Saturday, October 7, 2006; A22
For the past 18 years I have lived and voted in Illinois's 14th Congressional District, which is represented by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R). I was shocked to hear about former Republican representative Mark Foley's preying on underage male pages and the apparent coverup of his activities by Mr. Hastert and other members of the House leadership.
From what I have read, Mr. Hastert was informed of Mr. Foley's "over-friendly" contacts many months ago, at least, yet he did not stop him from preying on these children. Mr. Foley was even allowed to remain chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children.
As a parent of three children, if I had heard that a man in his fifties was being "over-friendly" with one of them, I would have notified the police immediately. It seems our political leaders have lost their sense of morality and appear to think they are above the law.
While the House ethics committee has begun an investigation of the actions of House leaders in Mr. Foley's case, I have little faith that the Republican-controlled committee will carry out an unbiased investigation. If it does, I'm sure it will not be completed until after the November election in which we could hold these politicians accountable.
DOUGLAS LUND
West Chicago, Ill.
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In his Oct. 4 op-ed, Joseph A. Califano Jr. bragged of a day "When the House Could Clean Itself" under the Democratic leadership of Speaker Tip O'Neill. The process worked, Mr. Califano claimed.
However, the result stank to high heaven, as neither of the two representatives found in 1983 to have had illicit relationships with House pages was summarily expelled. Instead, they were allowed to remain in the House, with censure their only punishment.
One of the guilty parties, Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.), contemptuously turned his back on Congress when he was censured. Rep. Daniel B. Crane (R-Ill.) was thrown out by voters of his district, who had higher moral standards and more respect for the House than did the Democratic constituents of Mr. O'Neill or Mr. Studds; the unrepentant representative kept winning reelection until his retirement in 1996.
I'll take Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's stewardship of the House over Tip O'Neill's any day.
KRISTINN TAYLOR
Silver Spring
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Regarding comments by lawyer David Roth about former representative Mark Foley's inappropriate e-mails to House pages ["Foley Lawyer Cites Alcohol, Childhood Abuse," front page, Oct. 4]:
First, Mr. Roth said that Mr. Foley "does not blame the trauma he sustained as a young adolescent for his totally inappropriate e-mails and IMs," or instant messages. "He continues to offer no excuse whatsoever for his conduct."
Then, in the next paragraph of the article, Mr. Roth was quoted as saying, "Specifically, Mark has asked that you be told that between the ages of 13 and 15 he was molested by a clergyman."
If that's not offering an excuse, what is it? If Mr. Foley doesn't blame his past trauma, why mention it at all? Why "specifically" ask that we be told that?
LINDA RICHARDSON
West River, Md.