To whom it may concern:

I just wanted the general public to know the truth regarding the status of the Centrifuge Project at the "A" plant in Piketon. There have been many half-truths and outright lies published in the various media outlets around here. As everyone knows, USEC applied for the Loan Guarantee back in July 2008, which is just asking DOE, aka "the taxpayers "to be a cosigner so they can secure financing. However, what a lot of folks don't know is that USEC only became eligible to be considered for the Loan Guarantee

Program the on June 24, 2009. Reason being, there was language in the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 (a federal spending bill) that disqualified USEC from even being considered for the Loan Guarantee Program because they already held a contract with DOE. On June 24th 2009 President Obama signed into law, the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009, which eliminated the language that would have otherwise disqualified USEC from even being considered for the program. Although DOE has not granted USEC the loan guarantee, they have agreed to give them up to 45 million dollars to facilitate the research and development of the technology, and defer review of the Loan Guarantee application until some critical milestones have been met.

Now that you know the background, I feel that the people of Southern Ohio have had the "wool pulled over their eyes" so to speak. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt has taken advantage of a dismal situation by turning this whole thing into a vote getting scheme. First of all, she attempted to kill the project by casting her vote against the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009, also known as H.R

2346, in case you would like to verify for yourself, go to thomas.loc.gov. Then she placed a full page ad in the local paper urging folks to call and harass the President. The only thing she accomplished was driving a wedge between USEC and DOE, which does nothing for the already deprived people of Southern Ohio. What she should be doing is trying to nurture the relationship, not severe it. The only reason she is getting involved now, is because next year she's up for re-election, and she saw an opportunity to mislead people into supporting her. Furthermore, she also voted against the stimulus package that is currently funding the cleanup effort at the old gaseous diffusion part of the uranium enrichment facility in Piketon. Now I feel it necessary to take a page out of Jean's playbook. I urge the constituents of Rep. Schmidt to contact her and let her know that you're tired of being a political football, and instead of scheming to get votes do something constructive to bring some decent jobs to Southern Ohio. She can be contacted at her Portsmouth office at 877- 354-1440 or in Cincinnati at 513-791-0381 or in DC at 202-225-3164. Tell her to keep the Politics in Washington, and quit messing with

our livelihood. In case she tries to put the old political spin on me, the only people I'm trying to support are my family.

Thank You for your time,

Dan Shirey

Otway, OH 45657