Mark Foley

Mark Adam Foley (born 1954 September 8) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida.

Foley resigned from Congress on 2006 September 29, as allegations surfaced that he had sent suggestive emails and sexually explicit instant messages to children who had formerly served as Congressional pages. As a result of the disclosures, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened investigations of the messages to find possible criminal charges. Two former pages have stated that they had sex with Foley, but only after they reached the age of consent. The House Ethics Committee has also opened an investigation into the response of the House Republican leadership and their staff to earlier warnings of Foley's conduct.

Early years and initial career

Foley was born in Newton, Massachusetts, where his father Edward was a police officer. His godfather is retired Boston Red Sox player Jimmy Piersall, a friend of the elder Foleys. When he was three years old, his family moved to Lake Worth, Florida. Foley was a 1973 graduate of Lake Worth High School and later attended Palm Beach Junior College. Foley has four siblings.

At age 20, Foley started a family restaurant in downtown Lake Worth, The Lettuce Patch, with his mother. He later became a real estate broker. He has served as chairman of Gulfstream Goodwill Industries and Palm Beach Regional Hospital. Foley also is a past president of the Central County Council of Realtors and the Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce.

At the age of 23, Foley was appointed to the Lake Worth City Council after which followed several failed bids for various political offices. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1990 and to the Florida Senate in 1992.

Foley is not married, and when asked questions by the media about his sexual orientation during his political career, he declined to answer them. As long ago as 1996, online commentators and articles in the alternative media had mentioned rumors that Foley is gay—speculation that increased in 2003 during his aborted U.S. Senate bid, when Foley called questions about his sexuality “revolting and unforgivable” but did not refute them. On 2006 October 3, Foley’s attorney David Roth told reporters that Foley is, in fact, gay and that, between the ages of 13 and 15, he was sexually abused by a clergyman. Newsweek reported in its October 5 edition that Foley's homosexuality was an open secret in Washington.

Foley has been in a long-term relationship with a dermatologist, Dr. Layne Nisenbaum.

Congressional career

Early House career

Foley was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 with 58 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat John Comerford. He was re-elected in 1996 with 64 percent of the vote against Democrat Jim Stuber, and again in 1998 (this time without opposition). He was re-elected in 2000 with 60 percent of the vote against Democrat Jean Elliott and Reform Party candidate John McGuire. Constitution Party candidate Jack McLain was his only opponent in 2002. He was re-elected in 2002 with 79 percent of the vote and in 2004 with 68 percent of the vote.

Foley was a moderate Republican. He spent most of his tenure in Congress as a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He was also the first public figure to misquote vice-president Al Gore as having claimed to have "invented" the internet. On 1999 March 12, Reuters reported Mark Foley as saying, ""The vice president is mistaken. The only thing he has ever invented is another tax. He did not invent the Internet but he sure did tax it."

In late 2000, Foley played a large role in aiding George W. Bush during the Presidential election recount controversy in Florida.

In 2006, Foley was a member of the Republican House leadership, serving as deputy whip.

Senate campaigns

In 2003, Foley was widely considered the Republican frontrunner for Bob Graham's Senate seat, especially after Graham had announced his retirement. However, longstanding rumors surfaced that Foley was either gay or bisexual and was in a long-term relationship with a man. The story was initially published only in local and gay press; then the New Times broke the story in the alternative press. Other alternative press rivals, including the New York Press, then addressed the topic. Foley held a press conference to denounce the “revolting” rumors and stated that his sexual orientation was unimportant, but did not specifically deny the rumors. A few weeks later he withdrew his candidacy, saying his father’s battle with cancer had caused him to reassess his perspective on life (the seat was later won by Republican Mel Martinez). Foley had raised $3 million in campaign contributions before withdrawing.

In 2006, as Republican division over the candidacy of Katherine Harris grew, Foley’s name was mentioned as a contender for the race against Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, but he did not file by the May deadline.

Actions in Congress

Legislation regarding pornography and sexual offenses

In the House, Foley was one of the foremost opponents of child pornography. Foley had served as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. He introduced a bill, coined the "Child Modeling Exploitation prevention Act of 2002" to outlaw web sites featuring sexually suggestive images of preteen children, saying that “these websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles.” As it was written, the bill would have prohibited commercial photography of children, and it failed due to the unmanageable burden it would have presented to the legitimate entertainment industry. In June 2003 he wrote letters to the governor and attorney general of Florida, asking them to review the legality of a program for teenagers of a Lake Como nudist resort in Land o’ Lakes, Florida.

Foley’s legislation to change federal sex offender laws was supported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh, and a number of victims’ rights groups. President George W. Bush signed it into law as part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.

Foley also succeeded in getting a law passed that allows volunteer youth-serving organizations like the Boy Scouts of America and Boys and Girls Clubs to have access to FBI fingerprint background checks to help protect children.

Social issues

Foley’s stances on many social issues, such as abortion, differ from his party’s leadership. Although a Roman Catholic, Foley is pro-choice (a member of The Republican Majority For Choice), but has advocated alternatives such as adoption and abstinence. He also supports the Patriot Act, the death penalty, and strict sentencing for hate crimes. Foley was a member of Christine Todd Whitman's It's My Party Too and the Republican Main Street Partnership. According to the National Journal's calculations, in 2005, Representative Foley's voting record on social policy issues was moderate.

