Meet Don

Congressman Don Manzullo was born in Rockford, IL on March 24, 1944 to Frank and Catherine Manzullo. In 1962, he graduated from Auburn High School in Rockford and went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree at American University (1967) and his Juris Doctor at Marquette University (1970).

Don and Freda Manzullo were married in 1982 and are the proud parents of Neil (24), Noel (22), and Katie (19). In December of 2007, they welcomed Beth into their family when she and Neil married.

In 1992, Don won his first elected office – the U.S. House of Representatives. Since that time, it has been his honor to serve the people of the 16th Congressional District of Illinois, which includes the counties of Winnebago, Boone, Stephenson, JoDaviess, Ogle, Carroll, the majority of McHenry County and parts of DeKalb and Whiteside counties.

In the 110th Congress, he sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he is the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment and a member of the Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. He continues to serve on the Financial Services Committee, where he sits on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises and the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology.

Congressman Manzullo is continuing his mission to strengthen manufacturing in America and create good-paying jobs for the people of northern Illinois and throughout our nation. As the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, Manzullo continues his work to level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers competing in the global marketplace. As Chairman of the U.S.-China Interparliamentary Exchange from 1999 to 2006, Manzullo continually engaged China’s leaders on the country’s unfair trade practices, including currency manipulation, piracy and illegal business subsidies. Manzullo continues to co-chair the 80-member House Manufacturing Caucus, which he founded in 2003. Manzullo is also a member of the Council on Competitiveness’ Steering Committee to the National Innovation Initiative, and he chairs the House Republican Policy Committee Task Force on Manufacturing.

As Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Small Business from 2001 to 2006, Manzullo held more than 60 hearings on the state of manufacturing in America and introduced numerous pieces of legislation to make U.S. companies more competitive so they can expand and create jobs. Manzullo earned the reputation as Congress’ champion of manufacturing and a fierce advocate for job creation in northern Illinois. His “Agenda to Restore Manufacturing in America” outlines 17 priorities to preserve U.S. manufacturing and put Americans back to work. The plan’s highlights include providing tax relief to companies that keep jobs in America; forcing China and the other East Asian countries to stop manipulating their currencies to give themselves an unfair cost advantage over American companies; requiring the federal government to comply with Buy American laws; preserving America’s Defense Industrial Base; reducing the surging cost of health care; and many others.

One of the priorities in the plan, encouraging job creation in America, was accomplished in October 2004 when President Bush signed into law the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which provides a 9 percent tax deduction for manufacturing production in the United States. Manzullo led the fight in Congress to include the domestic manufacturing benefits, which keep jobs in America, and to share them with small businesses.