Jan Schakowsky

Jan Schakowsky has represented Illinois' 9th Congressional District since 1998. She is one of Congress’ leading advocates for progressive values.

Jan speaks out forcefully to defend the interests of everyday Americans – and against the increased concentration of wealth in our economy. She has been especially active in battles for affordable health care, protecting women’s reproductive rights, immigration reform, the defense of Medicare and Social Security, consumer rights, and ending the War in Iraq.

Schakowsky serves in the House Democratic Leadership as Chief Deputy Whip and as a member of the Steering and Policy Committee. She is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, where she serves as Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection and as a member of the Subcommittee on Health and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. She also serves on the House Select Committee on Intelligence.

Jan became active in politics in 1969 when she led the fight that put freshness dates on products sold in supermarkets. Subsequently, she was Program Director of Illinois Public Action – the state’s leading public interest organization -- and then Director of the Illinois State Council of Senior Citizens.

In the eight years before she was elected to Congress she served in the Illinois General Assembly.

Schakowsky lives in Evanston, Illinois with her husband Robert Creamer. She has three children, Ian, Mary, and stepdaughter Lauren Creamer, and four grandchildren, Isabel, Eve, Lucy, and William. She graduated from the University of Illinois in 1965 with a B.S. in Elementary Education.