Republican
congressman Mark Foley of Florida resigned Friday,
effective immediately, in the wake of questions about
e-mails he sent to an underage male former
page. ''I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting
down my family and the people of Florida I have had
the privilege to represent,'' he said in a statement issued
by his office.
The two-sentence statement did not refer to the
e-mails and gave no reason for Foley's decision to
abruptly abandon a flourishing career in Congress.
Foley, 52, had been a shoo-in for a new term until the
e-mail correspondence surfaced in recent days.
His resignation comes less than six weeks before
the midterm election. It was not clear how Republicans
would fill his spot on the November ballot.
Campaign aides had previously acknowledged that
the Republican congressman e-mailed the former Capitol
page five times but had said there was nothing
inappropriate about the exchange. The page was 16 years
old at the time of the e-mail correspondence. It was not
clear what prompted Foley to abruptly decide to give
up a successful career in the House.
Foley, who represents an area around Palm Beach
County, e-mailed the page in August 2005. The page had
worked for Republican representative Rodney Alexander
of Louisiana, and Foley asked the page how he was doing
after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday.
The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of
himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that
were originally released by ABC News.
Foley's aides initially blamed Democratic rival
Tim Mahoney and Democrats with attempting to smear the
congressman before the election. The e-mails were
posted Friday on Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington's Web site after ABC News reported their
existence. The group asked the House Committee on
Standards of Official Conduct to investigate the
exchange Foley had with the boy.
''The House of Representatives has an obligation
to protect the teenagers who come to Congress to learn
about the legislative process,'' the group wrote,
adding that the committee ''must investigate any allegation
that a page has been subjected to sexual advances by
members of the House.'' (David Espo, AP)
