U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (McCormick ’83, Kellogg ’88) is currently in his sixth term representing Illinois’ 10th Congressional District as a member of the Democratic Party.

Schneider earned both his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering at NU and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. Before holding public office, he worked as a business advisor and owned a life insurance company. The Daily talked with Schneider as he reflected on his time at NU and shared insights into his role in Congress.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

The Daily: What initially inspired you to run for Congress?

Schneider: Fifteen years ago, the country faced a lot of problems. I looked at the world, and I looked at the challenges we had, and I looked at our Congress that did not seem to be up to the challenge, and I thought I could do better, so I ran.

The Daily: How do you feel  your previous experience, especially your degree in industrial engineering and your MBA, influence how you approach your role in Congress?

Schneider: As an engineer, you try to understand cause and effect. That’s basically what any kind of engineering is: understanding how things relate to each other. I was an advisor to business, so I was coming into a situation where I was hired to help solve a problem but didn’t necessarily have authority by title or ownership. I had to work with people to convince them to understand what the challenges were to build common understanding, then convince them to work together to tackle those problems.

The Daily: What part of the NU experience was the most important or had the biggest impact on you, both personally and professionally?

Schneider: I think all of it. My first year was hard, the adjustment of being away from home, and I took until sophomore year to catch my stride. My junior and senior year, I was a resident advisor in the dorm. That was a great responsibility. My studies were important to me. I was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. I was there for the streak, losing 34 consecutive football games (between 1979 and 1982). That showed me that even in the darkest of times, you can still have a nice time on a Saturday afternoon at the football stadium.

The Daily: You are part of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Tell me about that.

Schneider: Ways and Means is the oldest committee in Congress. Our job is to provide the ways and the means to do everything else Congress does. We’re responsible for revenues, including tariffs and taxes. Just as an aside, it’s Congress that’s supposed to be setting tariffs, not the president, so we’re fighting the administration to reclaim our responsibilities and authorities on that. Foreign Affairs is making sure that the United States is engaged with the world, protecting our people and our interests around the world and here at home.

The Daily: What piece of legislation did you work on that you are particularly proud of?

Schneider: I can point back to during COVID: the CARES Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Those have a major and significant impact on communities all across the country: fixing roads and bridges, investing in rural broadband, all things that, sadly, the Republicans and President Trump are trying to undo.

One of the things I’m most proud of is that in North Chicago we have a naval base, Naval Station Great Lakes, that trains every single sailor that comes into the Navy. There’s an elementary school there where the kids couldn’t drink out of the water fountain because of lead. They couldn’t replace ceiling tiles when they fell out because of asbestos. We got $57 million to help build a new school that should open up next September. The progress being made there (wouldn’t have happened) if I (didn’t) have a good relationship with the administration at that time — the secretary of Navy — and brought him to the school and showed him what we needed.

The Daily: What do you consider the most important challenge facing the U.S. today?

Schneider: The first challenge is protecting who we are, the vision we have for our country as initially established by our founders. The Declaration of Independence starts with “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all (men) are created equal.” That’s being challenged by the president and the people around him, and (so is) the preamble to the Constitution — working “to form a more perfect union.” We’re not perfect yet, but the president and the people around him are trying to dismantle the Constitution and undermine the rule of law.

The Daily: What advice would you have to current NU students who are interested in a future in politics?

Schneider: Stay engaged no matter what path you go down. I’ve had the chance to do a lot of different things. I loved all those opportunities, and no matter what I did, my first priority was always my family. I always stayed involved in my community and the issues surrounding both where we lived. We raised our family in Deerfield and the bigger communities of Illinois and the United States as a whole. Stay involved. Stay interested.

Email: [email protected]

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