Illinois: Mark Kirk

Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15, 1959) is the Republican junior United States Senator-elect from Illinois and, until he assumes that office, a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the Illinois's 10th congressional district. On November 2, 2010, Kirk also won a special election to finish the remainder of Senator Roland Burris' term. Kirk will begin his Senatorial term on January 3 next year.

Early life and education
Mark Kirk was born in Champaign, Illinois to Judith Reeve and Francis Gabriel Kirk. 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.[6] Kirk later obtained a masters degree from the London School of Economics and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Georgetown University Law Center.

Military service
Kirk was commissioned as an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserve in 1989.

In 1999 Kirk was recalled to active duty in Operation Allied Force for bombing Yugoslavia. He served from to April 10 to June 6, 1999 as the intelligence officer of VAQ-209.[9] VAQ-209 was combined with three other EA-6B squadrons to form an ad hoc unit called Electronic Attack Wing Aviano, Italy. VAQ-140 had tactical command of the combined unit.[10] In May, 2000, the National Military Intelligence Association bestowed the organization's Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award to Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing Aviano, Italy.

In March and April, 2000 Kirk trained with an EC-130 squadron based in Turkey. Kirk took a flight over Iraq as part of Operation Northern Watch, which enforced a no fly zone over the northern section of Iraq.

Kirk has twice been on two-week stints of training Afghanistan, December 15, 2008 through January 2, 2009 and December 19, 2009 through January 4, 2010 Before the December, 2009 training 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. McGinn required that prior to training in Afghanistan he had to sign a statement that he would comply with regulations prohibiting politicking on duty.

During his military career, Kirk has been awarded the following medals: the Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, National Service Defense Medal, Joint Unit Achievement Medal. He continues to be on reserve and holds the rank of Commander.

Early career
Kirk worked on the staff of John Porter, the former holder of Illinois’s 10th congressional district. 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.

U.S. House of Representatives
Kirk is a member of the House Iran Working Group, the founder and co-chair of the House U.S.-China Working Group, the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues,[8], the co-chair of the Albanian Issues Caucus in ex Yugoslavia, and a member of the GOP Tuesday Group. He is also a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Committee assignments
Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Source: Appropriations subcommittees

2010 Senate campaign
On July 20, 2009, Kirk announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Roland Burris, which had been held by Barack Obama before his election as president. On February 2, 2010, Kirk won the Republican primary with 56.6 percent of the vote; no other candidate had as much as 20 percent[22] He is running against Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias, Green Party nominee LeAlan Jones, and Libertarian nominee Mike Labno. Kirk (R) defeated Alexi Giannoulias (D) in the IL U.S. Senate in 2010 in wich Kirk and Giannoulias were in a hotly contested debate Kirk 48% and Giannoulias 46% Kirk changed his position on Cap and Trade legislation during the campaign saying he voted for it "because it was in the narrow interests of my Congressional district," but that as a representative of the entire state of Illinois, "I will vote No on that bill.”

Controversies
Intelligence Officer of the Year
Kirk corrected claims he had made about being awarded "Navy Intelligence Officer of the Year" after it was brought to the media's attention by his Democratic opponent, Alexi Giannoulias.[24] He had said in a 2002 House committee hearing recorded by C-Span, Kirk said, "I was the Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year," an achievement he said gave him special qualifications to discuss national security spending. However, in May 2010, the Washington Post reported that Kirk's claim to having been named the Navy's “Intelligence Officer of the Year” was erroneous.

The National Military Intelligence Association gave the Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award to the entire Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing at Aviano. Kirk was the lead intelligence officer for VAQ-209, one of the four squadrons assigned to the Electronic Attack Wing. VAQ-140 had tactical command. Kirk later apologized this and other errors, including claims of having been fired upon during an aerial reconnaissance mission in Iraq, about which there is no official record, and of having participated in Operation Desert Storm when in fact he did not.

On June 7, 2010, Medal of Honor recipient and advocate of Veteran's benefits, Allen Lynch, deemed Mark Kirk's apologies adequate, and and further commented. “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".

Being under fire
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, admitting that he was never fired on as he flew over Iraq or Kosovo.[30] “I simply misremembered it wrong,” he told The Chicago Sun-Times, referring to his military record.[31]

Military politicking
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. According to the Pentagon, Kirk was required to sign a statement acknowledging he knew the rules and wouldn't break them again.

Educational Controversy
While Kirk was an undergraduate student at Cornell University he held a work study job supervising a play group at the Forest Home Chapel nursery school and after getting his masters degree Kirk taught for one year at a private school in London. He later stated in speeches and interviews that he had been nursery and a middle school teacher. For example, Kirk claimed in a speech to the Illinois Education Association, "As a former nursery school and middle school teacher, I know some of what it takes to bring order to class." However, a member of the Forest Home Chapel said, "He was never, ever considered a teacher [at the nursery school]."

In discussing problems in in the educational system early in his congressional career, Kirk addressed the brevity of his teaching career: “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.”

Personal life
In February 1998, Kirk met his future wife, Kimberly Vertolli, a Naval Intelligence Officer, by chance, while the two were on duty together at the Pentagon.[38] “It was supposed to be my weekend off ... but Saddam had just thrown out the weapons inspectors and we were preparing for a strike on Baghdad,” Vertolli said, according to Capitol File Magazine.[39] In fact, the U.N. inspectors were not expelled, but withdrew voluntarily after warnings of the U.S. and U.K. air strikes carried out December 16–19, 1998.[40] The two married in August 2001. After 8 years of marriage, the two separated, finalizing their divorce in the summer of 2009. Reports have noted that the divorce was an amicable one and the two remain close friends.

Kirk was also engaged to Virginia Hurt Johnson, whom he met while both were practicing law in Washington, DC, in 1994. Johnson was the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 13th Congressional District of North Carolina in 2004, was Counsel to the House Armed Services Committee and was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for House Legislative Affairs under Secretaries Rumsfeld and Gates.