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Last Tuesday, as mentioned in last week's Electronic Newsletter, I introduced legislation (H.R. 5453) that would extend the alternative fuel tax credits to liquid fuel derived from coal. The press conference that was held to introduce the legislation is available in both video and text format through the Illinois Channel's website at www.illinoischannel.org.

D.C. and District Talk

" Veterans Affairs Data
As you may know, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced last week that a laptop stolen from an employee's home contained important personal data, including names, social security numbers, and birthdates for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouse information and disability ratings. At this point, there have been no reports of any abuse of the information compromised in this data breach, and steps are being taken to ensure that this remains the case. Veterans are being encouraged to think carefully before deciding to close credit card accounts and/or freezing their credit, because these actions will result in a lengthy reversal process. Additionally, closing credit card accounts can cause damage to credit scores which can lead to an increase in loan repayment amounts.
I have signed on as a cosponsor to legislation that was introduced last week by Rep. Heather Wilson to protect veterans from costs associated with identity theft claims and recovery. The Veterans Identity Protection Act establishes a claims office and process to reimburse veterans for potential costs incurred as a result of this data breach, including court costs and legal fees. This is an important piece of legislation that would protect our veterans from the costs associated with court procedures necessary to clear their record in an identity theft case.
Once again, there have been no reports of identity theft or misuse of the stolen personal data, but it is important that we be prepared to address this issue and provide assistance to our veterans for any damages or costs incurred. For more information, visit www.firstgov.gov or contact the manned call center set up by VA at 1-800-FED INFO (333-4636) from 8 am to 9 pm, Monday through Saturday.

Constituent Corner

" Homeland Security Grant Program
The Department of Homeland Security recently released details of their FY 2006 Grant Program. The allocations announced provide for the State Homeland Security Program, the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program, and the Urban Areas Security Initiative. Under this program the State of Illinois was allocated nearly $90.5 million, which is split among the three components of the program mentioned above.

The Department of Homeland Security has broken the program down into these components to address specific issues and scenarios that may be different for one community or urban area than those that affect another community. The State Homeland Security Program allocates funding for terrorism prevention, response, and recovery for an entire state. The Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program gives assistance to preventative measures and seeks to facilitate more effective methods of communication, while the Urban Areas Security Initiative provides funding for high-density, high-threat areas.

For more information, visit the Department of Homeland Security's website at www.dhs.gov.

" E-Mail Fraud Scams
Many of us have come to rely heavily on e-mail services to stay in touch with family and friends who live across this country and in other countries around the world. Unfortunately, there are some individuals who have taken advantage of the popularity and usefulness of e-mail to spread seemingly harmless messages with harmful and illegal intentions.

I want to make you aware of one particular mail scam that has been used for quite some time, but has recently made an unfortunate come-back and is winding up in many e-mail inboxes at random. Nigerian fraud scams have been making their way around the world since the 1970's, but recently e-mail users have reported that they have received e-mails from unfamiliar individuals who request their assistance with a personal financial transaction. These fraud scams are known as "419 scams," in reference to Nigerian penal code 419, which addresses fraud.

In many incidents, victims of these scams say that they were asked to provide only their personal mailing address to enable the e-mail's sender to mail money orders from overseas to the victim's home. They were provided with instructions to cash these money orders at their bank, keep a certain percentage as their compensation for performing this task, and then mail or forward the remaining money to a specified person or location within Nigeria. After this transaction has been completed, victims later find out that the fraudulent money order has been recalled and the full amount of the money order was deducted from their personal banking accounts. If you receive a similar message, or an e-mail that seems suspicious in general, it would be best to simply delete the email without bothering to respond at all.

According to the Washington Post, tens of thousands of people are victimized by scams much like this one each year, and in the United States alone, these scams were responsible for $720 million in losses in 2005. It is disturbing that we continue to see evidence of some individuals seeking to take advantage of good-natured people who think that they are responding to someone in need of assistance with a personal matter. At the same time, it is important that we all remember that everything comes with a cost, and any proposal that promises rapid acquisition of wealth is probably too good to be true.

The Federal Trade Commission has created a website to address the issue of cross-border online fraud, by educating the public and providing instructions for reporting suspected fraud scams. This important information may be accessed by visiting www.OnGuardOnline.gov.

" AED Grant Applications
Is your organization in need of an automated external defibrillator, commonly known as an AED? A few years ago, I supported H.R. 2498, the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, which created the Rural Access to Emergency Devices (RAED) grant program. The application deadline is June 26, 2006. For more detailed information on the eligibility criteria, please visit the following link https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/SFO.asp?ID=B99FB505-4841-4B8B-A84B-96EE53BDEBDE.
If you have questions about this program, please feel free to contact Rodney Davis in my Springfield office at 217-492-5090 or rodney.davis@mail.house.gov.

" New "Traveling Help Desk" Dates
On Thursday, June 8, 2006, Jed Nelson of my Springfield district office will be available to help the residents of Equality and Galatia. In Equality, he will be at the Equality Municipal Building at 138 N. Calhoun Street from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. In Galatia, he will be at the Galatia Community Center at 210 W. Main from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
On Friday, June 16, 2006, Doug Bugger of my Collinsville district office will be available to assist the residents of Sorento and Oakdale. In Sorento, he will be at the Sorento Municipal Building at 508 Wabash from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. In Oakdale, he will be at the Oakdale Village Hall on Weigh Street from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For more information, please visit my web page at www.house.gov/shimkus/helpdesk.shtml. I hope you stop in to see us!

Legislative Week in Review

" The House of Representatives was in recess this week in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.

" 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 next week from Tuesday through Friday.
o Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for FY07
o Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act for FY07

" 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?

" Speaker of the House of Representatives
On June 1, 2006, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert became the longest-serving Speaker in the history of the House of Representatives. As the Speaker of the House, Speaker Hastert has served as not only the highest ranking member of the majority party, but has proudly and honorably represented the entire institution, regardless of party affiliation.

Speaker Hastert, who represents Illinois' 14th District, surpasses the length of service record previously set by Speaker Joe Cannon, who also represented one of Illinois' Congressional districts in the late 1800's and into the early 1900's. The Cannon House Office Building, in which my office is located, was named in honor of Speaker Joe Cannon.

To read more about the Office of the Speaker on the web, you may visit speaker.house.gov.

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

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