Mark Kirk | |
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United States Senator from Illinois |
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Incumbent | |
Assumed office November 29, 2010 Serving with Dick Durbin |
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Preceded by | Roland Burris |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 10th district |
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In office January 3, 2001 – November 29, 2010 |
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Preceded by | John Porter |
Succeeded by | Robert Dold |
Personal details | |
Born | Mark Steven Kirk September 15, 1959 Champaign, Illinois |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Kimberly Vertolli (2001–2009; divorced)[1] |
Residence | Highland Park, Illinois[2] |
Alma mater | Cornell University (B.A.) London School of Economics Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.) |
Occupation | Attorney, Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve |
Religion | United Church of Christ[3] |
Website | Official website |
Military service | |
Service/branch | United States Navy United States Navy |
Years of service | 1989–present |
Rank | Commander |
Unit | U.S. Navy Reserve |
Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15, 1959) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Kirk was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 10th congressional district.
Born in Champaign, Illinois, he graduated from Cornell University, London School of Economics, and Georgetown University Law Center. He practiced law throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He joined the United States Navy Reserve in 1989 and was recalled to active duty for the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. He participated in Operation Northern Watch in Iraq the following year. He remains a member of the Navy Reserve, now holding the rank of Commander.
Kirk was elected to the House in 2000. During his fifth term in November 2010 he won a special election to finish the final months of former Senator Barack Obama's term and he began a six-year Senate term in January 2011.
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Mark Kirk was born in Champaign, Illinois, the son of Judith Ann (née Brady) and Francis Gabriel "Frank" Kirk.[4][5][6] After graduating from New Trier East High School in 1977 he attended Cornell University, where he graduated cum laude with a B.A. in History.[7] Kirk later obtained a masters degree from the London School of Economics and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Georgetown University Law Center.[8][9]
While Kirk was an undergraduate student at Cornell University he held a work study job supervising a play group at the Forest Home Chapel nursery school and after getting his masters degree Kirk taught for one year at a private school in London.[10][11] He later stated in speeches and interviews that he had been a nursery and middle school teacher. For example, Kirk claimed in a speech to the Illinois Education Association, "As a former nursery school and middle school teacher, I know some of what it takes to bring order to class." However, a member of the Forest Home Chapel said, "He was never, ever considered a teacher [at the nursery school]."[10]
In discussing problems in the educational system early in his congressional career, Kirk addressed the brevity of his teaching career: “I did leave the teaching profession, but if we had addressed some of the teacher development issues, which I want to raise with you, I might have stayed.”[10][12]
Kirk was commissioned as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve in 1989.[9]
In 1999 Kirk was recalled to active duty in Operation Allied Force for the bombing of Yugoslavia. He served from to April 10 to June 6, 1999 as the intelligence officer of VAQ-209.[13] VAQ-209 was combined with three other EA-6B squadrons to form an ad hoc unit called Electronic Attack Wing Aviano, Italy. VAQ-140 had tactical command of the combined unit.[14] In May, 2000, the National Military Intelligence Association bestowed the organization's Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award to Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing Aviano, Italy.[15]
In March and April, 2000 Kirk trained with an EC-130 squadron based in Turkey. Kirk took a flight over Iraq as part of Operation Northern Watch, which enforced a no fly zone over the northern section of Iraq.[16]
Kirk has served three, two-week reserve deployments in Afghanistan, with the latest concluding in September 2011.[17]
During his military career, Kirk has been awarded the following medals: the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, as well as the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Navy Unit Commendation, and the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation. He continues his service in the Navy Reserve holding the rank of Commander.[18]
Kirk corrected claims he had made about being awarded "Navy Intelligence Officer of the Year" after it was brought to the media's attention by his Democratic opponent, Alexi Giannoulias.[19] In a 2002 House committee hearing recorded by C-Span, Kirk said, "I was the Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year," an achievement he said gave him special qualifications to discuss national security spending.[18] However, in May 2010, the Washington Post reported that Kirk's claim to having been named the Navy's “Intelligence Officer of the Year” was erroneous.[20] The National Military Intelligence Association gave the Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award to the entire Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing at Aviano.[18] Kirk was the lead intelligence officer for VAQ-209, one of the four squadrons assigned to the Electronic Attack Wing. VAQ-140 had tactical command.[14] Kirk later apologized for this and other errors, including claims of having been fired upon during an aerial reconnaissance mission in Iraq, about which there is no official record, and of having participated in Operation Desert Storm when in fact he did not.[21]
On June 7, 2010, Medal of Honor recipient and advocate of Veteran's benefits, Allen Lynch, deemed Mark Kirk's apologies adequate, and further commented: “To me, in my opinion, it's just a bunch of nit picking. Plus, he's done a christ ton for veterans. So I think this is being blown way out of proportion".[22]
Controversy regarding Kirk's military record continued as other statements surfaced, such as Kirk stating “the last time I was in Iraq I was in uniform, flying at 20,000 feet, and the Iraqi Air Defense network was shooting at us.” Kirk has since clarified his previous statements, admitting that he was never fired on as he flew over Iraq or Kosovo.[23] “I simply misremembered [sic] it wrong,” he told The Chicago Sun-Times, referring to his military record.[24]
On December 18, 2009, Undersecretary of Defense Gail H. McGinn noted in a memo that Kirk had on two previous active duty periods engaged in politicking—violation of military policy by participating in political activities while on active duty, per Department of Defense regulations. On one occasion Congressman Kirk commented on Rod Blagojevich's arrest and posted a tweet while on duty with the Navy in Afghanistan.[25] According to the Pentagon, Kirk was required to sign a statement acknowledging he knew the rules and wouldn't break them again.[26]
Kirk worked on the staff of John Porter, the former holder of Illinois’s 10th congressional district. From 1991 to 1993, Kirk was the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State in the U.S. State Department. Kirk was an attorney for Baker & McKenzie from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, Kirk was named as a counsel to the House International Relations Committee. He remained counsel to the House International Relations Committee until 1999.[9]
Kirk was originally elected in 2000 with 51%. He won re-election with comfortable margins in 2002 and 2004. He defeated Dan Seals by a five point margin in 2006, and defeated him again by the same exact margin in a rematch in 2008.
