Roskam: GOP's "listener in chief"

The Washington Post takes a look at the "House GOP's listener in chief," Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-IL):

"I think everybody that comes to this role and this responsibility brings their own personality," Roskam said in an interview in his Capitol office last week.

Roskam, 50, is prominent in the media back home in Chicago — he sometimes serves as a guest host on a major Windy City conservative radio station. In Washington, he is active on the Ways and Means Committee, pushing one bill to permanently cap tax rates on capital gains and dividends and soon to unveil another that would root out waste and fraud in the Medicare program.

As chief deputy whip — an unelected but important slot in the leadership hierarchy — Roskam does most of his work behind closed doors. He likens his job to that of "a listener in chief."

"What I have found is that members feel a level of [comfort] telling me things that, my hunch is, they’re not saying to the speaker of the House, or they're not saying to the majority leader," Roskam said.

Technorati tags: politics news Republican Congress Illinois illinois politics dupage county peter roskam gop Congress