Simply Politics & News

[AKvetch]

It's not his political party that bothers me.
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Republican Foley resigns US House seat
Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:59 PM ET
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Six-term Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida resigned from the U.S. Congress on Friday following reports he sent sexually inappropriate e-mails to underage congressional interns.

Foley, chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children, said he would resign immediately after ABC News reported he sent messages to current and former congressional pages with repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

"Today I have delivered a letter to the Speaker of the House informing him of my decision to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives, effective today," Foley said in a statement.

"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent."

Foley's decision to resign just five weeks before the Nov. 7 congressional election complicated Republican efforts to retain control of the House of Representatives. Democrats must pick up 15 seats to reclaim a House majority.

Lawyers from both parties were examining Florida election laws to see if his name can be removed from the ballot in his Republican-leaning district, party sources said, but it might be too late.

Foley won re-election in 2004 with 68 percent of the vote and was favored to win in November over Democrat Tim Mahoney, a self-funding financial officer. President George W. Bush carried the district with 54 percent of the vote.

Foley was the author of the key sexual predator provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which Bush signed in July.

Foley, who represents a district in southern Florida, also was a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax and trade policy.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-09-29T195629Z_01...