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The 2004 Capitol Christmas Tree

For more information on the history of this year’s tree please visit

http://www.c-span.org/questions/weekly83.asp

Constituent Corner

· White House Christmas 2004 on HGTV

HGTV will be replaying their “White House Christmas” special on several dates prior up to Christmas. The decorations are always beautiful and it is a fun program to watch with your family. For more information visit http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/spcl_prsntn/episode/.

You can also visit the White House Holiday website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/. The theme for this year’s decorations was “Holiday Songs” and there are many creative and beautiful decorations throughout the White House honoring our favorite holiday tunes. A very fun website to check out – I would recommend it!

· Ceremonies Commemorate 60th Anniversary of Battle of Bulge

Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, a turning point in World War II and one of the bloodiest battles of the entire war. The U.S. lost 19,000 young men who gave their lives to fight for their country. Speaker Denny Hastert represented the U.S. Congress and joined citizens of both Luxembourg and Belgium joined veterans who fought at the Battle of the Bulge yesterday at the site of the battle and remembered those that had had not made it out alive. The Department of Defense has an article describing the ceremony which can be located here: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2004/n12162004_2004121614.html. For more information on the history of the battle please visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bulge/.

· Operation Phone Home

I wanted to bring everyone’s attention to an important program being run by the USO. As you might imagine, it is very expensive to call back to the States for our soldiers. The USO is working hard to donate phone cards to our soldiers serving overseas so they can call loved ones back home over the holidays. For more information on this important program please visit http://www.uso.org/pubs/8_20_2733.cfm.

Anticipated Action on the House Floor Next Week

· On January 4th, 2005 the 109th Congress will reconvene to swear in the newly elected and reelected members of the House and Senate. For more information on the freshmen class of the House of Representatives please visit: http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/2004/new_members_109th.pdf/.

· In addition, the Majority Whip http://majoritywhip.house.gov/ Congressman Roy Blunt of Missouri, has announced the legislative calendar for 2005. You may access the calendar at http://majoritywhip.house.gov/calendar.

· 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?

· “Barney Cam - The Hunt for Miss Beazley” is Released!

Once again the White House staff has come together to put together another ‘Barney Cam’ video. It features the President and Mrs. Bush, Karl Rove, Scott McClellan, and of course the Bush family dog, Barney! Always fun for kids and my staff always enjoys them as well. You can view the video here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/ and look on the right hand side of the page for all of the Barney Cam videos.

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.

And finally I wanted to wish all of you a Happy Holiday from me and my staff. We look forward to working with all of you in the New Year!

Sincerely,

Congressman John Shimkus

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