Mark Kirk for Congress News

Kirk Looks Strong - RealClearPolitics.com

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:34:00 CST

There are fewer incumbents who better fit the description of a paranoid incumbent than Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk. The moderate whose district sits just north of Chicago won his first term with just 51%, and after two easier elections won a fourth term in 2006 with just 53% of the vote. This year, a new poll for his campaign shows, Kirk leads his 2006 opponent by a much wider margin.

The poll, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for Kirk's campaign, surveyed 300 likely voters on 6/9 for a margin of error of +/- 5.6%. Kirk and advertising executive Dan Seals were tested among a sample that included 35% Democratic respondents, 33% Republican respondents and 32% independents or others.

General Election Matchup
Kirk.........53 (+3 from last, 3/08)
Seals........32 (+3)

A one-day poll is not a standard survey length, and Democrats will make an issue out of the numbers. Most pollsters will conduct their surveys over multiple days to ensure that one news story or event doesn't weigh too heavily on the sample's mind. Too, the sample size is relatively small.

But Kirk's lead is easily outside the margin of error, and his favorable rating is a strong 67% to 16%. Seals' approval rating is 39% compared with 16% who see him unfavorably, a good ratio for a challenger, though he will have to bring up his name identification before he closes the gap with Kirk.

A moderate, Kirk is not likely to be cast as in lock step with Congressional Republicans or President Bush. And though John Kerry and Al Gore won the district in both 2000 and 2004, Kirk has been on the ballot with hometown favorite Barack Obama before, winning 64% of the vote when Kerry beat Bush by a 53%-47% margin in the district.

Still, Democrats are optimistic that they will eventually take the district back. Seals beat out a former Clinton Administration official in the Democratic primary in February, but if he can't knock off Kirk this time around, it may be the last time Seals makes a bid for Congress.

Kirk Touts Advantages in Campaign Memo - Roll Call

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:32:00 CST

In a memo distributed by his campaign on Wednesday, Rep. Mark Kirk (R) said his 2.5-to-1 cash advantage, popularity with Jewish voters and challenger Dan Seals� (D) gaffes will again make him bulletproof in 2008.

Kirk, who beat the marketing consultant by roughly 14,000 votes in the previous cycle, predicted that downtrodden Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) will generate �a strong anti-Democratic headwind� in the North Shore district � despite home-state Democratic Sen. Barack Obama�s name at the top of the ballot as the White House nominee.

In the memo, Kirk also appears to portray his general election opponent, who holds a University of Chicago MBA, as a jobless laggard who pays his personal expenses out of his campaign coffers.

�After losing his bid for Congress, Seals did not return to GE Finance and was unemployed,� the memo reads. �Near the end of the 2006 campaign, Seals paid himself $25,000 out of his campaign donor funds � an act that is legal but strongly discouraging to donors.�
The memo added: �In May, Seals filed his 2008 financial disclosure with the U.S. House showing only $3,300 in earned income through the first quarter of the year.

Navy launches work on Lovell Center - News Sun

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:29:00 CST

NORTH CHICAGO -- Retired astronaut James Lovell joined U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park, and a number of high-ranking Navy officers marked the beginning of construction of the veterans and naval hospital on Monday.

Kirk reminisced about how plans to close the hospital were scuttled and then, once a combined hospital for veterans and active-duty personnel and their dependents was realized, he didn't want one of those weird acronym names for the facility.

Cong. Mark Kirk unveiled a huge portrait of retired astronaut James Lovell that will be placed in the lobby of the hospital when it is completed in 2010.

Lovell recently published a book, "Lost Moon," concerning the courageous mission of Apollo 13 that was made into a movie in 1995. His crew successfully modified their lunar module when the oxygen system failed. His family opened Lovell's of Lake Forest in 1999, where patrons dine among NASA-related artifacts and posters.

"I could see the name in documents 'NVANCMC,'" said Kirk as the 500 people around him laughed. "I wanted to have a 10th District hero lend his name to the facility, and that way no future bureaucrat could ever be able to close down our hospital" -- the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center.

The $71 million ambulatory care center is set to open in July 2010 as a four-story addition to the existing medical center. There was also a ribbon-cutting for the newly completed parking garage. The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs built the hospital together, the first joint effort of this size.

Kirk, a Naval Reserve intelligence officer, credited veterans Johnnie Allen and Phil Mazur with taking up the battle to preserve the hospital after a Veterans Affairs Department study called for the virtual elimination of in-patient programs at the VA Medical Center.

