Tagged: John Shimkus

Illinois' Republican congressmen are largely defending their party's decision not to support an extension of the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits.

They say the U.S. Senate bill they rejected called for only a two-month extension, and they think a longer-term solution would be better.

U.S. Rep. John Shimkus tells the (Springfield) State Journal-Register that a one-year extension would get the issue "out of political debate."

Reps. Bobby Schilling and Aaron Schock agreed. Schilling called the Senate's plan "unworkable."

The director of John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis says surgeries could resume next week at the facility. The center stopped performing surgeries because of concerns over contamination on some operating-room equipment. 

Meanwhile, congressional reaction to the new problems has been harsh.