Aaron Schock (R-IL-18)i

Congressman Aaron Schock

House links: Aaron Schock (R-IL-18)i

Aaron Jon Schock

Aaron Schock Congressional Candidate Illinois District 18

Biography of Aaron Schock from House.gov

At the age of 23, Aaron Schock was simultaneously the youngest school board president in history and the youngest Illinois State Representative. He is now the youngest Member of Congress and the first to be born in the 1980’s.

United States Congress
Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL), 30, is the youngest member of Congress and represents the 18th District of Illinois.

Schock currently serves on the highly coveted House Ways and Means committee. He serves on three Ways and Means subcommittees: Trade, Oversight and Social Security. Schock also serves on the committee on House Administration and as the Chairman of the Franking Commission.

In addition he serves as a Deputy Republican Whip and as a member of the Conference Advisory Committee.

During his first term in office (2009-2010) his colleagues expressed their faith in his abilities by appointing him to the coveted Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He was also the only Republican freshman selected to serve on the influential Highways and Transit Subcommittee which is charged with drafting the five-year highway bill due for reauthorization this year. Schock also received a seat on the Small Business Committee along with designation as the Ranking Member of the Contracting and Technology Subcommittee. House Republican Leadership also issued Schock a waiver to serve on a third committee and he was appointed to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Finally, Schock was chosen by Leadership to serve as a Deputy Republican Whip.

In his first two weeks in office, Schock succeeded in having an amendment adopted by the House mandating a web site to track the TARP (bailout) funds as part of the TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009.

State Representative
In the Illinois Legislature, Schock succeeded in passing 18 substantive bills he sponsored, several of which were hailed as “landmark reforms” when they were signed into law.

Schock also developed a reputation for outstanding constituent service, having helped thousands of constituents solve problems beyond their ability to cope.

Schock shared the 2007 award with then-Senator Barack Obama from the Illinois Committee for Honest Government for his “Outstanding Legislative and Constituent Service.”

Schock got off to a fast start in the Illinois House by being appointed to serve on five committees, including rare service on two separate appropriations committees. His committee assignments were: Elementary and Secondary Appropriations; Human Services Appropriations; Veteran’s Affairs; Financial Services; and Environment and Energy.

Business
Upon graduation from college, Schock secured investors and started a small business in Peoria. He later served as Director of Development for Petersen Companies of Peoria. Schock purchased his first piece of real estate at age 18, and continues to manage his real estate investments today.

Public Service
Before coming to Congress, Aaron Schock began his public service by serving in the Peoria School board when he was 19 years old.

At 22, his school board colleagues voted to make Schock vice president of the board and a year later they voted unanimously to make him board president of one of the largest school districts in Illinois.

Early years
Schock began working after school jobs in his early teens. By the time he was in high school he was working a substantial number of hours per week at a gravel pit and invested nearly all of it. With these earnings he was able to purchase his first piece of real estate at age 18 and bought and sold investment properties. He also bought his own home which he and his brother renovated on Melbourne Avenue in one of Peoria’s older neighborhoods.

Education
Aaron Schock graduated from Richwoods High School and Rolling Acres Middle School in Peoria. He then graduated from Bradley University in Peoria with a B.S. in Finance (a four year degree) in only two years.

Biography of Aaron Schock from Schock for Congress

At the age of 23, Aaron Schock was simultaneously the youngest school board president in history and tied as the youngest Illinois State Representative in history. He is now the youngest Member of Congress and the first to be born in the 1980’s.

CONGRESSMAN
Aaron Schock won the Republican Party nomination for Congress at age 26 with 72% of the vote in a three-way race. During the campaign, he was selected as a speaker on the final night of the Republican National Convention in 2008. He subsequently won the general election in 2008 with 59% of the vote at age 27.

As a candidate for Congress Aaron Schock established a leadership PAC and named it: GOP Generation Y Fund. Not yet elected himself at that point, he raised and contributed $82,000 to other first time Republican candidates for Congress. His leadership PAC has raised and donated over $100,000 so far for the 2010 cycle. Additionally, as of August 2010, he ranks 7th among House Republicans in exceeding his assessed contributions to the National Republican Congressional Committee, NRCC.

