Member Benefits
91st Annual Meeting
Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Aurora Country Club Presented by
To register, click here. |
Please join us in welcoming J. Dennis Hastert Longest serving GOP Speaker in history Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Dennis Hastert was born on January 2, 1942, in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois. He earned a B.A. in economics from Wheaton College and an M.S. in philosophy of education from Northern Illinois University. Upon graduating, he became a teacher at Yorkville High School, where he taught government and history for 16 years and coached football and wrestling. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1980 to 1986 and entered Congress as the Representative for Illinois’ 14th Congressional District on January 3, 1987. During his years in Congress, Mr. Hastert championed legislation to balance the federal budget, cut taxes and government waste, and clean up the environment. He worked to repeal the unfair Social Security Earnings Limit, which was keeping millions of senior citizens from working. He also passed legislation to reduce big government regulations in areas such as trucking and telecommunications, in order to increase competition and consumer choice. In 1994, Mr. Hastert served as Chief Deputy Majority Whip. He served as the House Republican point person on health care reform. He also served as Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice. In 1999, Mr. Hastert became the 51st Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. On June 1, 2006, Speaker Hastert surpassed fellow Illinoisan Joseph Cannon to become the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House in history. He resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on November 26, 2007. Today, he works with Dickstein Shapiro LLP in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and is a member of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee. He also continues his community work, volunteering on the Board of Advantage Illinois to strengthen the state’s public education system. J. Dennis Hastert is married to Jean Hastert. They have two sons, Ethan and Joshua. Ethan and his wife, Heidi, have a son, Jack. |