"To all of you wonderful guys (veterans), stand up and be recognized. I just want to say you saved our country's butt, and now it's time for us to save yours," he said.

Kirk also praised Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield.

"But for you, we would not be here today," said Kirk.

Also honored in pushing the project through were Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Stephen Jones, Vice Commander, Navy Reserve Forces Command Donald Gintzig.

"I'm quite humbled," Lovell said, citing a letter from a Marine who had served in Iraq who praised the astronaut. Lovell said it was he who should be honored.

"To me, you are the present-day hero. These are trying times in military history, and we need to pass our patriotism on to our kids," he said. "May this federal health-care center serve our military's both past and present."

"Time will tell," Marine veteran Mike Decker of Zion said of the combined hospital for veterans, active-duty sailors and their dependents.

Kirk said that group represents about 100,000 people.

By combining the Naval base health-care facility and the veterans hospital, the general taxpayer and those who use the facility will reap the benefits, said Dr. Tariq Hassan, chief of staff for the hospital.

"We've been able to expand the scope of the surgery we perform already. Everyone benefits," he said.

First-of-its-kind federal hospital moving forward in N. Chicago - Daily Herald

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:19:00 CST

Retired astronaut and Navy Capt. James A. Lovell has earned countless accolades during his distinguished career and in the years since he left military service.

A blockbuster movie was even made about his most famous mission, the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight to the moon.

But it was a groundbreaking ceremony Monday morning in North Chicago that had the biggest impact on his wife, Marilyn.

She dabbed at tears as Lovell, of Lake Forest, and other dignitaries celebrated the pending construction of the Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, the first-ever joint Navy and Veterans Administration hospital.

"Jim has received many, many awards since flying his greatest space mission, but today has hit me the most emotionally," Marilyn Lovell explained. "I can't believe that his name is going to be on this hospital."

Set to open in 2010, the facility will be the nation's first joint Veterans Affairs/Navy hospital, said U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park. It will be on the grounds of the North Chicago VA Medical Center, which will merge with the nearby Great Lakes Naval Station's hospital to create the new facility.

"I'm superbly happy," Lovell said of the project. "I think this is a great idea."

When completed, the Lovell Center will serve an estimated 100,000 veterans, active-duty recruits or troops and civilian relatives annually. Plans call for the Navy facility to be demolished the following year.

Lovell was among several dignitaries who spoke to a crowd of about 400 during Monday's ceremony, which was staged in a recently completed parking garage built for the new hospital. A ribbon-cutting event was held for the garage, too.

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park, Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Gordon Mansfield and Principal Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Stephen Jones also addressed the crowd, honored Lovell and praised the long-planned partnership between the VA and Navy.

"We have here a unique historical opportunity," said Rear Admiral Donald Gintzig, deputy commander of Navy Medicine East. "It's about working together to deliver the best care possible."

The VA's Mansfield said his agency and the Navy must evolve if they want to "deliver world-class health care to those who have earned it."

Like Lovell and his space missions, the agencies are "going somewhere new and different," Mansfield said.

Lovell is best known for commanding the 1970 Apollo 13 flight, which suffered a crippling malfunction in space but returned safely to Earth. He also was a Navy test pilot and combat pilot whose decorations include two Navy Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The first phase of the $130 million project includes the parking garage, a new hospital entrance and an ambulatory care center.

The project is particularly remarkable for the fact that, not even a decade ago, a VA report recommended significant service reductions at the hospital.

Kirk, himself a combat veteran, and other advocates fought to save the center and developed plans to merge services there with the nearby Navy hospital.

"This culminates almost a decade of work to save veterans' health care in Illinois," Kirk said.

On Monday, Kirk suggested that a copy of the infamous VA report be buried beneath the future Lovell center.

Kirk Hopes To Double Federal Funding For Alternative Fuels, Cars - WBBM Radio

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 13:19:00 CST

Congressman Mark Kirk is pushing legislation through the House that would double the amount of federal dollars pumped into the Clean Cities Program.

The goal of the program is to promote the use of more alternative vehicles and fuels to reduce the country's oil consumption.

At the University of Illinois at Chicago's Transportation Center, where the school's fleet if fueled with compressed natural gas - the cleanest of all commonly used alternative fuels-Kirk met with local environmental leaders to talk about the program.

Kirk's amendment - which would double the amount of federal money for the Clean Cities Program to $25-million - has passed through committee.

