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I got a chance to meet boxing great Mohammed Ali after he testified at a hearing before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection.

D.C. and District Talk

· President Expected to Sign Tax Relief Bill
I joined my colleagues in the House of Representatives in overwhelmingly approving a bill that will ensure American families don't wake up to a major tax hike on January 1, 2005.

H.R. 1308, the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004, passed Thursday, September 23, with a bipartisan 339-65 vote. It extends family tax relief provisions through 2010, specifically marriage penalty relief, the expanded 10-percent income-tax bracket, and the $1,000 child tax credit, plus the higher 15-percent refundability rate is accelerated to the beginning of 2004. The Senate also passed the bill, which heads to the desk of President George W. Bush, who has indicated he will sign it into law.

These family relief provisions, along with Alternative Minimum Tax relief, will reduce taxes an average of $530 for 94 million taxpayers, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. The conference report extends relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax through 2005; without this provision more middle-income families will be pushed into the AMT. It also provides assistance to military families in combat zones and simplifies the tax code by creating a uniform definition of a child for tax purposes.

I fully support the President’s efforts to reduce the tax burden on American families and am proud to support this legislation. These tax cuts are responsible for improving the economy and helping businesses to rebuild from the recession of early 2000. I have historically done what I can to cut taxes and will continue to do so in the future.

Constituent Corner

· Communities Awarded Firefighter Grants

I am pleased to announce funding through the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been awarded to the Centralia Fire Department, the Cowden Fire Protection District and the Nokomis Area Fire Protection District. The money comes from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program administered by the DHS Office for Domestic Preparedness in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration.

The Centralia Fire Department will receive a Fire Prevention and Safety grant for $9,376. The Fire Prevention and Safety aspect of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program reserves the highest priority for projects focusing on the prevention of fire-related injuries to children. Many of these awards represent innovative solutions for the delivery of fire-prevention activities throughout the United States.

The Cowden Fire Protection District will receive $181,800 for a new firefighting vehicle. The grant to the Nokomis Area Fire Protection District, totaling $66,195, is for Operations and Firefighter Safety. It may be used for training, wellness and fitness, firefighting equipment, personal protective equipment, and modifications to fire stations and facilities.

As a cosponsor of the FIRE Act legislation that started these firefighters’ grants, I am pleased that local fire departments have been successful in obtaining federal funds. We have held seminars for fire districts to make sure that they file quality applications in order to improve their success in obtaining a grant.

Tragedies make us realize the importance of having trained personnel respond to accidents and disaster situations. I congratulate the chiefs and the firefighters for their efforts to maintain the safety of area residents. I hope these funds will make their jobs both safer and easier and our lives safer, too.

The Fire Prevention and Safety program is the non-competitive portion of the Assistance to Firefighters program. The grants are made available to fire departments and other organizations, especially national, state, local, and community organizations that are recognized specifically for their experience and expertise in fire prevention or safety programs and activities.

· President Announces Area of 19th District Disaster Area

President George W. Bush has recently announced his decision to declare the counties of Wabash and White in the 19th Congressional district as a major agricultural disaster area due to severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding that occurred July 3-18.

Emergency loan applications will be received through May 2, 2005, for physical and production damages. I commend the president for moving quickly to help our area.

For more information, visit the Farm Service Agency’s Disaster Assistance website at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov/fsa.asp.

· New Offender Reentry Program Grant

I am pleased to announce a supplemental grant from the United States Department of Justice for the Illinois Department of Corrections to help implement its Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) program.

We often hear that criminals just learn how to be better criminals while they are in prison. The SVORI program tries to steer them into rejoining society in a positive way. It allows grantees to coordinate on a community-wide level involving workforce development, education, housing, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and family support.

The supplemental grant, through the Office of Justice Programs, is for $17,000. It will allow representatives of the Illinois Department of Corrections to attend SVORI-sponsored training workshops.

· Petitions Submitted to the Energy Department

On September 22, 2004 Congressman Jerry Costello and I presented 10,000 petition signatures from Southern Illinois residents in support of the FutureGen clean-coal power plant to Mark Maddox, Acting Assistant Secretary in the Office of Fossil Energy, to illustrate the wide support for locating the project in the region. The petitions were presented to Rep. Costello by State Representative John Bradley (D, Marion) in August.

