By STEVE BINDER
Illinois Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A few days after celebrating his 53rd birthday, U.S. Rep. John Shimkus received a present from the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

Shimkus, a 15-year Republican representative from southern Illinois and a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was selected as the organization’s Golden Plow award recipient.

AFBF is the nation’s largest general farm organization, and the Golden Plow is the highest honor it gives to a member of Congress.

The Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) nominated Shimkus for the award because of his work on issues important to the Farm Bureau, including his opposition to cap-and-trade legislation, support of biofuel and his efforts on animal health and food safety, said IFB President Philip Nelson.

Nelson presented Shimkus with the award in Springfield during the group’s Governmental Affairs Leadership Conference.

“We are pleased to honor Representative Shimkus with AFBF’s highest award,” Nelson said. “He has received the Friend of Farm Bureau award each of his seven terms in Congress and is a true champion of U.S. agriculture.”
 “Congressman Shimkus is a passionate advocate for farmers. Just two weeks (earlier), the Congressman used my testimony and a photo he took of last October’s soybean harvest to make the point that EPA’s proposed dust regulations defy common sense.”

Shimkus has a career voting record of 94 percent with the IFB, the highest in the Illinois delegation, Nelson said.

 “Congressman Shimkus has also supported NAFTA and CAFTA and supports passage of the Colombia, Panama and South Korea free trade agreements.”
Shimkus was one of the key Republican negotiators on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act. The bill increases the ability of the FDA to institute recalls of tainted food.

“When you’re talking about the health and safety of folks, if the FDA has enough evidence to make a declaration of recall, I think that most Americans would support the government having that authority,” Shimkus said at that time.