In 10th Congressional District race, Republican incumbent raised about $4 million for election, and Democratic challenger took in $2 million - Chicago Tribune

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 22:18:00 CST

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk and Democratic challenger Dan Seals released second-quarter fundraising totals Monday showing the 10th District race should be as hotly contested as their 2006 showdown.

Kirk, a four-term Republican incumbent from Highland Park, raised $900,000 for the three-month period ending June 30, giving him $3.87 million raised for the 2008 election cycle and more than $2.85 million in his campaign fund.

Seals, a self-employed business consultant from Wilmette, collected $635,000 during the second quarter toward his $2.1 million total. Seals, who narrowly lost his bid to unseat Kirk two years ago, had $1.17 million in his campaign fund.

Seals said the money he has collected from nearly 4,500 contributors during the first six months of this year is more than he collected during his entire 2006 campaign, virtually assuring a spirited contest on the North Shore.

Kirk said that he remained confident that a June campaign poll showing him with a more than 20-point lead over Seals was accurate. He said 1,900 individuals contributed to his campaign during the three-month reporting period in addition to the more than 1,500 who have signed up to work for his campaign.

Kirk continues torrid fundraising pace - Politico

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 22:17:00 CST

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), facing a highly-competitive re-election campaign, appears poised to again be one of the top Congressional fundraisers after announcing he raised $900,000 in the most recent fundraising quarter.

Kirk now has $2.85 million cash-on-hand � all of it which will be necessary to advertise in the expensive Chicago media market.

"I am humbled by the groundswell of grassroots support my campaign received last quarter," Kirk said in a statement.

Kirk's Democratic opponent, business consultant Dan Seals, reported his own strong fundraising quarter, raising about $635,000 over the last three months.

Seals is one of the Democrats' top recruits this election cycle. He won 47 percent of the vote against Kirk in 2006 despite receiving little support from the national party establishment -- and is one of the Democrats' best-funded House challengers this time around.

Kirk Shatters Fundraising Record with Over $900,000 in 2nd Quarter, $3.8 Million in 2008 Cycle - Kirk for Congress

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 18:33:00 CST

NORTHBROOK, IL -- Congressman Mark Kirk's re-election campaign today reported raising a record $900,000 in the second quarter of 2008 with a total of $3.87 million raised in the 2008 election cycle and over $2.85 million in the bank.

The Kirk campaign is ahead of its 2006 pace as well. On June 30, 2006, Kirk for Congress reported $1.86 million cash-on-hand and $2.3 million in total receipts. According to the disclosure, the Kirk campaign has already raised $700,000 more than it did the entire 2006 election cycle when Kirk defeated challenger Dan Seals by seven points.

"I am humbled by the groundswell of grassroots support my campaign received last quarter," Congressman Kirk said. "I am working hard to enact new energy policies that reduce gas prices and get our economy back on track, provide health care access to all Americans, and keep our kids safe from guns, gangs and online predators."

The Kirk campaign received contributions from over 1,900 individual donors, 92.43% percent of whom live in Illinois. Additionally, more than 1,500 people have signed up as volunteers to walk precincts, call their neighbors and build grassroots support.

Last month, the Kirk campaign released new polling numbers showing Kirk with a comfortable 21-point lead over Seals. The survey, conducted June 9th by McLaughlin & Associates, polled 300 likely general election voters and showed Kirk with a 53 percent to 32 percent lead over Seals, with 15 percent undecided. Additionally, the survey showed Kirk with a 67 percent favorable rating, equal to Senator Barack Obama and seven points better than a survey conducted in August 2006. The survey also showed Governor Rod Blagojevich's favorable rating plummeting from 2006 down to a meager 14 percent.

Kirk's opponent made headlines recently when a campaign stunt to give away free gasoline backfired. The Seals campaign backed up traffic for miles in all directions and was later fined $2,200 by the local police department.

"With gas prices skyrocketing, voters are looking for leadership and creative solutions to ease the pain at the pump and end our national addiction to oil," said Eric Elk, a Kirk campaign spokesman. "Contributions started rolling in to Congressman Kirk's campaign when voters saw Dan Seals was all about partisan gimmicks and campaign stunts. There will be a clear contrast in November between Congressman Kirk's experience, independence and results-based leadership and his opponent's inexperience and gimmick-based approach to public policy."

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Local Congressmen Push for Alternative Fuels; Kirk Blasts Legislature - WGN AM

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:00:00 CST

(WGN-AM) - Illinois GOP Congressmen Mark Kirk and Judy Biggert are pushing new legislation to move America away from foreign oil and toward alternative energies. Kirk also took time Monday to blast Illinois state lawmakers for holding up a capital bill.

