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Quigley noted that investing in transportation infrastructure pays dividends. He said that 6 percent of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed in the “depths of the economic downturn” involved such infrastructure projects, but they generated two-thirds of the jobs the Act produced.

“As the nation’s rail hub, nowhere are investments in safety technology more crucial than in Chicago. Yet, commuter railroads like Metra lack the funding necessary to ensure new safety technologies, like positive train control, are implemented the right way,” Quigley said. “Reauthorizing the Rail Safety Technology Grant program will provide the critical funding and support needed for commuter railroads around the country to modernize their infrastructure and keep their passengers safe.”

“Increasing international travel opportunities and updating visa travel protocol will drive tourism dollars to cities across the country, including Chicago, which welcomed more than one million overseas visitors in 2013,” Quigley added. “Now is the time to pass the JOLT Act and modernize the Visa Waiver Program specifically, strengthening our national security and enhancing relationships with important allies like Poland.”

"As an active member of the Equality Caucus since I was elected to Congress, it has been an honor to advocate for the LGBT community on issues ranging from marriage equality and immigration reform to blood donation policies and ENDA," said Quigley. "I look forward to furthering my efforts in this new capacity as vice chair to ensure all LGBT Americans have equal access to the rights and benefits they deserve."

“Supreme Court justices should welcome the opportunity to open the court to the American people. With real-time access to arguments, Americans can see and hear the entire story and make their own decisions with the full context of what the justices are hearing and deciding,” Quigley added.

Malik, who lives in the impoverished, high-crime Englewood neighborhood on the South Side with his mother and two sisters, had only one wish this year when he participated in a local charity’s annual Letters to Santa program. It wasn’t electronics, nor clothes, nor games. “All I ask for is for safety. I just wanna be safe,” Malik wrote earlier this month.

"Today's official policy change by the FDA on blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM) from a lifetime ban to one-year deferral is disappointing. A time-based deferral focusing solely on men who have sex with men is still discriminatory and fails to exclude donors based on actual risk factors."

Your Getting Around reporter recently sat down with Quigley, whose district includes much of Chicago's North Side, the area around O'Hare International Airport and several western suburbs.