said, if elected, he will work hard to best represent the residents of the 14th Congressional District. “I made three promises 16 years ago when I first ran, and I've kept those promises, and I'm just making the same three promises now, and that's to work hard, stay honest and use common sense,” Lauzen said. “That's all people want you to do. They will forgive you when you screw up, but they won't forgive you if you lie to them or if you steal from them.” Lauzen said he also plans to respond to his constituents' concerns in a timely manner. “I have a reputation, after 15 years, that I return every telephone call from a constituent, and when people write me, I respond,” he said. Lauzen said, if elected, he plans to vote against any bill that offers incentives to anyone who disobeys the country's immigration laws. He said he supports legal immigration and is in favor of offering incentives to people who are legal citizens of the country. “I think it's a matter of human dignity that if you got to follow the law, I got to follow it, and if everybody does, then there's going to be peace,” Lauzen said. “But if I don't have to follow the laws and you do, eventually, you're going to resent me, and you should.” Lauzen has served as state senator for the 25th district for about 15 years. During that time, he has sponsored the “Truth in Budgeting” Act, “Truth in Pension” Act and has supported the ban against partial-birth abortions. “Ninety-three percent of the people, whether they're pro-life or pro-choice, say for a baby to be within six inches of being born and then destroyed is barbaric...,” Lauzen said. “Even on the most controversial issues, I think there is a common ground where most people will agree that we can make progress.” Lauzen said, if elected,he plans to use three important documents, the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, as his guides for making quality decisions. “The Declaration of Independence is the promise of our country. The Constitution is the balance structure of limited government, and I believe in less government rather than more,” Lauzen said. “Lincoln's second inaugural address had to do with healing wounds after (so many) Americans had died in the Civil War, and I think we need a little bit of healing.” Lauzen said, so far, more than 3,000 people have volunteered to participate in his campaign. “So it's really going to be the people's campaign against money and clout,” he said. Before becoming involved with politics, Lauzen worked as an accountant for small businesses. “After a couple of career stops, I grew an accounting business practice from scratch to where I was serving over 200 small businesses,” Lauzen said. “That is one of the other reasons why I ran. I saw how hard these folks would work, and then I would see how big their tax bill was.” Lauzen said he first became interested in politics in high school after participating in a speech competition hosted by former State Sen. Robert Mitchler. “I still have a copy of the letter that I sent over to him where I said, ‘Thank you very much for letting me participate. I didn't win, but, some day, I would like to do what you do,' and he's been a friend ever since,” Lauzen said. Other candidates who are running for the 14th Congressional seat include Republicans Jim Oberweis and Kevin Burns and Democrats John Laesch, Bill Foster and Jotham Stein. The 14th Congressional District includes DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, Henry, Lee, Whiteside and DuPage counties. For more information about Lauzen log on to www.Lauzen2008.com. Copyright © 2007, The MidWeek. All rights reserved.