Kirk was a member of the House Iran Working Group, the founder and co-chair of the House U.S.-China Working Group,[27] the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues,[9] the co-chair of the Albanian Issues Caucus in ex Yugoslavia,[28] and a member of the GOP Tuesday Group.[29] During his House tenure, he was a member of the House Appropriations Committee.[30]
During his tenure in the House, Kirk voted for the Waxman-Markey "Cap-and-Trade" bill.[31][32]
Source: Appropriations subcommittees
Kirk attracted controversy by stating that he was not opposed if the immigration process in the United States discriminates against Arab males from certain countries. He stated, "I’m OK with discrimination against young Arab males from terrorist-producing states. I’m OK with that."[33]
On July 20, 2009, Kirk announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate election for the seat held by Roland Burris, which had been held by Barack Obama before his election as president. On February 2, 2010, Kirk won the Republican primary with 56.6 percent of the vote; no other candidate had as much as 20 percent.[34] He ran against Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias, Green Party nominee LeAlan Jones, and Libertarian nominee Mike Labno. During the Illinois U.S. Senate election campaign in 2010, Kirk and Giannoulias were in a hotly contested debate. Kirk (R) defeated Giannoulias in the election for the full 6-year term, getting 48% to Giannoulias's 46%. Kirk changed his position on Cap and Trade legislation during the campaign saying he voted for it "because it was in the narrow interests of my Congressional district," but that as a representative of the entire state of Illinois, "I will vote No on that bill.”[35]
On December 18, 2010, Kirk voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.[36] He was one of only two Republicans to oppose legislation to detain American citizens indefinitely.[37] Kirk sits at the Senate's coveted candy desk.[38]
Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | |||
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2000 | Lauren Beth Gash | 115,924 | 49% | Mark Kirk | 121,582 | 51% | |||
2002 | Henry H. Perritt, Jr. | 58,300 | 31% | Mark Kirk | 128,611 | 69% | |||
2004 | Lee Goodman | 99,218 | 36% | Mark Kirk | 177,493 | 64% | |||
2006 | Daniel J. Seals | 94,278 | 47% | Mark Kirk | 107,929 | 53% | * | ||
2008 | Daniel J. Seals | 138,176 | 47% | Mark Kirk | 153,082 | 53% | |||
*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2006, a write-in received 1 vote.
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2010 Illinois United States Senate General Election Results[40] | ||||
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Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
Republican | Mark Kirk | 1,749,941 | 48.4% | |
Democratic | Alexi Giannoulias | 1,667,527 | 46.1% | |
Green | LeAlan Jones | 115,561 | 3.2% | |
Libertarian | Michael Labno | 85,492 | 2.4% | |
Totals | 3,618,521 | 100% | ||
Republican gain from Democratic |
In February 1998, Kirk met his future wife, Kimberly Vertolli, a Naval Intelligence Officer, by chance, while the two were on duty together at the Pentagon.[41] “It was supposed to be my weekend off ... but Saddam had just thrown out the weapons inspectors and we were preparing for a strike on Baghdad,” Vertolli said, according to Capitol File Magazine.[42] The two married in August 2001.[43] After 8 years of marriage, the two separated, finalizing their divorce in the summer of 2009. Reports have noted that the divorce was an amicable one and the two remain close friends.[44]
Kirk was earlier engaged to Virginia Hurt Johnson, whom he met while both were practicing law in Washington, DC, in 1994.[45] Johnson was the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 13th Congressional District of North Carolina in 2004, was Counsel to the House Armed Services Committee and was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for House Legislative Affairs under Secretaries Rumsfeld and Gates.[45]
United States Senate | ||
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Preceded by Roland Burris |
United States Senator (Class 3) from Illinois 2010–present Served alongside: Dick Durbin |
Incumbent |
United States order of precedence | ||
Preceded by Chris Coons D-Delaware |
United States Senators by seniority 86th |
Succeeded by Dan Coats R-Indiana |
United States House of Representatives | ||
Preceded by John Edward Porter |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 10th congressional district 2001–2010 |
Succeeded by Robert Dold |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by Jack Ryan (withdrew) Alan Keyes (general election) |
Republican Party nominee for United States Senator from Illinois (Class 3) 2010 |
Succeeded by Current nominee |
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