Kirk says a capital program for the state is crucial as prices at the pump soar to record levels. "The decision to let go on the transit side of $4.5 billion dollars in federal transportation funds makes no sense. That's why we have to make sure that Illinois leaves no federal dollar left behind.

Kirk says is doesn't matter what the state of play is among legislative leaders, the federal money is too good to let go.

Kirk and Biggert appeared at the Adler Planetarium to unveil the Apollo Energy Independence Act. It would shift money from earmarks and subsidy programs to development of alternative energies, cars and fuels.

Kirk, Biggert Announce Energy Plan - CBS 2 Chicago

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:58:00 CST

CHICAGO (CBS) ¯ Two suburban Republican lawmakers have been keeping an eye on the gas crisis.

As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, they believe America should spend billions of tax dollars to develop new sources of energy and end our addiction to foreign oil.

Under their plan, new nuclear power plants, wind-driven turbines and solar energy units would pop up across America, not to mention thousands of service stations switching from petroleum-based fuels to bio-fuels made from grass and other non-food plant sources. Kernels of corn would once again be for eating.

Those were the highlights of an alternative energy proposal offered by DuPage County Congresswoman Judy Biggert and North Shore Congressman Mark Kirk.

"With gas prices so high, it's time for a new energy policy in the U.S.," Kirk said.

Facing democratic challengers trying to make hay from high gasoline prices, he and Biggert spoke on the same day presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain called for taxpayers to offer a $300 million prize for inventing a practical car battery with triple the power any now has.

Biggert said, "It's taken a long time for the American people to come around, but I think they are finally getting it."

With charts and the Adler Planetarium as backdrop, the suburban Republicans and local scientists said America needs to summon the same sense of urgency with which we went to the moon.

Matt Davis said, "The goals of the Apollo Energy Independence Act are three-fold: lower gas costs, boost alternative energies, and improve energy efficiency."

As proposed by Biggert and Kirk, the Apollo initiative would offer the bulk of its $22 billion in the form of tax credits other tax breaks.

Kirk fears bickering will cost Illinois $9 billion - Sun Times

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:49:00 CST

Illinois would be a national "laughingstock" if state leaders keep feuding over how to finance a statewide construction program and blow an October deadline to get $9 billion in federal matching funds, Rep. Mark Kirk said Monday.

"Gov. Schwarzenegger in California, Gov. Rendell in Pennsylvania, Gov. Crist in Florida, Gov. Paterson in New York, all are ready to put forward a match if Illinois drops the ball on the 5-yard line," the north suburban GOP congressman said.

The money has been in the federal budget waiting to go to Illinois since 2005. But Gov. Blagojevich, state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) and other leaders in Springfield have tangled over how to finance the state's portion of the tab to build roads, schools and other projects. Blagojevich has blamed Madigan for refusing to discuss options.

"If [Madigan] comes to the table, of course it can be done," Blagojevich spokeswoman Katie Ridgway said.

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown responded, "They still have a bill that is opposed by the city of Chicago. . . . They still have a lack of safeguards for the projects so people know how the money will be properly spent."

Brown said Illinois' strong congressional delegation should be able to delay a raid on the $9 billion if negotiations drag on past October.

Congressman Asks Terrorist Screening of Gaza Fulbrights - New York Sun

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:06:00 CST

WASHINGTON � A Republican congressman is pressing the State Department to screen three Palestinian Arab recipients of Fulbright grants to determine their links to terrorism after learning of their affiliation with a Hamas-sponsored university.

The three winners of American taxpayer-funded Fulbright grants to study in America � Fidaa Abed, Osama Dawoud, and Zohair Abu Shaban � have studied or taught at the Islamic University of Gaza. An Israeli newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, reported in 2007 that Islamic U. was one location where a kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was kept after his abduction in 2006. The newspaper also said forces loyal to President Abbas had raided the university in 2007 and found stocks of rifles and rocket launchers.

"On its face, the State Department's decision to award Fulbright Scholarships to employees or affiliates of Islamic University of Gaza is a direct violation of new U.S. Law," Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, wrote in a letter to the acting inspector general of the State Department, Harold Geisel, on June 10.

The letter also cites an Israeli press report that an officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard taught a course at the university in explosives-making, though one source cautioned that that claim may be propaganda from a rival Palestinian Arab faction.

