Rep. Foley Quits Over Sexual E-mails to Youth -- Had Run-in With Florida Alt-Weekly in 2003
By E&P Staff
Friday, September 29 2006
Friday, September 29 2006
Published on AllBusiness.com
Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who suddenly announced this afternoon he is stepping down from Congress after his sex-laced e-mails to a former male page, who was 16, were published, made headlines in May 2003 when he took the unusual step of calling a news conference to denounce a report in a South Florida alternative paper that he is gay.
Foley declined to answer questions about the subject then, saying his sexual orientation had nothing to do with is duties as a lawmaker. New Times had raised the issue.
But Foley accused Democratic activists of spreading the rumor to derail his Senate campaign. That drew a sharp response from Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox, who criticized Foley for responding to one inappropriate accusation with another. Foley later dropped out of the U.S. Senate race.
In the House, Foley was co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children Causus.
The House in 2005 passed Foley-sponsored legislation that would subject child sex offenders to stringent monitoring requirements and tough penalties for failing to comply with registration requirements. "We track library books better than we do sexual predators," Foley said.
Foley said he was "sorry" today after the emails to the former page were revealed. In the emails, sent from his AOL account, Foley had made repeated references to sexual organs and sex acts.
In Congress, Foley has been considered one of the foremost critics of child pornography and pedophiles. Among other measures, he succeeded in getting a law passed that allowed organizations like the Boy Scouts of America and Boys and Girls Clubs to have access to FBI fingerprint background checks to help protect children.
Foley declined to answer questions about the subject then, saying his sexual orientation had nothing to do with is duties as a lawmaker. New Times had raised the issue.
But Foley accused Democratic activists of spreading the rumor to derail his Senate campaign. That drew a sharp response from Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox, who criticized Foley for responding to one inappropriate accusation with another. Foley later dropped out of the U.S. Senate race.
In the House, Foley was co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children Causus.
The House in 2005 passed Foley-sponsored legislation that would subject child sex offenders to stringent monitoring requirements and tough penalties for failing to comply with registration requirements. "We track library books better than we do sexual predators," Foley said.
Foley said he was "sorry" today after the emails to the former page were revealed. In the emails, sent from his AOL account, Foley had made repeated references to sexual organs and sex acts.
In Congress, Foley has been considered one of the foremost critics of child pornography and pedophiles. Among other measures, he succeeded in getting a law passed that allowed organizations like the Boy Scouts of America and Boys and Girls Clubs to have access to FBI fingerprint background checks to help protect children.
