Mark Kirk

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Mark Kirk
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 10th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2001–
Preceded by	John Edward Porter
Born	September 15, 1959 (1959-09-15) (age 48) Champaign, Illinois
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Kim Vertolli Kirk
Religion	United Church of Christ

Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15, 1959) has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing Illinois's 10th congressional district (map).

[edit] Early life and education

Kirk was born in Champaign, Illinois, graduated from Joseph Sears School in Kenilworth in 1973, and New Trier East High School in 1977. He attended the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México before graduating cum laude in history from Cornell University. Kirk received a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University.

Kirk was commissioned in 1989 as an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserve. He is one of only two members of Congress serving as a drilling reservist one weekend a month and two weeks a year. In the Navy, Kirk served during conflicts with Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. He served aboard USS Normandy and USS John C Stennis. Kirk also served three tours in Panama and was an aircrewman over Iraq as part of Operation Northern Watch. He was named U.S. Navy Reserve "Intelligence Officer of the Year" in 1999 for his combat service in Kosovo.^[1]

[edit] Career prior to election to Congress

Kirk served on the staff of his predecessor, Congressman John Porter, and eventually became his chief of staff. Kirk then served in the World Bank (1990) before President George H. W. Bush named him as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.^{[citation needed]} At the State Department, Kirk worked on ending civil wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. President Bill Clinton reappointed Kirk to work in his Administration on the restoration of democracy in Haiti.^{[citation needed]}

Kirk then practiced law with Baker & McKenzie (1993–94) before being named as a Counsel to the House International Relations Committee.

[edit] U.S. House of Representatives

[edit] Election and re-elections

Kirk defeated 11 candidates for Congress in the 2000 Republican primary. He then won in general elections with 51% (2000), 69% (2002), 64% (2004) and 53% (2006). His opponents were Lauren Beth Gash, Hank Perrit, Lee Goodman and, most recently, Daniel Seals.

See also: Illinois's 10th congressional district election, 2006

Kirk will face Democratic challenger Dan Seals and Green Party [1] challenger Dave Kalbfleisch [2] in the 2008 election.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Appropriations Committee
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
• Co-chairman of the Tuesday Group

[edit] Political actions and positions

Kirk shepherded H.R. 810, the Stem Cell bill, through the House in 2005.

The Lake Michigan Alliance and the League of Conservation Voters recognized Congressman Kirk for his environmental actions,^[2] including:

• Author — Great Lakes Water Protection Act
• Author — Mercury Pollution Reduction Act
• Secured transfer to Ft. Sheridan Bluffs to environmental trust
• Secured funding for environmental cleanup Waukegan Harbor
• Awarded Medal of Courage by Alaska Coalition for protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Congress

Kirk voted for the House "enforcement-only" immigration bill, which includes punishing employers who hire illegal immigrants and calls for a tough barrier at the United States–Mexico border.^[2]. In July 2007, he proposed a long term solution to the problem of Mexican immigration: shipping condoms to poor area of Mexico: "A slower rate of growth of Mexico's population would improve the economy of Mexico. It would also reduce the environmental pressure on Mexico's ecosystem. But a slower rate of growth would also reduce the long-term illegal immigration pressure on America's borders"^[3]

On November 5, 2005, while speaking at Northwestern University, Kirk was asked how he felt about stricter visa policies applied to Arab foreign nationals seeking entry to the United States. Kirk answered: "I'm OK with discrimination against young Arab males from terrorist-producing states. I'm OK with that. I think that when we look at the threat that's out there, young men between, say, the ages of 18 and 25 from a couple of countries, I believe a certain amount of intense scrutiny should be placed on them."^[4]. He said that the statement was "politically uncomfortable", and later issued a statement to clarify his position on the issue: "We need to strengthen our visa entry process to guard against the threat, and we need intense scrutiny on applicants from terrorist producing countries," Kirk said. "Ignoring that reality would only do a disservice to our country's security."^[5]

Kirk has spoken out about protecting children on the Internet and has introduced bills to require parental permission for certain networking sites, such as Second Life. ^[6]

[edit] Ratings

Kirk received a 75% approval rating in 2006, after a 39% approval rating in 2005, from the League of Conservation Voters, a group that assesses the environmental records of Congressmen.^[7]. He received an A from Illinois Citizens Against Handgun Violence. Kirk was endorsed in 2006 by the Human Rights Campaign, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Planned Parenthood (In their 2006 ratings, Kirk was the only Republican to receive a rating of 100% from Planned Parenthood in either house, making him the most pro-choice Republican in congress) the Jewish Political Alliance of Illinois and JAC PAC.

[edit] Contributors

This section does not cite any references or sources. (July 2007) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

According to Federal Election Commission records, Kirk has received numerous contributions from Political action committees and individuals. Several contributors have district ties, such as Abbott Laboratories and Baxter International. Abbott and Baxter are the largest and third largest employers in the 10th District of Illinois, respectively. Medical associations, defense contractors, and other groups have contributed.

FEC records show Kirk received financial support from Americans for a Republican Majority, a PAC formed by Tom DeLay. As reports of misconduct surfaced against DeLay in 2004, Kirk returned all monies received from ARMPAC immediately.

Mark Kirk received a donation from Congressman Bob Ney, who pled guilty to bribery. Kirk refunded the Ney contribution in the 2nd quarter of 2006.

Kirk received funds from American Prosperity PAC, which was controlled by Republican Duke Cunningham, who pled guilty to federal charges. Kirk refunded the Cunningham contribution and contributions from all parties affiliated with the case when news of wrongdoing first became public.

Kirk accepted contributions from Tony Rezko, ^[8] who is currently facing federal charges of attempted extortion, money laundering, and fraud.

[edit] 2007

In March of 2007, Kirk worked to strip the so called, "Del Monte Loophole" from the minimum wage bill attached to the Iraq Supplemental funding appropriations bill. The bill, authored by the Democratic majority, had exempted America Samoa from being a part of the minimum wage increase. Kirk said that he believes that the American minimum wage should apply to all Americans. ^[9]

In May of 2007 Kirk was part of a Republican delegation that explained to Bush his actions, in respect to Iraq, were hurting the Republican party.^[10]

He was also involved in proposing a bill for sanctioning Iranians in June 2007. "The Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act of 2007" targets any company or individual that provides Iran with refined petroleum products or engages in an activity that could contribute to the enhancement of Iran's ability to import refined products after December 31 2007.^[11]

[edit] 2008

This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

In late 2007, Kirk spoke in favor of the Real ID act - an initiative to require US Citizens to carry a National ID card to prove their citizenship. This concept met substantial resistance from the public as a violation of their right to privacy (3rd Amendment). While it was not defeated, Kirk launched a new initiative in 2008 to alter the Social Security card to act as a National ID, which would be distributed for all newly issued cards (for citizens on their 16th birthday, or adults requesting new cards). In an attempt to make the card more secure, Kirk proposed that it contain biometric data, such as fingerprint identification, and photographs, as well as a barcode that can be scanned to call up additional data on the subject from a government database. This has met stiff resistance as well. Critics claim that it treats US citizens as criminals, forcing everyone to offer their biometric data to the government, and forcing them to carry serial-numbered documentation, similar to the practices of Nazi Germany. Additional questions have arisen concerning what data about the people could be stored in the Central Database, and who would regulate it to ensure that only pertinent data may be stored. Other concerns focus on the security of the data itself, what safeguards exist to ensure that it can't get into the hands of criminals for the purpose of identity theft, as well as safeguards against falsified or otherwise incorrect data entering the system.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Mark Kirk, House site
• Kirk for Congress, Campaign site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Mark Kirk profile