---

Shown with Congressman Rob Simmons of Connecticut

HydroGen3 Fuel Cell Vehicle

Last Thursday, General Motors brought four of its Hydrogen3 fuel cell vehicles to Capitol Hill to give Members of Congress the opportunity to learn more about this advanced technology. Along with 14 other Members of Congress, I took GM up on the offer to personally test drive these hydrogen powered vehicles. General Motors HydroGen3 vehicles, a bit smaller than a standard sized mini-van, run on a fuel cell propulsion system with water vapor as its only emission. Over the years, interest in hydrogen fuel and fuel cells has grown substantially – I was proud to support the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which authorizes Research and Development funding for hydrogen fuel and fuel cells. The Hydrogen Economy is an important component to diversifying our domestic fuel sources, decreasing our reliance on foreign oil.

To learn more about this technology and others in development, please visit www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/400_fcv/fact_sheets.html.

Constituent Corner

· * Attention Mayors and County Officials *

Please show your support for the President’s FutureGen Initiative. FutureGen is an initiative to build the world’s first integrated sequestration and hydrogen production research power plant. The $1 billion project is intended to create the world’s first zero-emissions fossil fuel plant. When operational, the prototype will be the cleanest fossil fuel fired power plant in the world.

I have been working closely with my colleague, Congressman Jerry Costello, to let the Department of Energy know that Illinois, because of our coal resources and geographical features, is the best place to locate such a plant. To show your city or county’s support, please fill out the document located at http://www.house.gov/shimkus/Futuregenresolution.pdf, and mail it back to my Springfield office at 3130 Chatham Road, Suite C, Springfield, IL 62704.

To learn more about the FutureGen project, please visit www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/futuregen/.

· IRS Tax Refunds

I have recently found out that more than 3100 Illinois Residents have still not received their 2004 federal tax refunds.

Their annual review showed that 3133 Illinois taxpayers are due federal tax refunds totaling almost $2.3 million, each check averaging $731. These refunds were returned to the IRS as “undeliverable.”

There are people in our area of Illinois who haven’t received their refunds and I would like to point them to the IRS website, www.irs.gov. Please click on “Where’s My Refund” to see if you have an undelivered refund.

· Fire Grant Awarded

I am happy to announce another community in our district receiving funding from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This money comes from the 2005 Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program administered by the DHS Office for Domestic Preparedness in Cooperation with the United States Fire Administration.

The New Douglas Fire Protection District will receive $57,511 for operations and safety. These grants may be used for training, equipment, wellness and fitness, and modifications to fire stations and facilities.

For more information on this grant, please visit www.firegrantsupport.com.

· American Education Week

Next week, November 13 – 19, 2005, is American Education Week. Also, Thursday November 17 is Education Support Professionals Day. During this week, we thank everyone involved in education, from the students, to the teachers and counselors, to everyone else who keep our schools clean and safe.

I would like to personally thank everyone for making our education system the one of the best in the world. For more information on American Education Week, please visit www.nea.org/aew/index.html or at the Department of Education at www.ed.gov.

Legislative Week in Review

· The following bills were passed by the House of Representatives this week:

o H.R. 1973 – Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Rep. Blumenauer – House International Relations)

o Adoption of Conference Report on H.R. 2419 – Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2006 (Rep. Jim Kolbe – House Appropriations)

o S. 1894 – Fair Access Foster Care Act of 2005 (Sen. James Inhofe – House Ways and Means)

o Adoption of Conference Repot on H.R. 2862 – Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Rep. Frank Wolf – House Appropriations)

o H.R. 1751 – Secure Access to Justice and Court Protection Act of 2005 (Rep. Louie Gohmert – House Judiciary)

· To keep up to date on legislation as it moves through the legislative process please visit http://thomas.loc.gov and type in the bill number.

Anticipated Action on the House Floor Next Week

· Congress will be in session from Tuesday through Friday of next week.

· Keep an eye on the Office of the Clerk’s web site for upcoming legislation: http://clerk.house.gov/legisAct/index.html. This site provides up-to-date information on House legislative schedules.

Did You Know?

· Veterans Day

Tomorrow, Friday, November 11, is Veterans Day. We thank past, present, and future veterans for all that they and their families have done and will do for our nation. Our military has fought for the rights of our nation and for that of so many other nations so that we may share our freedoms throughout the world.

Remember to thank those servicemen and servicewomen who have fought so hard for all of us. Tomorrow is the day of recognition, but we give our thanks to these individuals every day.

For more on veterans please visit my website at www.house.gov/shimkus.

Also, the Library of Congress has the Veterans History Project, which provides a website where one can hear the stories of our veterans and others at www.loc.gov/vets.

Thank you for the interest in my newsletter! Remember to tell your friends about it as well--they can sign up on my web page at http://www.house.gov/shimkus.

Sincerely,

Congressman John Shimkus

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This electronic newsletter is a weekly publication sent to all interested constituents. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please send a message to shimkus.il19@mail.house.gov and put UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject Line, and we will remove you from the mailing list.

Please do not reply to this e-mail for any other reason; instead, visit http://www.house.gov/shimkus/emailme.shtml to contact me.