During the weekend, Secretary of State Rice pressed Israel to allow the three Fulbright winners to leave Gaza, as Israel had allowed four other Gazan Fulbright winners to leave earlier this month. This week, Israeli officials had announced that two of Islamic University's Fulbright recipients would not be granted exit visas because their names were on an Israeli terror watch list.

The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times have taken up the cause of the Palestinian Arab Fulbright winners. But for Mr. Kirk the episode discloses a potential weakness in the Fulbright screening process.

In his letter to Mr. Geisel, the Republican lawmaker urged the acting inspector general to "investigate the Department's compliance mechanism so that U.S. taxpayer money never again ends up in the hands of those affiliated with institutions controlled by certified foreign terrorist organizations in violation of U.S. law."

Specifically Mr. Kirk wants the Fulbright winners to be vetted through the U.S. Agency for International Development's Terrorist Screening Center, a new vetting process created to keep development aid out of the hands of terrorists.

"Since the appropriations committee on behalf of the U.S. taxpayer paid for the TSC system, can't we run these names? The answer from State is, we don't do that," Mr. Kirk said in an interview.

The Islamic University of Gaza is intertwined with Hamas. In his letter, Mr. Kirk quotes Jameela El Shanty, a professor at the school who told the Baltimore Sun in 2006: "Hamas built this institution. The university presents the philosophy of Hamas. If you want to know what Hamas is, you can know it from the university."

While America has supported a recent cease-fire announced this week between Hamas and Israel, the State Department since 1997 has considered Hamas a foreign terrorist organization.

In a response to questions from Mr. Kirk, the State Department responded that it does not have formal ties with the Islamic University of Gaza, or IUG. "The U.S. Consulate does not deal with the IUG as an institution because of its links to Hamas. However, we continue to accept applications from individual students and professors. These applications go through the same vetting process as all other USG funded grantees," the State Department wrote in response.

Mr. Kirk however said he was dumbfounded as to why the Fulbright applicants from the Islamic University of Gaza were not fully screened.

"I am an internationalist, I am for exchange programs," he said. "But look at it like this. The upside is three guys get a U.S. education. The downside is the taxpayers funded terrorists entering the United States for God knows what."

The State Department's work on Fulbright scholarships in Gaza in the past has been cause for tragedy. On October 15, 2003, a roadside bomb blew up a convoy of American contractors who were in Gaza to interview applicants for the Fulbright program.

The scholarship awarded to both Americans to study abroad and foreigners to study here was named for Senator William Fulbright, a Democrat from Arkansas. In 2007, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released the minutes from the executive meetings of that panel in 1967 that Fulbright chaired. In one meeting before the Six-Day War, Fulbright proposed eliminating the tax-exempt status of the United Jewish Appeal because it had lobbied to support Israel in that war. "The trouble is they think they have control of the Senate and they can do as they please," Fulbright was quoted as telling the secretary of state, Dean Rusk.

Kirk seeks to restore assault weapons ban - Pioneer Press

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:46:00 CST

Citing concern about an increase in gun violence nationwide, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk has introduced legislation to restore the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.

Kirk, R-10th, of Highland Park, held a press conference Monday in Chicago about the new gun control legislation. He was joined by supporters of the assault weapons ban, including Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins, Waukegan Police Chief Bill Biang, and Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence Executive Director Thom Mannard.

Kirk said when he ran for Congress in 1999, he opposed the federal assault weapons ban expiration in September 2004. He said he's backed legislation since then to reinstate it, and this year went even further by introducing his own.

"I was surprised because the Democrats control Congress, and yet 18 months after taking office they have yet to approve this legislation and that's why I introduced my own bill," he said.

During the 10 years the assault weapons ban was in effect from 1994 to 2004, Kirk said violent crimes involving assault weapons dropped by more than 60 percent.

In recent years, he said assault weapons have been used in 20 percent of the murders of police officers nationwide.

"Just two weeks ago, there was a hostage situation in Waukegan where a man armed with two assault weapons shot over 30 rounds of ammunition at police officers," said Kirk.

No police officers were injured in the shooting, but the suspect committed suicide.

The assault weapons ban covers a host of semi-automatic weapons, such as M16s, AK47s, UZIs, and TEC-9s, as well as revolving cylinder shotguns such as the Street Sweeper and Striker 12...

Officials decry financial crisis at Lake County homeless shelter - Pioneer Press

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:44:00 CST

The slumping economy is not just affecting those with a roof over their heads.

Officials of PADS, Lake County's homeless shelter, are facing a severe financial crisis and are encouraging residents to make contributions.

