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Mark Kirk

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For the American art director, see Mark-Lee Kirk.
Mark Kirk
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 10th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2001
Preceded byJohn Porter
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
SpouseKimberly Vertolli (2001-2009) (divorced)[1]
ResidenceHighland Park, Illinois[2]
Alma materCornell University
London School of Economics
Georgetown University Law Center
OccupationAttorney, Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Navy
Years of service1989-present
RankCommander Insignia of Commander, United States Navy
UnitU.S. Navy Reserves

Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15th, 1959) is an American politician who is currently serving his 5th term as a member of the US Congress, representing the 10th district of Illinois. Congressman Kirk is currently the Republican nominee for the 2010 Senate Election in Illinois.


Personal History

Mark Kirk was born in Champaign, Illinois to Judith Reeve and Francis Gabriel Kirk [4][5]. After graduating from New Trier East High School in 1977, he attended the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and then Cornell University, where he graduated cum laude with a B.A. in History. Kirk later obtained a masters degree from the London School of Economics and a law degree from Georgetown Law School.[6][7][8]

In February 1998, Mark met his future ex-wife, Kimberly Vertolli, a naval intelligence officer at the time, while the two were on duty at the Pentagon. [9] The two married in August of 2001 [10] and divorced 8 years later in the summer of 2009. Despite Kirk's claims that his divorce case files have been opened to the public, they remained sealed as of August 2009. [11][12]

Military Service

In 1989, Mark Kirk was directly commissioned as an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserve; he had no prior active duty service. He continues to serve today, holding the rank of Commander.

Kirk served as an intelligence officer assigned to VAQ-209 from April to June, 1999 during Operation Allied Force[13]. He served in Aviano, Italy.

In March and April, 2000 Kirk did a two-week drill period attached to a squadron in Turkey[14]. During this time he was in an aircraft that flew over Iraq.

Kirk also did two two-week training periods in Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2008, through Jan. 2, 2009 and Dec. 19, 2009, and Jan. 4, 2010.[14]


Medals

  • Navy Commendation Medal; Navy Achievement Medal; Global War on Terror Service Medal; National Service Defense Medal; Joint Unit Achievement Medal.[15]

Career Prior to Congress

Kirk worked on the staff of John Porter, the former holder of Illinois’s 10th Congressional District, eventually becoming his chief of staff. From 1991-1993, 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 1993-1995. 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.[16]

Kirk also claimed, during his 2010 Senate campaign, to have once worked as a nursery school teacher. However, Sally Grub and others at the school have stated that Kirk did not in fact work as a teacher at the school but as a part time teachers aid. One of them, Sally Grubb, stated: "He was never, ever considered a teacher...[h]e was just an additional pair of hands to help a primary teaching person."[17].

U.S. House tenure

Elections

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2008 § District 10
See also: Illinois's 10th congressional district election, 2006

Kirk defeated 10 candidates for Congress in the 2000 Republican primary. He then won in general elections with 51% (2000), 69% (2002), 64% (2004), 53% (2006) and 54% (2008). His opponents were Lauren Beth Gash, Hank Perrit, Lee Goodman and, most recently, Dan Seals (06 & 08). In 2008, Kirk defeated Democratic challenger Dan Seals by a six-point margin.

Committees and Leadership Roles

Kirk is the Founder and Co-Chair of the House U.S.-China Working Group, House Iran Working Group, and the Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues.[18]

Campaign for Senate

Main article: United States Senate elections in Illinois, 2010

On July 20, 2009, Kirk announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Roland Burris. On February 2, 2010, Kirk won the Republican primary with 56.6% of the vote; no other candidate had as much as 20% [19].

Kirk's erroneous accounts of his own life

Kirk has made numerous statements about his life which have proven to be inaccurate. Since early June, 2010 the media has covered two areas where Kirk has made erroneous statements: his military career and his experiences as a "teacher".

Military record

Steve Benen summarized the list of Kirk's erroneous statements about his military service this way.

"Kirk (1) falsely claimed he served "in" Operation Iraqi Freedom[20]; (2) falsely claimed to "command the war room in the Pentagon"[21]; (3) falsely claimed to have won the U.S. Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year award[20]; (4) falsely claimed to have been shot at by the Iraqi Air Defense network[22]; (5) falsely claimed to be a veteran of Desert Storm[23]; (6) falsely claimed to be the only lawmaker to serve during Operation Iraqi Freedom[20]; (7) falsely claimed to have been shot at in Kosovo[22]; (8) falsely claimed to have been shot at in Kandahar[24]; (9) falsely claimed to have been repeatedly "deployed" to Afghanistan[25]; and (10) falsely claimed not to have violated Defense Department rules on mingling politics with his military service.[26] "[27]

Teaching record

Kirk's claims to have been a teacher come from two experience. While he was a undergraduate student at Cornell he was a teacher's assistant at Forest Home Chapel nursery school and after getting his masters degree Kirk taught one year at a private school in London[28].

