Former US Congressman Don Manzullo releases new book

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – A 20-year veteran of the United States Congress, Don Manzullo served Illinois 16th congressional district before Adam Kinzinger took over in 2013. But that doesn’t mean he’s stepped away from politics completely, releasing his new book “Do Nice Guys Run For Congress?” on Tuesday.

“I started writing the book about my experiences, and oh it was horrible, it was just boring, read like a legal textbook,” he told 23 News.

The book was a decade in the making. Manzullo says after countless re-writes, he’s created something that not only documents his time in Congress but answers a burning question on the minds of many Americans.

“What’s it gonna take, to bring America back together again to return civility?” He said.

Manzullo laments that in recent years, politics has become just a contest, where each party wants to win at any cost. He believes there must be a compromise to fix a problem.

“You can’t be a great nation as we are, and as many other democracies are, unless the road to it and the people who make the law and interpret them have enough knowledge and wisdom to be able to work together for the good of the people they represent, that’s what public service is about,” Manzullo said.

The Egan, Illinois resident talks a lot about the importance of reaching across the aisle, like his relationship with California congressman Sam Farr. The two fought to clear undetonated bombs used in Army training.

“I couldn’t have done it alone, but I knew what Sam had done in California, and the two of us, our two offices, worked together for ten years!” Manzullo said, “Ten years on that project, you wouldn’t know that one was democrat, one was liberal… we never voted the same on anything.”

The book is endorsed by both Republicans and Democrats. This includes Conservative Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Illinois senator Dick Durbin.

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