At the PADS Crisis Service location Tuesday in North Chicago, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, State Sen. Susan Garrett, State Rep. Karen May and Director of Lake County Health Department Irene Piece were among the elected officials to show their support for the organization.

The mayors of North Chicago and Waukegan, as well as Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran and the supervisors from West Deerfield, Shields and Waukegan townships, also were present.

"Our goal was to bring together all the leaders of Lake County to fully understand the need to reach out and raise funds for the increasing homeless population that confronts Lake County," said Garrett of Lake Forest.

"In order to help our homeless population, we're reaching out to our churches, foundations and private individuals to make a contribution of any size," she added.

Mortgage problems

Because of the economy, mortgage foreclosures and high gas prices, the number of homeless people has increased in the past year, leaving PADS with a dramatic shortfall in funding.

"Our numbers are increasing greatly. Lots of families are touched by mortgage foreclosures because their landlords have been foreclosed, so the renters have to move out," said PADS Director Cathy Curran.

PADS needs to cover a shortfall of $360,000 by Sept. 1, of which $150,000 must be received by June 30.

"We anticipate that in our coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, we'll need help," Curran said. "We're hoping that we have enough money from private donors and foundations and the government to continue our programs."

PADS is open all year and helps an average of 75 people each day, but more people are in need of help starting in October. The homeless shelter provides a variety of programs, including Street Outreach, PADS Day Resource Center, PADS Emergency Shelter, Family Center and New Beginnings for Seniors.

From June 2007 through May, PADS saw a 17 percent increase from the previous year in new clients and a 48 percent increase in children. Although the number of veterans (11 percent) was down last year, PADS expects the number to rise as veterans return from the wars.

"As the economy spirals and gas prices go up, PADS continues to see an increase in families who have nowhere to go but PADS shelters," Garrett said.

PADS board members said they will find a solution to solve the financial crisis, but will have to be creative.

Board Member Robert Braash said the number of homeless people has increased in overnight shelters and at two programs for 42 women and children and 10 senior men in Waukegan.

"We may have to provide less support and employ less people, but the beauty of PADS is we've never turned anybody away, nor do we intend to," Braash said.

To make a contribution to PADS, visit www.lakecountypads.org.

AN APOLOGY - Congressman Mark Kirk

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:00:00 CST

On Wednesday, I misspoke when talking with a local Chicago radio program regarding the current presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama as well as the status of our anti-terrorism efforts against Osama Bin Laden. During the course of this conversation, I mistakenly referred to "Osama" as "Obama." After being alerted to my mistake, I apologized to Senator Obama for my misstatement and will take extra care to make sure I do not make such a mistake again.

EDITORIAL: Reinstate the ban - News Sun

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:28:00 CST

For those of us who decry violence in our communities, losing the federal ban on assault weapons was a blow to law enforcement. Now, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park, has introduced legislation in Congress to restore the ban that expired in 2004. The fact is that military-style assault weapons are designed to kill as many people as possible in rapid-fire succession. One hardly needs an AK-47 and a magazine containing as many as 40 rounds to go duck hunting in the fall on the Chain O'Lakes.

Most Americans and numerous law enforcement organizations support the ban, which had been in effect for 10 years. Waukegan Police Chief Bill Biang endorses the measure. Just two weeks ago, Waukegan police were drawn into a standoff with a suspect, who later committed suicide, who had at least one assault weapon in his possession. Currently, there are an estimated 1.5 million privately owned assault weapons in the U.S.

Chicago police argue assault weapons are being used to militarize street gangs. One study suggests automatic weapons like AK-47s are used in 20 percent of murders of law enforcement officers. Illinois does not have a statewide assault weapons ban or large magazine restriction, which in itself is a travesty.

It is not only law enforcement groups which back the ban. Trauma-care physicians who treat the victims of such weapons feel the same way. They and many others can make the common-sense distinction between owning regular firearms and the folly of legalizing weapons whose primary function is to kill and maim indiscriminately.

It is estimated that while the United States had the ban, there was a 66 percent drop in the number of assault weapons used in violent crimes. Kirk's legislation would make it illegal to manufacture, transfer or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon or high-capacity magazines.

Assault weapons go beyond our right to bear arms. Reinstating the ban deserves bipartisan support.

Kirk Wants Assault Weapons Ban Re-Instated - WGN Radio

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:22:00 CST

(WGN-AM) - The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban expired four years ago, but North Shore Republican Congressman Mark Kirk would like to see it reinstated.

