The Public Record
Mark Kirk is a former Republican U.S. Senator from Illinois, serving from 2010 to 2017. He was the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois since 1970. During his time in office, Kirk was known for his moderate positions on various issues, including support for same-sex marriage and a focus on national security. He served on several Senate committees, including the Armed Services Committee and the Appropriations Committee. Kirk's tenure was marked by his efforts to promote bipartisanship and address fiscal challenges facing the country.
I will just say, also, this legislation responds to a rapidly growing phenomenon in America. Over 25 million American children have their personal data on these sites. These sites are now the number one sites on the Internet, and we are…
I thank the chairman and wish to work with you and the Chief of Naval Operations on this and make sure that we can work together in conference to make sure our Navy air crews have full electronic support. Amendment Offered by Mr. Engel
I thank the gentleman. Tomorrow, then, five dozen Members of Congress come together to unveil the suburban agenda, many of these pieces of legislation already with bipartisan support, and it represents commonsense solutions addressing real…
One of the critical problems we have, we have heard of gangs like the Latin Kings and the Vice Lords and the Gangster Disciples, but we have a new gang emerging called MS-13 that may have reported, we don't know, links to international…
We all know Dave Reichert from Washington, who was the national hero who tracked down the Green River killer and is someone who understands well law enforcement challenges east of the Cascades in Seattle. One of the big issues we are also…
I thank the gentlewoman who lost Jessica Lunsford in her own district. Our leader on this issue is Congressman Jon Porter from Nevada, the author of the School Safety Acquiring Faculty Excellence Act, and I want to yield to him.
I strongly support the Shays amendment because this continues the CAP program led by groups like Mercy Corps in Iraq who are able to operate with very low levels of security because they are so heavily supported by the local community…
Problems now loom in Latin America as they did in the 1980s. Venezuela's Mussolini, Hugo Chavez, ordered 40 Russian military helicopters to station on his border with Colombia. And he is also taking delivery of over 100,000 AK-103 assault…
Right now, the area where we think he's hiding is rural. And the communities are largely illiterate. So news about the award program and how to come in, and how safely your family will be protected, hasn't really penetrated these…
If you believe in today's Boxer Rebellion, you must believe that the 627 million votes for President Bush do not count. You must believe that the 50 Secretaries of State who certified their elections were all wrong. You must believe that…
I worry that that process will be too slow, and that Osama bin Laden does not see this country as big State versus small State; Osama bin Laden does not see this country as urban versus rural. He knows of a few big targets. From his cave…
Yesterday a Member of Congress led the House in the Pledge of Allegiance using his own personal version. He left the phrase out ``under God'' from our Pledge. While he may not love ``under God'' in our country's pledge, God still loves…
Many of our communities have quiet zones to protect their environment from needless noise pollution by trains. The Federal Government is poised to put forward a regulation that eliminates our local community quiet zones unless new…
Some tough choices were made. The overall budget, outside of the Department of Defense, froze Federal spending. Some will say that is a cut, but actually the same level of financing was provided that we did last year as a part of fiscal…
We have that. We also are talking about changing the rules of Congress. There are some rules of the Congress that are never waived. Any Member can raise a point of personal privilege, and that has never been touched. But there are other…
We have that to make sure that we show that what you got last year is higher than what you have got the previous year. This year is higher than what you got last year. But we have a number of other problems in presenting the financial…
This is the same way that we now close military bases, which was so difficult before. We also talked about how, in the budget presentation to us, that the executive branch, the budgeteers, automatically include an inflation adjustment, so…
The example of the rain forest is a powerful one that we focused on. But we have another reform that we have seen difficulties with: a line-item veto, which allows the President to identify pork barrel spending and eliminate it. But we…
For example, this money is going to help support 240 health clinics around Iraq. Those health clinics will be close to where our troops are stationed. So the people of Iraq will see that we are adding to the health infrastructure of this…
The top priority of our foreign policy must be to protect Americans in uniform abroad. Our troops need allies to help shoulder the burden in Iraq. More allies will show the Iraqi people that the world community is strengthening its support…
The House will vote tomorrow on a free trade agreement, not just with Chile, but also with Singapore. Free trade agreements have transformed other countries now allied to the United States. For example, our agreement with Jordan boosted…
No weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? We know to a moral certitude of such weapons. How do we know? Saddam Hussein told us. On December 7 of last year, he told the U.N. that he owned 30,000 chemical weapons, but he forgot where he put…
One of the challenges Secretary Powell faces is the growing isolation of Germany and France from their European allies. NATO nations voted 16 to 3 to support the defense of Turkey, our democratic ally. I worry about Germany's growing…
This is a courageous decision by the gentleman. As a member of the committee and as a supporter of Peotone, the gentleman has engendered a lot of goodwill and friendship when we complete the final legislation. My hope is that it will…
Right now, an application is pending before the Department of Transportation Secretary Mineta. If approved, it offers an immediate way to upgrade flight deck security using nonlethal technology. And I thank the chairman for his leadership…
Politicians like Mark Kirk