President Bush proposed building a 275-megawatt prototype power plant with emissions equal to those of natural gas last year, and Shimkus and Costello have led an Illinois Congressional delegation effort to locate FutureGen in Illinois, including hosting a roundtable discussion concerning the project in Carbondale last July and leading a bipartisan effort in the House to secure funding for the project. The President included $237 million for FutureGen in his budget for fiscal year 2005.

This plant will provide a much-needed boost to the Southern Illinois coal industry. Electricity generation has moved away from using coal, but this plant will send the message that coal will be a part of our energy future.

Southern Illinois is well-suited to be the location of the new plant. The region is rich in high-sulfur coal reserves, and the Coal Center at SIUC is located there. In addition, the geology of the region is nearly ideal for the carbon-trapping technology to be developed. Illinois is home to oil and gas reserves and deep saline aquifers that can permanently sequester carbon dioxide.

Coal underlies 65 percent of the state’s surface, and the Illinois coal industry annually produces approximately 35 million tons of coal and generates more than $1 billion in gross revenues. Currently, recoverable coal reserves in the state of Illinois amount to more than 30 billion tons. Illinois has almost one-eighth of the coal reserves in the United States and one-quarter of the nation’s bituminous coal reserves. Illinois’ coal reserves contain more BTUs than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

· HUD Grants to Remove Lead Hazards

I am happy to announce funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to reduce or remove lead-based hazards in Illinois.

Unfortunately, Illinois has recently been identified with the highest number of newly identified cases of children suffering from lead poisoning. I am pleased to help secure these federal dollars to fight the problem.

The Illinois Department of Public Health will be receiving $4 million to address lead-based paint hazards in 398 homes. It will provide $662,444 in matching funds.

In the Metro East, $782,654 will be awarded to reduce lead hazards in Madison and St. Clair counties. The focus of the effort will be pre-1940 rental housing in which children less than 6 years of age are at greatest risk. Various sources in the counties will contribute $878,827 in matching funds.

· New Education Grant Available

The Beaumont Foundation of America has a new grant that will award state of the art Toshiba branded technology equipment to educational institutions serving low income populations in grades K-12.

Education grants will be available for schools that meet all eligibility criteria and with a minimum of 50 percent of students qualifying for the National School Lunch Program. Potential applicants are encouraged to visit www.bmtfoundation.com/grants/ to determine eligibility. Letters of interest from qualifying schools will be accepted online from October 4th through 22nd.

For additional information please contact Daryl Ann Borel, Executive Director of Grant Administration, by calling 409-838-1812 or via email at dborel@bmtfoundation.com.

· New “Traveling Help Desk” Dates

On Wednesday, September 29, Mary Ballard of my Springfield district office will be available to help the residents of Moweaqua and Kincaid. In Moweaqua, she will be at the City Hall on 122 North Main from 12:30 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. In Kincaid, she will be in the Village Hall on 115 Central Street from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Appointments are not necessary, so feel free to drop by at any time. For more information, please visit my web page at http://www.house.gov/shimkus/helpdesk.htm. I hope you stop in to see us!

Legislative Week in Review

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

o H.R. 2966 - Right-to-Ride Livestock on Federal Lands Act: The Right-to-Ride Livestock on Federal Lands Act would affect wilderness areas, national monuments, and other specifically designated areas administered by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Forest Service, where there is a historical tradition of such use. As a cosponsor of this legislation, I am hoping for a quick passage in the Senate and to have this bill signed into law to protect the rights of horseback riders in our district.

o H.R. 5025 - Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005

For more information on the status of the FY 2005 Appropriations bills please visit http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app05.html.

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

Anticipated Action on the House Floor Next Week

· Congress will be in session from Tuesday through Thursday of next week. Some of the legislation which will be considered includes:

o H.R. 3193 – The District of Columbia Personal Protection Act

o H.J.R. 56 - Federal Marriage Amendment

· 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?

· Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day is in September

While Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day was September 21, that doesn’t mean you can’t make any day Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day! It’s the perfect time to make sure the people you care about are receiving the care they deserve. You don’t have to wait until someone is sick to make a doctor’s appointment. Preventive health care such as flu and pneumonia shots, mammograms and diabetes check ups are simple ways to help keep you and your loved ones healthy. For more information please visit the Illinois Foundation for Quality Health Care’s website at www.ifqbc.org or call 1-800-386-6431.

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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