He wants the sale, possesion, or transfer of semi-automatic, high capacity firearms to be illegal.

Kirk said the old assault weapons ban worked.

"We had a 66% drop in crimes involving assault weapons. Weapons designed with only one purpose, to kill human beings," Kirk said.
Richard Pearson of the Illinois State Rifle Association said the drop in crime reflected the increasing number of people allowed to carry concealed firearms.

"What happened during that time Rep. Kirk talked about was that Concealed-Carry legislation went through in most states," Pearson said.

Pearson added hunters would be affected by a re-born assault weapons ban.

Call for renewed assault weapon ban - ABC 7 Chicago

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:20:00 CST

CHICAGO (WLS) -- More flights have been cleared to land at O'Hare Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is lifting flight caps that have limited arrivals at the airport since 2004.

The weapons were banned in 1994 but that ban expired in 2004.

Monday, Kirk joined local law enforcement leaders to push for new legislation that would get assault weapons off the streets.

Kirk says, without the ban, even police officers in full body armor are in danger.

"They can feel somewhat protected from a normal pistol, but against weapons like these body armor offers no significant protection for a police officer," said Rep. Mark Kirk, (R) Illinois.

The proposed legislation would make it illegal to manufacture, transfer or possess semi-automatic assault weapons and ammunition.
Opponents say the law will not cut down on the number of violent crimes.

Kirk Not Worried by Storm - Roll Call

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:24:00 CST

Election Day won't be the first time Rep. Mark Kirk's (R-Ill.) fate has been tested on the banks of Lake Michigan.

When he was a teenager, the four-term incumbent encountered the Great Lake's notoriously unpredictable rough seas in little more than a dingy. After flipping his sail boat, Kirk lost his glasses and the boat's centerboard, rendering the vessel useless and his options limited.

More than a mile from shore, the future lawmaker reckoned he'd brave the 40-degree water and swim back, Kirk recently recalled in an interview. He soon found himself too overwhelmed by the cold to continue.

But moments before the 16-year-old Kirk nearly cashed in his life's chips, he said he was thrown a rope. Kirk next remembers waking up in the hole of a Coast Guard boat. His body temperature had reached 82 degrees, two degrees shy of cardiac failure. He asked whether he was going to die. The Coast Guardsman said he wasn't sure.

"It was the life-defining event of my life," Kirk said. "It changed everything."

This year, Kirk's world again is expected to experience "change," except this time it's a slogan carried by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), and an unusually large number of new Democratic voters in the Land of Lincoln.

And unlike his first clash with fate, there is little possibility of a political lifeline for Kirk this year. The National Republican Congressional Committee, which declined to comment on the race, is broke and may have bigger fish to fry other than protecting its best-heeled incumbent in his rematch with Dan Seals (D). The marketing consultant, who lost last cycle by 13,000 votes, has substantial support this time from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and is expected to be one of top beneficiaries nationally of an Obama-led ticket.

But Kirk apparently saw the writing on the wall early on this cycle, raising an impressive $2.9 million so far.

The policy-oriented lawmaker said another part of his strategy this cycle by is to continue to stake out moderate positions on abortion, gun control and other issues that resonate in the district, which takes in wealthy suburbs like leafy Highland Park north of Chicago.

Kirk also said he has paid particular attention to local environmental issues and organized gang infestation in the district's poorer enclaves.

So far, Kirk's battle plan appears to be working. In a ballot test released Tuesday, Kirk was well ahead of Seals, 53 percent to 32 percent.

The poll, taken by McLaughlin and Associates on Monday, included 300 likely general election voters and had a 5.6-point margin of error.
More importantly, the survey also explored Obama's possible effect downballot, which Democrats are speculating may open new doors for their party in traditional Republican strongholds like Virginia and North Carolina.

But the recent campaign survey memo suggests that, in fact, a dramatically different dynamic is under way in Kirk's district.

"In a district that is 33 percent Republican and 35 percent Democrat, the answer to this question will be decided by 'independents' and 'ticket splitters,'" the polling memo stated. "Currently, these likely Obama voters are breaking for Kirk by a 2-to-1 margin and have a significantly highly favorable opinion of Mark Kirk."

