Mark Kirk represents Illinois in the United States Senate as an independent voice for families from every corner of the greatest state in the nation. With a proven record as a bridge-builder, Mark is a fiscal conservative, social moderate and defense hawk on our national security.
Mark was born in Champaign in 1959 and spent his earliest years growing up in a small house on Magnolia Drive. The Kirk family later moved to Kenilworth, where Mark attended the Joseph Sears School. He graduated from New Trier High School in 1977.
Mark attended Blackburn College in Carlinville and earned a degree in history from Cornell University, a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a law degree from Georgetown University. He worked for 10th District Congressman John Porter and later at the World Bank, at the State Department, at a private law firm, and as counsel for the House International Relations Committee.
In 1989, Mark was commissioned as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He served for 23 years until retiring in 2013 with the rank of commander. He considers his service in the Navy Reserve the greatest honor of his life. When Congressman Porter retired in 2000, Mark was elected to replace him. He served five terms representing the people of Illinois’ 10th District in the House of Representatives before being elected in 2010 to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. He was sworn in on November 29, 2010.
In January 2012, Mark suffered an ischemic stroke and underwent several surgeries at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to save his life. After nearly a year of intensive rehabilitation to re-learn how to walk, with the help of talented physical therapists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Mark climbed the 45 steps of the U.S. Capitol and returned to work in the Senate.
Mark’s grueling recovery process and triumphant return to work only strengthened his determination to be an independent voice for Illinois. He confronts the culture of corruption at VA hospitals like Hines in Illinois on behalf of our state’s 700,000 veterans. He has delivered millions in federal dollars to find and prosecute dangerous drug gangs which remain a plague in Chicago, Peoria, and other Illinois communities. Mark understands that over 30 million people rely on the Great Lakes, the crown jewel of the Midwest, for clean water.
He is the leading advocate of industry and innovation of Illinois, the nation’s fifth-largest economy, from the aerospace industry in Rockford and Caterpillar in Peoria to the farmers that have made Illinois number one in soybean production and the small businesses that drive innovation. As Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Mark is proud of Illinois’ military installations – Scott Air Force Base (the largest employer south of Springfield), Rock Island Arsenal, and Naval Station Great Lakes – at the forefront of military readiness. With allies in office and in the private sector, Mark is always looking for ways to strengthen Illinois’ best competitive advantage – its transportation and logistics infrastructure – from making the Mississippi River an export drag strip for Illinois agricultural products to keeping O’Hare the world’s busiest airport.
Mark currently lives in Highland Park.
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Early Life: Jim was born in Terre Haute, Iniana, and raised in Bartonville, Illinois. He is a 1981 Graduate of Limestone Community High School where he established his leadership skills through sports, most notably as a co-founder and coach for the competitive Lake Camelot swim team in Mapleton, IL, that thrives even today. Through middle school and high school, Jim was active in competitive swimming, track, cross country, basketball and competed one year at the NCAA collegiate level his freshman year as a Boilermaker on the Purdue University Swim Team.
Jim has a Bachelor of Science Degree, Industrial Management, minor in Computer Science,Purdue University (1984).
Faith, Family, and Community: Married to Jill (30 years), they began their family in Midland, Michigan. They have four children, James II (27), Stephen (26), Matthew (21), and Katie (19).
In Midland, Jim served on the Church Education Commission (Blessed Sacrament Catholic Parish), as a Lake Huron Area Council Cub Scouts leader, and various advancing executive roles for the local USS/USA Midland Dolphins Community Swim Team as assistant coach, committee member, Meet Director, and Vice President of the organization.
For professional interests, he and Jill moved to Oswego, IL in 1997. The family remains active in St. Anne Parish.
Continuing his extensive community involvement in the Oswego and Aurora region, Jim served both Boys and Girls Grade School Basketball leagues as a coach for five years. His dedication with scouting continued for more than 15 years mentoring young men’s faith and leadership skills. An exemplary role model, Jim exhibited caring for the environment while supporting many scout outings and Eagle projects including projects for the American Legion Post 675 and the Aurora AMVETS, among others. Ever altruistic, Jim, with his calm charisma, guided as part of a team of adult leaders, many Scouts to achieve distinguished honors as Eagle Scouts.
Jim is an executive entrepreneur with 30 years’ experience in Information Technology, Project Management, and Business Process Implementation. He manages multi-million dollar projects with oversight in all phases of business process. His specialty is manufacturing companies’ Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Quality Management implementations. His practice crosses diverse industries including: Electronics, Automotive, Chemical / Process, Plastic Packaging, Office Products and Retail, Construction Equipment, Agriculture, and Foundries / Railroad Products. Jim’s success is a result of his hands-on approach, listening to all levels of staff from factory line to C-Suite. He has crossed Illinois, the United States, and worked internationally garnering an intrinsic knowledge to negotiate and then execute complex, efficient, re-engineering of work process, new technologies and software. His talents include blending the complexities of finance incorporating conscious capitalism, worker value, and American ideals.
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We have a Federal government which is out of control. We don't have a revenue problem in Washington D.C., we have a spending problem! The America Citizen taxpayer and businesses are over taxed and over regulated. We have a Congress that creates wasteful and unnecessary regulation which serves only the government bureaucracy. My Priorities are to reign in the federal government to be in compliance with only the functions and authorities specifically enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. Eliminate laws, services, departments and agencies which have proven, time and again, to be ineffective in their mission, and a complete waste of the American taxpayer’s hard earned wages. We need to balance the budget, fix the tax code, make it flat and simple, and slash the size of the IRS. We need to Stop giving our treasury to foreign countries, crony capitalists, and end “Corporate” welfare. The current policies, starting with the "un-Affordable Care Act", are killing jobs in ILLINOIS and driving costs upon the individual American citizen taxpayers. The unconstitutional un-Affordable Care Act needs to be eliminated in its entirely. Constitutional and market based reforms need to be enacted. The "Un-Affordable Care Act" left Many Illinois households with no hope, those who have either lost health insurance or had its cost and deductables rise to unaffordable levels. I will vote to end the disaster know as Obamacare.
The United States should first and foremost on the world stage, be engaged in diplomatic efforts and military actions to protect the safety and security of the American Citizen. I support a strong military and our veterans, the Defense and Security of our nation is the Primary responsibility of our federal government.
I am Pro-Life, The videos expose’ of Planned Parenthood trafficking baby parts, which is a direct violation of federal law. I will stand for the rule of law and I will defund Planned Parenthood. It is a myth that access to medical care for women at hospitals and Crisis Pregnancy Centers would diminish without taxpayer funded PP
I have a passion and a premise that the people of the State of Illinois should have a Senator who is looking out for them and not powerful corporations or lobbyists. There are many concerns facing our nation. We need to work together to bring the original purpose of our constitution and limited government back to our great nation and return to our country's foundations of LIFE and Liberty. It is the RIGHT time to send a Senator to Washington D.C. whose first interest is the Liberty and Security of the American Citizen Taxpayer!
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