Electoral History of Jesse Jackson, Jr. - U.S. House of Representatives - Tenure

Tenure

Jackson quickly built a track record of never missing a floor vote. Once he nearly missed his great-grandmother's funeral for a roll call, but the presiding officer was able to slightly delay the closing the roll, thereby keeping his attendance record. Fellow Democrats said he debates and votes with a contentiousness that makes it difficult to view him as a team player. Jackson developed foes not only in the House, but also in Chicago against William Daley, who had a hand in several attempts to block Jackson's seating on the transportation committee he desired because of his support for a third Chicago airport. Jackson has also been a target of conservative media figures.

Jackson established a heavily liberal voting record on both social and fiscal issues. During the 1990s, because of his name recognition and liberal track record, Jackson received many public speaking and media requests.

After being elected, Jackson attempted to parlay his popularity into a seat on the United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, using the leverage of his ability to perform voter registration drives.

In the 1996 elections, Jackson began to rival his father as a requested visitor to congressional districts with 36 requests from congressional colleagues. He was typically sent on the "black circuit" without any notification to the press when he campaigned for other candidates. Jackson made 30 appearances for Democratic congressional candidates in 1998.

Jackson had some controversial interactions with Jewish leaders in his early years in office. In 1996, his message of unity and cooperation with the Jews was met with skepticism. In 1997, Jackson was criticized for stating simple disagreement with anti-Semitic remarks made by Louis Farrakhan while he was in New York City for the mayoral race; Jewish leaders were unsatisfied by Jackson's response to Farrakhan.

In 1997, Newsweek mentioned Jackson in their list of 100 people to watch in the new century, dubbed "the Century Club", and raised the question of whether he would be the first black president.

Jackson criticized the Bill Clinton administration for working with Republicans and voted in dissent on several notable bills that were the products of compromise between Democrats and Republicans.

Jackson preferred direct aid and debt relief to trade reform as a method of helping impoverished nations such as those of sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean Basin, fearing that relaxed trade regulations would possibly benefit corporations and exploit labor. He is also an opponent of incentives for corporations to invest in developing nations. He was outspoken on issues of minority hiring in information technology.

Jackson voted against the impeachment of Bill Clinton, voting against all four articles of impeachment considered by the House.

In late 2000, as word spread that President-elect George W. Bush intended to appoint both Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and a third unnamed black to the United States Cabinet, Jackson sought to prevent blacks from supporting Bush as Bush planned to reach out to blacks.

Jackson partnered with Republican Henry Hyde to push for a third Chicago airport. Jackson said Hyde was the right wing complement to his own left wing role in pursuing support for the airport. Jackson has withheld support for local Democrats who would not support the airport, such as 1998 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Glenn Poshard.

In 2004, Jackson supported the Ho-Chunk tribe's proposal for a casino within his district in Lynwood, Illinois. The proposal was to build the largest casino in the state as part of an entertainment complex.

In 2005, Jackson sponsored a bill for the creation and acquisition of a life-size statue of Rosa Parks to be placed in Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol. The bill approving the funding for the statue was signed by President Bush on December 1, 2005.

Jackson was active in funding AIDS service organizations that serve blacks through Congress.

After the 2004 elections, Jackson became vocal in supporting election reform, disliking the way election rules differ across jurisdictions, saying that the U.S. "is founded on the constitutional foundation of 'states' rights'—50 states, 3,067 counties and 13,000 different election jurisdictions, all separate and unequal." He was one of 31 members of the House who voted not to count the electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 presidential election. He also proposed legislation for uniform voting standards that was supported by black leaders.

Jackson and Zach Wamp were spokespersons for the changing the name of the main hall of the United States Capitol Visitor Center from the Great Hall to Emancipation Hall. The Library of Congress's main hall was already designated Great Hall. Some had wanted further feedback on naming possibilities, but the United States House Committee on Appropriations approved the new name, and it passed the House.

Jackson was one of the liberal leaders who supported a fixed timetable for Iraq troop withdrawals. In 2007, he has also co-sponsored (along with Roy Blunt), legislation providing nearly $1 million dollars to each family that lost someone to the al-Qaida activities in the 1998 United States embassy bombings.

In 2007 Jackson voiced an interest in initiating impeachment proceedings against President Bush for "crimes against the Constitution of the United States."

In March 2011, Jackson attracted ridicule for a speech he made on the House floor proposing a constitutional amendment for "equal education rights", which he illustrated by proposing that every student in America receive an iPad from the federal government. In April 2011, Jackson spoke on the house floor, blaming the iPad for "eliminating thousands of American jobs."

In the February 27, 2007 Chicago municipal elections, Jackson's wife, Sandi Jackson, won the election for Alderman in Chicago's 7th ward.

Jackson gave a prime-time speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention on August 25, 2008. During his speech he referenced Martin Luther King, Jr., stating, "I'm sure that Dr. King is looking down on us here in Denver noting this is the first political convention in history to take place within sight of a mountain top." Jackson said, "I know Barack Obama. I've seen his leadership at work. I've seen the difference he has made in the lives of people across Illinois." At the convention, Jackson started what was described as a "hugfest" in an attempt to unite the Illinois Democratic party, which had been squabbling internally. He started by hugging Bobby Rush (who had been upset that Jackson's wife was being positioned for Rush's seat when Rush had been ill earlier in the year) and then he hugged Debbie Halvorson, who as been at odds with him over the proposed airport. He then asked if anyone else was mad at him. At this point Mayor Daley jumped up to hug Jackson. Jackson then said "I'm not going to be satisfied until I see Rod Blagojevich give Mike Madigan a hug."

Before the entire Congress was charged with seeking a solution to the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and overall economic crisis of 2008, Jackson proposed that the United States Department of Agriculture increase the allotment of food stamps. During the congressional debates on a federal bailout, Jackson worried about the viability of various plan iterations to his constituents. Although only two years earlier he spoke of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in glowing terms, he could not support the late-September version of the legislation she was proposing because he felt it contained inadequate homeowner protections. Although he voted against the bill on September 29, 2008 he voted in support of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 on October 3, 2008. He later expressed concerns in a New York Times op-ed article about the implications that the eventual bill had on enfranchisement due to the lack of protections for homeowners as it relates to voting rights.

Jackson sponsored legislation to make the Pullman District a National Park Service jurisdiction. On April 21, 2012, Jackson held a symbolic groundbreaking for the proposed third airport.