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John Shimkus

From dKosopedia

John Simkus is the Republican Reprepresentative for the 19th Congressional District of Illinois in the United States House of Representatives. He has played a major role in covering up the Mark Foley Scandal.

Contents

Background

Shimkus graduated from West Point in 1980. After graduation he trained as an Army Ranger and paratrooper. John served as an infantry officer in the former West Germany and in the United States. He is currently a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves. Shimkus worked as a high school history teacher for a few years, then he was elected Madison County Treasurer in 1990. He was first elected to Congress in 1996. He and his wife Karen have three children.

Quotes

Statements on Congressman Mark Foley (retrieved October 2, 2006 from his offical page)

October 2, 2006 | As the chairman of the House Page Board, I have a responsibility to protect the students participating in the program and former participants. I have been honored to serve in this role and we have worked hard to make the Page program the best program possible.
In fact, the College Board recognized the Page program with an award for top honors in the preparation of students for college.
The instant messages Mark Foley reportedly sent to a former page are deplorable. When I learned of these instant messages last Friday from ABC News reports, the very thought of this behavior made me sick. Mark Foley should be ashamed.
The page program is a valuable part of this institution. Pages have played an important role in Congress' operation since the early 1800s. The integrity of the program must be maintained.
In recent years we have made many improvements including constructing a new page dorm with state of the art security measures. We've also increased adult supervision for them. In the wake of 9-11, we implemented new enhanced transportation and notification systems for the safety of pages. The safety and protection of our Pages has been a top priority in these changes and others.
Last week, I personally met with the current House Pages. I told them that we are committed to their safety and protection and that we will stay in constant contact with them.
In addition, as the Speaker said, we are setting up a 1-800 number which can be used to report ANY concerns and can be used by pages, former and current, and their family members or others with concerns.
In the days ahead, I will be working with members of the Page Board and others, from both inside and outside of the Congress, to make sure Pages are safe both when they are in charge and when they return home.
As the father of three boys, I am personally mindful everyday of just how difficult it is to protect our children, especially in the world of the internet and text messages. I am determined to do everything that we can to make sure that this kind of incident will never happen again.




September 29, 2006 |As chairman of the bipartisan House Page Board in late 2005, I was notified by the then Clerk of the House, who manages the Page Program, that he had been told by Congressman Rodney Alexander about an email exchange between Congressman Foley and a former House Page. I took immediate action to investigate the matter.
In that email exchange, Congressman Foley asked about the former Page's well-being after Hurricane Katrina and requested a photograph. When asked about the email exchange, Congressman Foley said he expressed concern about the Page's well-being and wanted a photo to see that the former Page was alright.
Congressman Foley told the Clerk and me that he was simply acting as a mentor to this former House Page and that nothing inappropriate had occurred. Nevertheless, we ordered Congressman Foley to cease all contact with this former House Page to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. We also advised him to be especially mindful of his conduct with respect to current and former House Pages, and he assured us he would do so. I received no subsequent complaints about his behavior nor was I ever made aware of any additional emails.
It has become clear to me today, based on information I only now have learned, that Congressman Foley was not honest about his conduct.
As Chairman of the House Page Board, I am working with the Clerk to fully review this incident and determine what actions need to be taken.
The House Page Program has been an integral part of the House of Representatives for many decades. Preserving the integrity of the House Page Program is of utmost importance to me and to the House of Representatives, and we intend to uphold and protect its values and traditions.

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External Links

Retrieved from "http://localhost../../../j/o/h/John_Shimkus_aec0.html"

This page was last modified 13:56, 6 July 2007 by dKosopedia user Corncam. Based on work by dKosopedia user(s) Piston25, BartFraden, Powerofpie and Lestatdelc. Content is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.


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