Thread: Foley Resigns from Congress!!!!

http://tinyurl.com/oj9k7



Foley resigns from Congress over e-mails By DAVID ESPO and JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writers
13 minutes ago



Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former teenage male page.

"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," he said in a statement issued by his office.

The two-sentence statement did not refer to the e-mails and gave no reason for Foley's abrupt decision to abandon a flourishing career in Congress.

Foley, 52, had been a shoo-in for a new term until the e-mail correspondence surfaced in recent days.

His resignation comes less than six weeks before the elections and further complicates the political landscape for Republicans, who are fighting to retain control of Congress. Democrats need to win a net of 15 Republican seats to regain the power they lost in 1994.

Florida Republicans planned to meet as soon as Monday to name a replacement in Foley's district, which President Bush won with 55 percent in 2004 and is now in play for November. Though Florida ballots have already been printed with Foley's name and cannot be changed, any votes for Foley will count toward the party's choice.

Campaign aides had previously acknowledged that the Republican congressman e-mailed the former Capitol page five times, but had said there was nothing inappropriate about the exchange. The page was 16 at the time of the e-mail correspondence.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he had asked the chairman of the House's page board, Rep. John Shimkus (news, bio, voting record), R-Ill., to investigate the page system. "We want to make sure that all our pages are safe and the page system is safe," Hastert said.

He said Foley submitted the letter of resignation to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and submitted a copy to him. A House clerk read Foley's resignation on the House floor.

"He's done the right thing," Hastert said. Asked if the chain of events was disturbing, he said, "None of us are very happy about it."

Foley, who represents an area around Palm Beach County, e-mailed the page in August 2005. The page had worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander (news, bio, voting record), R-La., and Foley asked him how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday. The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that were originally released by ABC News.

Foley's aides initially blamed Democratic rival Tim Mahoney and Democrats with attempting to smear the congressman before the election.

The e-mails were posted Friday on Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Web site after ABC News reported their existence. The group asked the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate the exchange Foley had with the boy.

"The House of Representatives has an obligation to protect the teenagers who come to Congress to learn about the legislative process," the group wrote, adding that the committee, "must investigate any allegation that a page has been subjected to sexual advances by members of the House."

In 2003, Foley faced questions about his sexual orientation as he prepared to run for Sen. Bob Graham (news, bio, voting record)'s seat. At a news conference in May of that year, he said he would not comment on rumors he was gay. He later decided not to seek the Senate seat to care for his parents.

According to the CREW posting, the boy e-mailed a colleague in Alexander's office about Foley's e-mails, saying, "This freaked me out." On the request for a photo, the boy repeated the word "sick" 13 times.

He said Foley asked for his e-mail when the boy gave him a thank you card. The boy also said Foley wrote that he e-mailed another page.

"he's such a nice guy," Foley wrote about the other boy. "acts much older than his age...and hes in really great shape...i am just finished riding my bike on a 25 mile journey now heading to the gym...whats school like for you this year?"

In other e-mails, Foley wrote, "I am back in Florida now...its nice here...been raining today...it sounds like you will have some fun over the next few weeks...how old are you now?" and "how are you weathering the hurricane...are you safe...send me an email pic of you as well."

What the boy wrote to Foley, who is single, wasn't available. The e-mails were sent from Foley's personal account, which Foley spokesman Jason Kello says he uses to communicate with many people, including Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Efforts to reach the boy were unsuccessful, but he told the St. Petersburg Times last November, "I thought it was very inappropriate. After the one about the picture, I decided to stop e-mailing him back." The Times didn't publish the comments until Friday.

Foley was a member of the Republican leadership, serving as a deputy whip. He also was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus.

Florida Republican Party Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan said executives from each of the counties in Foley's district will meet to choose a replacement on the ballot. Among the possibilities was state Rep. Joe Negron, who was a candidate for attorney general before dropping out of the race to avoid a primary with former Rep. Bill McCollum.

"It would be very time sensitive so the nominee would have the opportunity to get around the district and campaign in a very short amount of time," Jordan said.

David Johnson, a former state Republican chairman who worked as a strategist for Foley, said it will be difficult for the party's pick to win with Foley's name on the ballot.

On Foley, Jordan said, "Congressman Foley served as my congressman. He's given a great deal of time and effort and extreme good hard work to the state of Florida. I just so appreciate all the things he's done over the years."

Mahoney, a Republican who became a Democrat last year, is chairman and chief operating officer of a $1 billion-a-year financial services company. In his House bid, he has focused on Washington corruption and oversized deficits.

In 1983, the House censured two lawmakers — Daniel Crane of Illinois and Gerry Studds of Massachusetts — for having improper relationships with pages.

The page program is for high school students who study at a congressional school while also carrying out tasks for lawmakers.

Creepy.

This is my congressman. This is probably true, there have rumors floating around about him for years. While I absolutely do not want a pedofile in congress he was pretty good as far as the illegals go. Now the GOP is going to have to think quick on their feet with elections so close.

Very creepy.

I'm not sure they should continue a high school page program. They should make is college level.

Wasnt this guy writing legislation that was supposed to protect children?


I hope he gets some jail time.

http://hotair.com/archives/2006/09/29/b ... ex-rumors/
HOT AIR has quite a bit of info.

Worked with America's most wanted
. chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children..

Mark also has worked closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and John Walsh (host of Fox TV’s America’s Most Wanted) on a variety of child protection programs. Among the latest of these is a program designed to show children how to protect themselves from online predators.

Unbelievable.

There are more emails coming out on CNN.

This guy was a piece of work..what a slime ball.

Right you are, Judy.

I don't give a flying fig if they're Rs or Ds........CLEAN OUT THAT HELL HOLE.

JUDY....did you hear about the possible 'instant messages?' If true, he's a piece of trash that should rot in jail along with the ILLEGALS & PERVS.

"instant messages"

No, 2ndamendsis I hadn't heard about those.

Bad? I'm sure.

Whew...what scum. Poor kids. That 16 year old did the right thing against a powerful Congressman bringing it forward.

Originally Posted by Judy

"instant messages"

No, 2ndamendsis I hadn't heard about those.

Bad? I'm sure.

Whew...what scum. Poor kids. That 16 year old did the right thing against a powerful Congressman bringing it forward.

"if true".............very, very bad