Political Science: Physicist Bill Foster Heads Back to Congress If I may ... . When he was in Congress before, Bill Foster took time during a 2009 press conference at Fermilab to explain -- not ask -- how a piece of scientific equipment works. Credit: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab You can't question Bill Foster's determination. After losing his seat in the House of Representatives two years ago, the Illinois Democrat snagged a different one as he trounced seven-term House veteran Judy Biggert (R-IL) in the contest to represent the state's newly drawn 11th district . An independently wealthy businessman and a particle physicist by training, Foster worked at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois, for 22 years before leaving in 2006. When he takes office in January, he will be one of two Ph.D. physicists in Congress. [The other will be Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ), a plasma physicist who will return for his eighth term in the House.] With 3 years in Congress already under his belt, Foster is no rookie. As he prepared to head to Washington, D.C., he took time to discuss with Science Insider his priorities for the next Congress, the need for more scientists in politics, and the challenges that the scientific enterprise faces on Capitol Hill -- including sequestration, the automatic budget cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011. Here is an edited transcript of his remarks. Q: What are the big issues for science going forward in the new Congress? B.F.: I