Trade and environment

In 2001, he was one of only 23 Republicans who voted against giving President Bush more authority to negotiate international trade agreements. He did offer last-minute support to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, saying that the measure, which passed the House 217-215, would not harm U.S. sugar interests in the long run.

Other

Foley helped secure the first-ever financial commitment from Congress for the preservation of Florida’s Everglades.

Foley helped pass legislation that expedites the deportation of non-violent criminal aliens serving their sentences in federal prisons; and helped eliminate federal prohibitions on notifying a campus community when a student commits a violent crime.

Foley worked to pass legislation to help surviving heirs of Holocaust victims who have been unable to collect on life insurance policies owed to them.

Scandal with Congressional pages and resignation

On 2006 September 28, ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross reported that in 2005 Foley had sent email messages from his personal AOL account to a former Congressional page, asking the page to send a photo of himself to Foley, among other things. Foley’s office confirmed that Foley had sent the messages but said it has a practice of asking for photos of individuals who may ask for recommendations and that the page had requested a recommendation.

The original news report prompted another page to come forward and on 2006 September 29, ABC News reported that it had seen excerpts of sexually explicit instant messages allegedly sent by Foley. The instant messages made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

Kirk Fordham, Chief of Staff to Tom Reynolds and former Chief of Staff to Foley, said that he was with Foley on 2006 September 29 when ABC confronted him with the explicit IMs before they were publicized. According to Newsweek, Foley "knew he was finished." Fordham then visited GOP headquarters to inform Hastert and Reynolds; he returned with a one-sentence resignation letter that Foley signed. Hastert and Reynolds let it be known that if Foley didn't resign, he would be expelled from the House. That same day, Foley tendered his resignation to Speaker Hastert as well as Florida Governor Jeb Bush. 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.”

Once the scandal broke in full, Foley had virtually no chance of staying in Congress. Hastert said in an October 2 press conference that he would have demanded Foley's expulsion from the House had he tried to stay in office. Polls showed him losing badly to his Democratic opponent, Tim Mahoney, and it is highly unlikely the House would have seated him even if he'd come back to win.

The revelations prompted even more pages to come forward, alleging a history of inappropriate conduct by Foley dating back at least ten years. Foley had been warned about the matter in 2005 by another House Republican and the House Clerk. Through his lawyer, Foley insisted he was not a pedophile and had never had sexual contact with any minor. He explained that he had a secret alcohol problem and had made the communications while intoxicated. He checked himself into a rehab clinic on 2006 October 2. His lawyer also revealed that Foley was molested by a clergyman when he was between the ages of 13 and 15 adding that “Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man.” Federal authorities said the explicit messages could result in Foley’s prosecution, under some of the same laws he helped to enact.

The scandal provoked widespread criticism of Republican leaders for their allegedly insufficient response to earlier warnings and inconsistencies in their statements. In particular, many called for House Speaker Dennis Hastert to resign, including some conservative voices such as the editorial page of The Washington Times.

On 19 October 2006, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune stated that a Catholic priest named Anthony Mercieca told the newspaper about an intimate two-year relationship he had with Foley when the congressman was a teenage altar boy living in Lake Worth, Florida. The priest is retired and living in Malta. He acknowledged getting naked in saunas and possible light touching, but denied contacts of a sexual nature.

November 2006 election

Shortly after Foley resigned, the Republican Party of Florida named State Representative Joe Negron to run as the Republican replacement candidate to face Mahoney. In accordance with Florida election law, Foley’s name remained on the ballot. Votes cast for Foley in the November election counted towards Negron’s total. Mahoney called for a full investigation of Foley’s actions. Foley's district had been held by Republicans since its creation in 1973 (it was the 10th District until 1983 and the 12th District until 1993. In an effort to use the scandal to his benefit, Negron used the slogan "Punch Foley for Joe!", instructing voters to "punch" Foley's name on the ballot to chastise him and support Negron.

Joe Negron narrowly lost the election.

Involvement with the Church of Scientology

Template:Importance-s On 2003 May 24 a special dinner was held to honor Mark Foley at the Fort Harrison Hotel, the main accommodations building of the Flag Land Base of the Church of Scientology. Foley received leatherbound copies of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and The Way to Happiness as gifts from the Church.

In 2001 or 2002, Foley was seen at a celebrity celebration at the Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles, California.

After the Foley scandal became public, on 2006 October 5 the Church of Scientology removed the article boasting of their patronage of Foley from its website.

See also

• Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
• House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children
• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• The love that dare not speak its name

External links

• Template:CongBio2
• List of candidates for the Sixteenth Congressional District of Florida
• Associated Press profile
• List of contributors to Mark Foley’s campaigns
• Washington Post profile: "The Open and Closeted Lives of a Gay Congressman" (2006 October 4)
• New Foley Instant Messages; Had Internet Sex While Awaiting House Vote
• IMs from Rep. Mark Foley
• Rep. Mark Foley on saving children from internet predators
• Anthony Mercieca speaking with the Sarasota Herald Tribune on 2006 October 19 about the inappropriate relations with Mark Foley

This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: Foley Mark Foley

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