In statements made on the floor of Congress, Kirk made claims that seemed to contradict his actual classroom experience. “He was never, ever considered a teacher,” said Sally Grubb a member of the church council where Kirk claimed to have been a nursery school teacher[28].

Kirk also expressed anxiety about students bringing firearms to class. Kirk said, “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.”[28]

Repute of Military Record

In June of 2010 the Washington Post reported that Kirk claimed to have been named the “Intelligence Officer of the Year,” when in reality the award was given to his unit. 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; “I simply misremembered it wrong,” he told The Chicago Sun-Times, referring to his military record. [29].

On June 7th 2010, Medal of Honor recipient and advocate of Veteran’s benefits, Allen Lynch, commented on the situation to ABC 7 News. “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" [30]. A number of veteran groups have also come out in support of Kirk along with his commanding officer who claimed "Mark was the best intelligence officer I ever worked with," while presenting Kirk with the Rufus Taylor Award and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

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 allegedly in violation of 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. [31] According to the Pentagon, Kirk was required to sign a statement acknowledging he knew the rules and wouldn't break them again. [32]

Electoral history

Illinois's 10th congressional district: Results 2000–2008[33]
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct
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, write-ins received 1 votes.

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "About Mark". U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  3. ^ "Barack Obama, candidate for President, is 'UCC'". United Church of Christ. February 9, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  4. ^ http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=130075
  5. ^ http://kirk.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=350&Itemid=93
  6. ^ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-01-10/news/chi-kirk-senate-10-bdogjan10_1_senate-seat-north-shore-republicans/2
  7. ^ http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2010/02/15/mark-kirk-%E2%80%9981-campaigns-illinois-senate-seat-after-winning-primary
  8. ^ http://cbs2chicago.com/voterguide/mark.kirk.senate.2.1423262.html
  9. ^ http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2006/05/kirk_lawmakers_wife_splits_for.html
  10. ^ http://www.wingsprogram.com/pdfs/Kimberly%20Vertolli-Kirk%20Bio.pdf
  11. ^ http://www.pr-inside.com/illinois-congressman-mark-kirk-caught-in-r1326224.htm
  12. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/senate-guru/mark-kirk-and-the-terribl_b_250258.html
  13. ^ Gill, Ellen Beth (May 29, 2010). "Let's Take A Look At Kirk's Award With A Former Navy Officer". Deerfield, IL: Ellen Beth Gill. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  14. ^ a b Sweet, Lynn (June 1, 2010). "Navy told Kirk reporters were investigating his "Intelligence Officer of the Year" claim". Chicago, IL: Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  15. ^ http://cbs2chicago.com/voterguide/mark.kirk.senate.2.1423262.html
  16. ^ http://cbs2chicago.com/voterguide/mark.kirk.senate.2.1423262.html
  17. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/us/politics/19kirk.html?ref=us
  18. ^ http://cbs2chicago.com/voterguide/mark.kirk.senate.2.1423262.html
  19. ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32364.html
  20. ^ a b c Sargent, Greg (June 2, 2010). "Kirk campaign acknowledges another misrepresentation of military service". Washington, DC: Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-06-21. Cite error: The named reference "Washington Post" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  21. ^ Smith, Ben (May 21, 2010). "Kirk: 'I command the war room in the Pentagon'". Washington, DC: Politico. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  22. ^ a b Sweet, Lynn (June 3, 2010). "More Mark Kirk military embellishments surface, including in Senate ad, on House floor". Chicago, IL: Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  23. ^ Moulitsas, Markos (June 3, 2010). "Mark Kirk exaggerated Desert Storm service in constituent letter". San Francisco, CA: Daily Kos. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  24. ^ Stein, Sam (June 4, 2010). "Mark Kirk May Have Misstated Another Instance In Which He Was 'Shot At'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  25. ^ Welch, Terry (June 14, 2010). "Kirk campaign: The Navy doesn't know what it's talking about". San Diego, CA: Terry Welch. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  26. ^ Willis, Christopher (June 15, 2010). "Kirk on defensive against Pentagon over politics". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  27. ^ Benen, Steve (June 16, 2010). "AND THEN THERE WERE 10..." Washington, DC: Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  28. ^ a b c Zeleny, Jeff (June 18, 2010). "School Officials Say Candidate Overstated His Role". New York, NY: New York Times. Retrieved 2010-06-21. Cite error: The named reference "New York Times" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  29. ^ Pallasch, Abdon (June 4, 2010). "Kirk says he 'misremembered' military record". Chicago, IL: Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  30. ^ Pearson, Rick (June 3, 2010). Chicago, IL: Chicago Tribune. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Text "titleMedal of Honor Allen Lynch on Mark Kirk's Military Record" ignored (help)
  31. ^ http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/15/2018129/pentagon-kirk-mixed-politics-with.html
  32. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100615/ap_on_el_se/us_illinois_senate_kirk
  33. ^ "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 10th congressional district
2001–present 		Incumbent
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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