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D.C. and District Talk
· Five Member Delegation trip to Iraq

This week I led a delegation of five Members of Congress to travel to Iraq. While there we met with soldiers from Illinois, Iraqi officials and Iraqi soldiers. We were there to talk with each of them, to determine what was going on in Iraq and to see what is still needed to help accomplish the goal of a free and democratic Iraq. It was amazing to see the spirit of the troops and their conviction in achieving all of our goals. We left on Tuesday from Washington DC and were in Iraq until Friday. Joining me on the trip were Rep. Bill Shuster www.house.gov/shuster [PA], Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee www.jacksonlee.house.gov [TX], Rep. Bill Pascrell www.house.gov/pascrell [NJ] and Rep. Todd Platts www.house.gov/platts [PA]. I think this was a great opportunity for us to get a first hand look at how much we have accomplished and how we need to continue our fight to bring freedom and democracy to this area of the world. You can not see our men and women in uniform and not be proud of the work they are doing. Our prayers and wishes for a quick and safe return go out to them and their families waiting here at home.

Constituent Corner
· Jobs Creation Act has tremendous benefits for Illinois

On October 7th the House passed the Jobs Creation Act 280-141. That was followed up by a vote of 69-17 vote for the bill in the Senate. The bill is expected to be signed into law by the President very soon.

Over the next six years, Illinois should see almost $2 billion in additional funding as a result of changes to the Highway Trust Fund and the tax structure regarding gasoline and ethanol. The American Road Builders Association www.arbta.org estimates that for every $1 billion spent on roads, 47,500 jobs are created. In Illinois, that means close to an additional 90,000 jobs would be created.

In addition, the legislation includes a 50-cent biodiesel mixture tax credit ($1 for biodiesel made from soybeans). A study completed in 2001 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture www.usda.gov found that an average annual increase of equivalent of 200 million gallons of soy-based biodiesel demand would boost total crop cash receipts by $5.2 billion cumulatively by 2010. The tax credit will increase the value of Illinois’ soybean crop by $150 million per year. The price for a bushel of soybeans would increase by an average of 17 cents annually during the ten-year period. The Illinois Soybean Association www.ilsoy.org believes that the combination of the state biodiesel tax credit, the federal tax credit and the Renewable Fuel Standard will create 7,600 new jobs in Illinois.

· New Head Start grant in the 19th District

I am pleased to announce two grants for southern Illinois through the United States Department of Health and Human Services www.hhs.gov . The Wabash Area Development, Inc., will be receiving $1,238,553 and the Embarras River Basin Agency will receive $753,607.

As a parent and former teacher, I know that children need to begin developing their learning skills at an early age. These skills are necessary in order to obtain a quality education. Head Start www2.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/hsb/ is a program that provides a boost to pre-school age children in order to ensure a bright future for our youth.

Wabash Area Development, Inc., based in Enfield, offers Head Start programming for children from birth to age 5 in Edwards, Gallatin, Hamilton, Saline, Wabash, Wayne and White Counties. The funding covers fully-year programs for part-day students, handicapped students, and training assistance. This grant covers the period from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005.

The Greenup-based Embarras River Basin Agency offers Head Start programs in Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Jasper, Lawrence and Richland Counties for three, four and five year olds. This grant also covers full-year programs for part-day students, handicapped students, and training and technical assistance from April 1, 2004 to March 31, 2005. Congratulations to both of these great programs. This is great news for our children throughout the 19th District.

· New State Program That Helps Illinois Businesses Save Energy!

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/, the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium (GHPC), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Building Research Council (BRC) encourage all Illinois industry members to take advantage of a new exciting business opportunity in the State of Illinois. Two informational meetings will be held to explain the new program and how your business can participate. The events will be held on Thursday, October 21 at 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Holiday Inn Collinsville. It is located at 1000 Eastport Plaza Drive in Collinsville, (618) 304-5004.

Among the days’ presenters are representatives from DCEO, GHPC, and BRC, and other notable members of the industry. They are all slated to discuss the State of Illinois’ new energy program, the Small Business $mart Energy Program (SB$E) http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/com/energy/meepandsbsep2.html#register, a new program designed to reduce the cost of doing business in the state through improved energy efficiency. These events will provide an overview of the program and describe in detail where business opportunities exist. I encourage all, including (but not limited to) architects, engineers, energy services companies, manufacturers and distributors, drillers, loopers, and installers to take advantage of this great opportunity.

· Open Office Hours

As part of my ongoing effort to make myself as accessible to my constituents as possible, I will be holding Open Office Hours in several cities next week. I encourage you to drop by and share your problems and concerns with me. Appointments are not required, though they are appreciated in order to give me time to adequately address your concerns. If you would like to make one, please call (618) 252-8271.

Here are the locations and time: I will be in Sangamon County on Monday October 18th from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm in Chatham. I will be located at the Chatham Municipal Building at 117 East Mulberry St. Then on Thursday, October 21 in I’ll be in Johnson County. From 9:30 am till 11:00 am I will be available at the City Hall Meeting Room, 205 North 4th Street in Vienna. Finally on Tuesday October 26th I will be Marion County at my Centralia office. I will be there from 10:00 am till 11:30 am. My Centralia office is located at 221 East Broadway, Suite 102. I look forward to seeing and helping everyone that shows up.

For more information on Open Office Hours, please visit my web page at <www.house.gov/shimkus/openoff.htm>. Hope you drop by and chat with me!

Anticipated Action on the House Floor Next Week

The House is currently in recess and is expected to return to legislative business on November 16th.

There is a chance that the House and the Senate will reconvene over the next few weeks if a compromise is worked out on implementing the 9-11 Commission’s recommendations to enhance our intelligence capabilities.

The following story about the intelligence overhaul appeared in Congress Daily AM on October 12, 2004

Intelligence - Conferees Named For Intelligence Overhaul Negotiations
Senate Majority Leader Frist and Minority Leader Daschle named their conferees Monday for the upcoming negotiations on legislation to overhaul intelligence-gathering agencies and the
House was expected to formally appoint its negotiating team. Senate sources said they expect negotiations to continue through the coming weeks, and there is still a possibility that both
houses will be called back later this month if a conference agreement can be reached. Frist Monday told reporters he expects to decide by Wednesday what the schedule will be for considering the legislation. Frist named Senate Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Collins, along with GOP Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Mike DeWine of Ohio and Trent Lott of Mississippi. The Democratic conferees will be Governmental Affairs ranking member Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Richard Durbin of Illinois, John (Jay)
Rockefeller of West Virginia, Bob Graham of Florida and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.

House Republican leaders today released and then withdrew a statement listing as conferees Intelligence Chairman Hoekstra, Armed Services Chairman Hunter, International Relations Chairman Hyde, Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner and Rules Chairman Dreier. The Democrats are Democratic Caucus Chairman Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Intelligence ranking member Jane Harman of California and Armed Services ranking member Ike Skelton of Missouri.

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

Did You Know?

· Lincoln Presidential Library finally opens

On Thursday The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library finally opened its doors to the public. The building is now the home of the Illinois State Historical Library, which includes over 47,000 Lincoln artifacts. Now that it has opened I encourage everyone to go out and visit Lincoln Library in Springfield. For more information please visit: http://www.alincoln-library.com/Apps/default.asp

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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