Bustos enters Springfield High School Hall of Fame

Congresswoman Cheri Bustos stood on the Springfield High School stage addressing students as she accepted induction into the SHS Hall of Fame. She advised the group, "There will be so many opportunities for you. The foundation built through SHS will serve you well and lead to places you may never have thought of. The foundation is starting; let it keep building, and fly from it."

Bustos, a member of Congress from the Illinois 17th Congressional District, graduated from SHS in 1979. She told the students she had taken a tour of the school. "I went by my old classrooms and my old locker, but I didn't remember the combination." She admitted she was not in Advanced Placement classes but was "a decent student." Playing volleyball and basketball throughout high school and in college "was a huge part of me," she said. "Sports taught me teamwork, caring for others, how to lose graciously and how to win graciously."

Prior to addressing the students, Bustos visited several classes. In one class she fielded the question, "How are you handling the lack of bipartisanship in Congress?" She described the ideological split in Washington as "the worst I have seen in my 10 years in Congress," but added, "I come from an area where my constituents expect me to work across the aisle, and I try to do that every day."

She said the recently approved infrastructure bill "is the biggest investment in rebuilding roads and bridges since President Eisenhower started the interstate system. Do you know of Eisenhower?" she asked. Many students nodded yes. She continued, "This bill also adds money for Amtrak and broadband. And now we need to work on the Build Back Better bill." That led to a question about how the bill would help the students. Bustos said, "We need to add universal preschool, increase teacher pay – Are any of you planning to be a teacher? We need to make sure people have affordable health care and prescriptions. All of these will help families and you as you enter the workforce."

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