In an interview last week, just days before the poll was released, Kirk argued a similar logic, claiming that although Obama will carry his predominately wealthy and highly educated constituency in November, it may not be a blowout against the presumptive GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

And unlike the GOP moderates of last cycle, Kirk also is not planning to stow away every last vestige of his party affiliation ahead of the election. Quite the contrary. He is arranging joint campaign appearances with McCain in the district and, in early September, Kirk plans on attending the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Moreover, Kirk predicted that the district's heavily Jewish population, which he estimated at 20 percent of the electorate, will gravitate toward McCain, who is often considered to hold a stronger stances on Israel and national security than Obama.

Kirk also said many Democratic district voters rarely leave the polling place without picking at least one Republican.

"People in our district feel guilty unless they vote for someone in the other party," Kirk said. "There is a popularity for McCain in the Jewish community that was not there for the president."
President Bush lost Kirk's district twice, taking 47 percent of the vote each time.

And if Jewish voters continue to question Obama, Kirk said, they too may look skeptically at his opponent, Seals, a candidate who shares a similar profile with Obama and whose campaign undoubtedly is counting on a massive boost from the presidential nominee on Election Day.

Still, Seals worked early on to secure strong backing from Jewish leaders and soundly defeated Jay Footlik, a former Clinton White House official, in this year's Democratic primary.

Chief among Seals' early champions were Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and former federal judge Abner Mikva, who represented Kirk's district in Congress decades ago and now is a political confidant to Seals.

Ironically, Kirk said one of his first political jobs was working for the Democratic Mikva in the early 1970s. Kirk later switched parties - because a Democratic lawmaker was mean to him, he said - and he eventually become an aide to ex-Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.), whose seat he won after Porter retired in 2000.

Early on, Porter warned Kirk about the now-octogenarian Mikva, who is still known as a gun-slinging Windy City partisan and perpetual antagonist to Kirk or to any other Republican who dares campaign in the Chicagoland area.

At a social engagement after he was elected to Congress, Kirk recalled that he once unsuccessfully tried to bury the hatchet with Mikva.

"I came up to him and said: 'Ab, I'm Mark Kirk ... I worked for you in 1974," Kirk recalled. "[Mikva] said, 'well, I hope you lose.'"
In an interview, Mikva did not dispute Kirk's recollection, other than to say, "I hope I didn't say it meanly."

The former Clinton White House lawyer argued that Kirk ultimately will be a casualty of the battered Republican brand, which also will suffer in his district this fall because of the aging McCain, who will "come across as very old" to voters.

Mikva also said Kirk should study up on his narrow 1976 victory in the district, which perhaps set the bar for what Kirk must accomplish should Obama win big. That year, newcomer Jimmy Carter (D) lost to incumbent Gerald Ford (R) in the North Shore district by 30,000 votes, while Mikva eked out a 201-vote victory.

"That's about a big of swing as you can hope for between the president and the Congressman," Mikva said.

Local vets flown to D.C. to see memorial - ABC 7 Chicago

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:21:00 CST

WASHINGTON (WLS) -- There was a very special journey Wednesday for a group of Illinois veterans.

Sixty-five of them went to Washington D.C. All of them are World War II veterans.

This is the first trip for a venture called Honor Flight Chicago. Its purpose: to honor those vets, to give them a day to remember and to let them know their service to our nation is not forgotten.

They travel at a slower pace these days... Some use wheelchairs and walkers. And the day has been long in coming as well. They are seeing, for the first time, the World War II memorial that stands in their honor.

Morrie Koebele from west suburban Aurora was thinking of those who never came home.

"General Eisenhower was there, giving them a pep talk. When they got the signal to go, they went. There was a lot of& courage in their hearts," he said.

Sixteen million served their country in World War II. 400,000 gave their lives.

On Wednesday, the veterans were greeted by Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk and former senator Bob Dole, who was instrumental in having the memorial built.

"It's just a wonderful, unique, dignified tribute, and it reminds people who visit here that sometimes in your life you're called to give a sacrifice, and that's what these men have done," Dole said.
The sound of the memorial's fountain, the families visiting the site, medals glistening on veterans' caps - regardless of which branch of the service they fought under, it's an emotional day.

"You wanna know something? All together, we won it. That's the main thing," said Frank Outly, Kankakee.

The Illinois group gathered to place a wreath at the memorial as well as a folded American flag with the picture of a fallen hero.
"I can't believe what my eyes are seeing. It's wonderful. I wish it was here when I was young," said Leo Feller, Manteno.

Feller uses a wheelchair. But in that place, at that moment, he said he felt he must stand.

The Honor Flights are provided free to the veterans, paid for by donations. On Wednesday night, those vets will be welcomed back to Chicago as heroes when they arrive at Midway.