U.S. House of Representatives (2009–present)
Elections 2009 Democratic primary in March 2009. In early 2009, incumbent U.S. Representative
Rahm Emanuel of resigned to become
White House Chief of Staff to newly elected President
Barack Obama. The congressional vacancy was filled via
the special election. Quigley was one of 12 candidates to file in the Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district. He was endorsed by the
Chicago Sun-Times, which called him "a constant advocate for fiscal responsibility and a watchdog against waste and corruption". He was also endorsed by the
Chicago Tribune, which cited Quigley's efforts to improve county government, noting, "If Quigley's ideas had all been put in place, the county would not be crying now for more money". He won the March special primary with 22% of the vote. The second-place candidate, State Representative
John Fritchey, received 18%. After the primary, Quigley won the April special election with 69% of the vote over Republican challenger Rosanna Pulido. The district and its predecessors have been in Democratic hands for all but three years since 1909.
2010 Quigley won reelection to his first full term in 2010 with 71% of the vote.
2012 After redistricting, Quigley's district was pushed into
DuPage County. The new district absorbed the home of 13th district Republican Congresswoman
Judy Biggert. But Biggert opted to run in the 11th district, the successor to the old 13th. The old 5th is only slightly less Democratic than its predecessor; Obama won the district in 2008 with 70% (down three points from the old 5th), and 2010 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee
Alexi Giannoulias carried it with 55% of the vote. No Democrat filed to run against him. Only one Republican filed, self-employed businessman Dan Schmitt.
Tenure and
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in January 2014 On July 12, 2017, Quigley introduced H. R. 2884, "The Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act (
COVFEFE Act)". The bill would require the
National Archives to preserve and store social media posts by the
President of the United States. It was referred to the
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the same day, yet saw no further congressional action. On September 30, 2023, Quigley was the sole Democrat to vote against Republican-introduced legislation to keep the U.S. government funded, citing its lack of
aid to Ukraine. Quigley voted in favor of three military aid package supplementals for
Ukraine,
Israel, and
Taiwan respectively in April 2024, along with most Democrats. Quigley voted with President
Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the
117th Congress, according to a
FiveThirtyEight analysis. On July 5, 2024, Quigley called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the
2024 United States presidential election.
Gun control In May 2011, Quigley sponsored an amendment to the
Patriot Act prohibiting the sale of weapons to people on the FBI's Terrorist Watch List. He believed that the Republican limitation of civil liberties under the
Patriot Act contradicted their unwillingness to limit
Second Amendment rights. The amendment came under fire from Representatives
James Sensenbrenner Jr. and
Louie Gohmert, who argued that it would infringe on the Second Amendment rights of those mistakenly placed on the Terrorist Watch List. The bill failed on a party-line House Judiciary panel vote, 21–11.
Environment and
Greta Thunberg in 2019 A
Sierra Club member since high school, Quigley initially joined politics because of his desire to help the environment through legislation. He has enacted this desire through supporting the
American Clean Energy and Security Act, a 2009 bill to create an emissions trading plan which passed in the
House of Representatives, but was defeated in the Senate.
Animal Welfare Quigley is an author of the Federal Bird Safe Buildings Act, which he reintroduces each Congress. The legislation would require
federal buildings to be constructed with bird-safe materials and features to reduce
bird–window collisions. The proposal mirrors legislation Quigley authored as a Cook County commissioner in 2008, the first bird-safe building legislation in the United States.
Veterans Quigley has worked to improve healthcare and education opportunities for veterans. His district office is also known to make services available to veterans whenever they need it, such as helping one veteran receive medals that he had been waiting over 20 years to receive. In 2013, Quigley introduced a bill to the House to prevent veterans from entering into debt to pay for tuition before GI benefits are received. His hope was to provide greater educational opportunities to veterans with this bill.
Abortion Quigley supports reproductive rights, and voted against banning federal health coverage for
abortions. He also supports federal funding for
family planning and
sex education, as well as creating more preventive steps to avoid unwanted pregnancies altogether. He has called for the FDA to revoke its ban on allowing blood donations from gay and bisexual men.
Committee assignments For the
119th Congress: •
Committee on Appropriations •
Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch •
Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs •
Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies •
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence •
Subcommittee on Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture • Subcommittee on Open Source Intelligence
Caucus memberships •
Congressional Equality Caucus •
Congressional Arts Caucus • Congressional Transparency Caucus •
Congressional Ukraine Caucus •
New Democrat Coalition •
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus •
U.S.–Japan Caucus •
Veterinary Medicine Caucus •
Congressional Ukrainian Caucus •
United States–China Working Group •
Rare Disease Caucus •
Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans •
Congressional Taiwan Caucus ==Chicago mayoral ambitions==