Congressman Schock received a waiver to serve on three committees as opposed to the usual one or two. Those are: the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; the Small Business Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Schock was also selected to serve as a Deputy Whip.

Despite being both the youngest Member of Congress and serving in the minority, Congressman Aaron Schock has passed nine amendments or bills on the House Floor. This continues his record of being able to pass bills as the youngest Illinois State Representative and one serving in the minority.

Aaron Schock has been called on repeatedly by both national media and his party leadership in the House to speak on behalf of Republican policy positions. This includes being one of the closing speakers for the House Floor debate on on the President’s economic stimulus bill in February 2009, only a month into office for Schock. It also includes appearances on Meet the Press, Good Morning America, FOX News Sunday, the Today Show, MSNBC, FOX News, CNN, and being invited by Leader Boehner to serve with him as one of two other Members of Congress speaking at the Small Business Jobs Summit in July 2010. National press coverage includes the front page of the New York Times, a Washington Post editorial in favor a Schock bill, and coverage from the Wall Street Journal to the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and on the cover of several magazines.

Congressman Schock’s voting record has reflected his mainstream conservative principles which mirror the values of the majority of people of the 18th District of Illinois he represents. His focuses have been advocating for economic growth policies, legislation to enable small businesses to expand, free trade expansion agreements that farmers and high wage manufacturing workers in his district depend on to sell their products, promotion of both freedom and human rights around the world, renewable energy, preventing tax increases and fighting the massive expansion of government spending and debt. He maintains a 100% pro-life, pro-Second Amendment record as well.

Congressman Schock has succeeded in securing funds to follow up on previous legislation authorizing major river ecosystem/transportation restoration for the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and a vital new Veterans Health Clinic in the heart of the district.

Yet, one of his most fulfilling achievements is the outstanding constituent service his office has provided by opening 5,000 individual cases from constituents requesting help to deal with problems beyond their ability to cope with.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE
As an Illinois State Representative, Aaron Schock was very successful in passing 23 bills in his two terms. Several were hailed as “landmark reforms” by the media as they were signed into law. He accomplished this feat as both the youngest Member of the General Assembly and while serving in the minority.

Representative Schock earned a reputation for going above and beyond to find solutions for his constituent’s problems as he established one of the very best constituent service operations in the state.

He was elected in 2004 and re-elected by 59% in 2006 in a district that gives Democratic candidates 60% of the vote on average. In 2004 he received 4% of the African-American vote in his district but succeeded in earning 39% for his 2006 re-election.

SCHOOL BOARD RACE/MEMBER/PRESIDENT
Aaron Schock disagreed with Peoria School Board policies while he was in high school so at age 19, he ran against the school board president. She promptly had his ballot petitions disqualified on technicalities and knocked him off the ballot. So he defied the conventional wisdom of the time and ran as a write-in candidate. He and his supporters knocked on 13,000 doors and he won 60% of the vote by earning 6,406 valid write-in votes. Two years later his school board colleagues elected him vice president of the board and a year later they unanimously elected him school board president at age 23—making him the youngest school board president in history.

BUSINESS
Upon graduation from college, Schock secured investors and started a small business in Peoria. He sold the business a few years later to run for State Representative. He later served as Director of Development for the Petersen Companies in Peoria. With earnings saved from after-school jobs in high school, Schock purchased his first piece of real estate at age 18 and continues to manage his real estate investments today.

EARLY YEARS
Schock began working after school jobs in his early teens. By the time he was in high school he was working a substantial number of hours per week at a gravel pit and invested nearly all of it. With these earnings he was able to purchase his first piece of real estate at age 18 and bought and sold investment properties. He also bought his own home which he and his brother renovated on Melbourne Avenue in one of Peoria’s older neighborhoods.

EDUCATION
Aaron Schock graduated from Richwoods High School and Rolling Acres Middle School in Peoria. He then graduated from Bradley University in Peoria with a B.S. in Finance (a four year degree) in only two years.