CREF Track Session 5: Remarks from Representative Bill Foster (D-IL)

Senior Vice President, Legislative and Political Affairs, Mortgage Bankers Association

Bill Killmer is Senior Vice President for Legislative and Political Affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). A veteran of over three decades in the housing arena, Bill joined MBA in 2010 and is responsible for managing the real estate finance industry's federal legislative, grassroots, and political fundraising activities, in close coordination with the MBA member leadership and its public policy, economics, public affairs, and lobbying teams. He oversees MBA's direct outreach to Congress, and is a regular guest speaker on the intersection of politics, policy, and industry issues. Under Killmer's leadership, grassroots participation through MBA's Mortgage Action Alliance has doubled, while donations to MORPAC, the industry's political action committee, have more than tripled, enhancing the association's ability to develop and execute effective advocacy strategies on the industry's behalf. Killmer came to MBA after nearly 20 years in the policy space at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), where he last served as Executive Vice President for Advocacy, managing all aspects of the group's public policy outreach. During his tenure at both organizations, he has been named as a Washington trade association "Top Lobbyist" by publications such as The Hill and CEO Update. He previously served as a Senior Legislative Officer for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor during the George H.W. Bush administration. Killmer holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (BBA), with a concentration in Finance, from Baylor University.

Representative, U.S. House of Representatives

Congressman Bill Foster is a businessman representing Illinois’s 11th District since 2013, and previously the 14th District from 2008 to 2011. He is the only PhD physicist in Congress. Foster serves on the House Financial Services Committee, where he works on consumer protection and economic reforms, and is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions. He also serves on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, championing evidence based policy and strong federal support for scientific research. In the 118th Congress, he was appointed to the House Bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and served on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus, examining the federal response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Before Congress, Foster cofounded Electronic Theatre Controls at age 19, now a leading manufacturer of theater lighting equipment. He later worked as a high energy physicist at Fermilab, contributing to the discovery of the top quark and leading major accelerator and detector projects.