The Public Record
John Shimkus is a former U.S. Representative from Illinois, serving in the House from January 7, 1997, until January 3, 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Illinois's 15th congressional district. During his tenure, Shimkus was known for his work on issues related to energy, environment, and agriculture, often advocating for policies that supported these sectors. He served on several committees, including the Energy and Commerce Committee, where he focused on energy policy and environmental regulations.
I want to thank the leadership for allowing me this time to come to the floor. I'm going to do two short items, and then I'll address the weekly discussion on high-level nuclear waste and Yucca Mountain. First, because of this day and our…
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, I am a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. It's an organization designed around legislators from all of our NATO countries. It's been in existence over 50 years. Since the legislative bodies in most chambers…
I think the Chinese are profoundly pleased. The Canadians, our allies, are profoundly disappointed.
It's great to be back down on the floor, back to being in Washington, DC, to continue with what I spent most of my time last year doing, which was addressing the high-level nuclear waste issues in this country. Today, we go to the great…
It is important that as soon as we get back here today, it is our first day back, that we get back on the focus of creating jobs in this country. And not jobs that government says we can create, but sustainable jobs that are created by the…
What does the Iranian nuclear threat to Keystone XL pipeline and the payroll unemployment insurance, doc fix, and jobs bill all have in common? Well, I'm going to use this 5 minutes to tie them together. Yesterday on the floor, we…
It's an honor to follow my friend and colleague from California who's retiring at the end of the Congress, which is another year. Even though we disagree probably too many times to count, no one questions her passion and her commitment…
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My friend from Ohio came down and he said, you know, what we need, what America needs, is jobs. And so that's the important aspect of bringing the Keystone XL pipeline into this debate. Don't listen to me; listen…
At the end of last week, I was able to take to the floor with some of my colleagues to talk about high-level nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. Part of that time, I wanted to make sure, as I have each week, to highlight certain locations…
Again, I appreciate your joining me today. I want to quote from a Chicago Tribune editorial of March 19. I'll just read three short paragraphs: ``Here's why that is potentially a bigger problem than a meltdown: In the Japanese reactors, as…
Now I'm going to turn to my colleague from Georgia, who also serves with me on the Energy and Commerce Committee. We have jurisdiction over this. My subcommittee is the Environment and the Economy. I deal with a lot of these waste disposal…
Can you tell me the disposition of what's going on with the Zion Power Plant? What's going on there right now?
The reason this is important is, unfortunately, due to Fukushima Daiichi in Japan, which is a great tragedy. A lot of people think about the containment issue, which has always been the fear. Part of the Fukushima Daiichi problem was the…
Continuing to speak on this issue of just looking at it, to kind of get away from just the nuclear generating profit sector, to address our responsibility as stewards of a program that was developed to stop World War II and then eventually…
Again, I thank my friend from Georgia for helping out on the Special Order and just addressing the issue of recycling. What do we do? Because those of us who follow the nuclear fuel cycle, most people want it closed. And how do you get it…
If my colleague would continue to discuss this for a few minutes, you mentioned a fund in your kind of opening statement. For the benefit of the Speaker, could you explain where this fund comes from and who is paying into it and what is it…
And part of this debate about the nuclear waste and where it's stored and the nuclear waste fund has been litigated in Federal court, and the courts have said it is the responsibility of the national government to take this waste as part…
Reclaiming my time, I would kind of close this circle, Mr. Speaker, reminding folks that the chairman of the NRC, Mr. Jaczko, used to work for now-majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid. And it's the majority leader in the Senate that…
I appreciate, again, my colleague for coming down for this hour of discussion on really what should be the national policy on high-level nuclear waste in this country. I didn't get a chance to go through all the areas but I'm going to end…
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 established Yucca Mountain as the national repository for high-level nuclear waste. And, again, for the educational purposes, Mr. Speaker, that is spent fuel. Sometimes it's spent nuclear waste from our…
The city of Las Vegas, which is the major metropolitan area, is a hundred miles from Yucca Mountain. What people have a hard time understanding about the nuclear test area, this is where the nuclear test site was. The Federal Government…
My colleague is correct. We've already spent about $14.5 billion dollars in the research, the development, the exploration, the testing. A lot of money, time, effort, and some of our greatest minds have been involved. I don't really think…
Politicians like John Shimkus
