John Shimkus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Shimkus
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 19th & 20th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Richard J. Durbin
Born	February 21, 1958 (1958-02-21) (age 50) Collinsville, Illinois
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Karen Shimkus
Religion	Lutheran

John Mondy Shimkus (born February 21, 1958), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing Illinois's 19th congressional district (map). He was born in Collinsville, Illinois. Shimkus earned his bachelor's degree at West Point Military Academy. Shimkus then attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and received a Master's of Business Administration.

As a graduate of West Point, he was a member of the United States Army and was a high school teacher at a local Lutheran school. Mr. Shimkus has served as Madison County, IL Treasurer as a Republican before entering the House of Representatives. Before being elected County Treasurer, Shimkus was involved in local politics in his hometown and county where he still resides today.

Shimkus announced in September 2005 that he will run for reelection in 2008, despite making a pledge when first elected in 1996 not to stay in office for more than 12 years. He said he will run for a seventh term in 2008. "It was a mistake at the time," he said about his 1996 campaign promises. "Unless everyone plays by the same rules, term limits don't make sense." Congressman Shimkus won his Illinois district handily during 2006; therefore, he will run again as a Republican in the 2008 election.

FEC records show the John S. Fund, the PAC for John Shimkus, contributed to Tom DeLay, who is now facing criminal charges. The fund also made contributions to Peter Roskam, a Republican candidate for the House from Illinois' 6th district, and to David McSweeney a Republican candidate for the House from Illinois' 8th district. [1] [2] [3] Recently the funds treasurer, lobbyist Mark Valente, resigned. Shimkus earlier said he was considering removing Valente, but he didn't want to act too quickly because it might suggest there was something improper about their relationship. [4]

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Energy and Commerce Committee
  • Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee
  • Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials
  • Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee (Ranking Member)
  • Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee
• NATO Parliamentary Assembly

[edit] 2006 House page scandal

Main article: Mark Foley scandal

Shimkus said that in late 2005 he learned — through information passed along by the office of Representative Rodney Alexander (R-La) — about an e-mail exchange in which Foley asked about the well-being of a former page, from Alexander's district, after Hurricane Katrina, and requested a photograph."^[1] Shimkus and Jeff Trandahl, the Clerk of the House, responsible for administering the program, met with Foley in 2005 after learning of the emails. Foley was ordered to cease all contact with the former page and assured Shimkus he would do so.

Shimkus did not share the information with Rep. Dale E. Kildee, the only Democrat on the three-person Page Committee,^[2] or Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va), the other Republican. "I became aware of it this afternoon [September 29th] when [Shimkus] came by my office. I think we should have had a page meeting right away," Kildee said, referring to the 2005 discovery of Foley's e-mails. When asked if he was upset about being excluded, Kildee said yes, adding, "I've been on the page board for 20 years."

"I'm the chairman of the page board," Shimkus said when asked why he didn't include Kildee. "The Clerk and I addressed this issue." Shimkus said on October 2 that "I think, based on the information I had, what I did was fine. If I regret something, maybe I should have had Dale [Kildee] with me because now it’s going to be a political football."^[3]

Shimkus was also quick to point out that he was the only person who took any action to confront Foley in any manner, including media, the FBI, and others on the Republican leadership [5].

Mr. Shimkus spoke with the current house pages the evening of the news break. He came with the Clerk of the House and Ms. Capito (fellow board members). In his dialog, he talked to the pages about how adults make bad choices. He encouraged the pages to talk to mentors in the system about any concerns they might have. He also told the pages that he had not known anything about the scandal, and that if he had known about it, he would have acted. He later came out with information that he had known about e-mails sent by Mr. Foley to young pages.

[edit] Recent elections

Shimkus ran against city councilman Dan Stover in 2006 and retained his seat in the election. In 2008, he will face newcomer Daniel Davis.

[edit] Praise for inclusive GLBT anti-bullying bill

GLSEN, which fights the harassment of GLBT youth, has praised Shimkus for his support for an anti-bullying bill that he introduced in the 109th Congress. ^[4]

[edit] Controversy

In May 2007, Shimkus was ridiculed on many blogs for comparing the war in Iraq, during a speech on the floor of the House, to a baseball game between "my beloved St. Louis Cardinals" and "the much despised Chicago Cubs."^[5]

He received additional criticism for suggesting to the State Journal-Register that a "compassionate monarchy" is the ideal form of government and suggested that a dictatorship would be best for Iraq.^[6]

[edit] References