For the first time in more than a decade, a Republican will chair an Illinois House committee.
Rep. Dan Swanson, R-Alpha, received the call from Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, earlier this month that he was tapped to head the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Swanson said the appointment was a “total surprise.”
“(The Speaker) called me and said I’d like to offer you the chairmanship of the veterans committee,” he said. “And I paused. I was so caught off guard, I actually sank down to my feet, just overwhelmed with emotions.”
Welch cited Swanson’s 27-year military background.
“As a veteran, Representative Swanson has served our country with honor and distinction, and I know he will bring the same solemn sense of duty to leading a bipartisan Veterans Affairs Committee,” Welch said in a statement last week.
Swanson is a retired lieutenant colonel with the United State Army and Illinois Army National Guard. He was in active duty for 20 years with the Illinois Army National Guard from 1980 to 2001, toured in Iraq from 2007 to 2008 and earned the Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge. He was recalled back to active duty from 2010 to 2013 with the Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island Arsenal.
He said he quickly accepted Welch’s offer to chair the committee.
Rep. Dan Swanson is pictured. (Photo provided)
“And I said ‘sir, I’d be honored. I’d be honored to do that. I’d be honored to serve as chairman of the Veterans committee, serving Illinois veterans and veterans throughout the district,’” he said.
Democrats have held a majority in the Illinois House since the mid-1990s, making it rare for a member of the minority Republican Party to chair a committee. Former Rep. Don Moffitt of Galesburg chaired the House Fire Protection Committee in 2010.
Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, previously chaired the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Personnel & Pensions Committee. This year, she’ll serve as vice-chair on Veterans’ Affairs and will chair the appropriations committee on personnel and pensions.
Rep. Dan Swanson is pictured in a tower in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo provided)
Although she said she doesn’t know why Welch made the change, she said Swanson, “is certainly an ally of our veterans.”
“He’s a staunch advocate for our veterans, as am I, and I look forward to working with him on the committee,” Kifowit, a Marine Corps veteran, said in an interview. “And he is somebody who has a distinguished military career and has always been fighting for veterans to be put in charge of Veterans’ Affairs.”
In the legislature, Swanson has been a frequent sponsor of bills pertaining to local fire departments and emergency services and has worked to ensure insurance coverage for people suffering from Lyme disease. He said that he is looking forward to working with members of the committee and getting things accomplished.
“I’ve got 27 ½ years, I’ve been a veteran for many, many years, having left the military on several different occasions and retiring. So, I’ve got a background of what veterans need and what our expectations are,” Swanson said. “We’ve got some great laws already on the books. But, certainly, there’s always things we can tweak.”
Rep. Dan Swanson is pictured in his “battle rattle” gear at Besmaya training site in Iraq. (Photo provided)
He also joked that the committee might look a little different this year.
“As a commander when I was in the military, if soldiers came late to my meetings, I required them to do pushups,” Swanson said. “In my first meeting I’m going to say, ‘when the hour of two o’clock or that time has come, if you’re not here, we’re going to do pushups. So be on time.’”
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