Peter James Roskam /ˈrɒskəm/ (born September 13, 1961) is an American politician and lobbyist who is the former U.S. representative for Illinois's 6th congressional district, serving six terms from 2007 to 2019.

[5][6] In the late 1980s, he served as the executive director of Educational Assistance Ltd., a scholarship program for disadvantaged children founded by his father in 1982.

[8] In 2000, he was appointed by DuPage County Republican leaders to replace the retiring Beverly Fawell[9] in the Illinois State Senate where he served until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

offenders, and was the lead sponsor of a law to maintain courts' power to hold deadbeat parents in contempt to ensure child support.

[13] Roskam sponsored an Illinois state Senate bill that would have allowed retired military and police personnel to carry concealed weapons.

[16] In November 2006, Roskam expressed opposition to raising the national minimum wage from $5.15 per hour, referring to possible effect on small businesses.

[17] In November 2004, he voted against State Comptroller Dan Hynes's $1 billion proposal to raise taxes on cosmetic surgery to fund stem cell research.

[19][20] Roskam ran for Congress in 1998 in Illinois's 13th congressional district to replace retiring Congressman Harris W. Fawell, but lost in the Republican primary to state Representative Judy Biggert, who went on to win the general election.

[21] In 1999, at Biggert's request, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigated a mailing sent out by a political action committee (PAC), the Campaign for Working Families (CWF), in support of Roskam.

[6] Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary and faced Democrat Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, in the November general election.

The race was considered highly competitive, and was called "the nation's most-watched congressional contest" by Eric Krol of the Daily Herald.

[32] Roskam defeated Democratic nominee Michael Mason, a retired postal manager, by a 34% margin in the 2014 general election.

He and Arizona Democrat Gabby Giffords were periodically interviewed together on NPR's All Things Considered during their first term as to their experiences as freshmen members of Congress.

[55] FiveThirtyEight ranked Roskam as the tenth-most partisan Trump supporter in the House when compared to his district's voting patterns.

[65][66] In his first year in Congress, Roskam secured "more than $50 million federal dollars…to expand health care facilities and programs and improve traffic congestion."

[74] According to a direct mailing by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Roskam will protect Social Security by opposing any plans that reduce benefits.

[81] In 2010, he signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any global warming legislation that would raise taxes.

[83][84] Roskam voted to express "congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to 'Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services'" – the measure passed in a 215–205 decision on March 28, 2017.

[86] In March 2007, Roskam announced a $3 million Department of Energy grant to the Des Plaines–based Gas Technology Institute (GTI).

[87] In June 2007, Roskam supported a bill (H. R. 2619) to authorize $2.5 million per year for 2009–2011 to establish and operate an ethanol anti-idling power unit research program.

[89] Later, Roskam voted against legislation boosting automobile fuel economy requirements to an industry average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

According to the Baltimore Sun, "The plan mixes conservation and alternative fuel production with aggressive domestic energy exploration, including drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and opening vast swaths of land to oil shale development.

Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and suspend the entry of foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, Roskam said the "implementation was bumpy" but that he supported "the underlying theme.

"[109] In July 2010, Roskam and Mike Quigley introduced a House resolution condemning Iranian textbooks that "applaud martyrdom and contain anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and anti-Western passages aimed at radicalizing students.

"[111] In 2016, Roskam opposed the Treasury Department's grant of a license to Airbus and Boeing to deliver planes contracted for by Iran Air.

[115][116] Roskam cited an article published by The New York Times, which accused Qatar's emir of pledging $400 million in financial aid to Hamas in October 2012.

They also asked for a detailed accounting of public and private financing from within Qatar for Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the al-Nusra Front.

"[120] In February 2017, Roskam led a bipartisan House delegation that visited Kosovo to reiterate American support for that country.

[122] In July 2019, Roskam joined the Chicago office of law firm Sidley Austin, which has a large Washington presence, as a partner in the government strategies group.

"[124] In January 2023, Roskam was named federal policy head of the lobbying practice at Washington, DC–based law firm BakerHostetler.