Quotes from lawmakers on Foley scandal

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Quotes from lawmakers who appeared on the Sunday talk shows discussing the congressional sex scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and what leaders including Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., did to investigate:

Quotes from lawmakers who appeared on the Sunday talk shows discussing the congressional sex scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., and what leaders including Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., did to investigate:


"Based on the information we have today, the speaker's office acted proactively, they acted aggressively, and within hours, within hours of the explicit e-mails coming to light, they demanded Foley's resignation." — Rep. Adam Putnam (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., on ABC's "This Week."

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"What you guys want to do is take your dirty laundry and throw it over the fence and try to blame other people for the problems." — Rep. Rahm Emanuel (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., to Putnam.

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"It certainly has put members all across the country in the position of having to answer uncomfortable questions about tawdry deeds by a former colleague." — Putnam.

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"The fact is that this election, the American people know full well, Adam, that they do not want to stay on the course that you've set for this country. They want a new direction. They want a change." — Emanuel.

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"If Denny Hastert knew this guy was sexually deviant, he would have tossed him overboard a year ago because it is a safe Republican seat. It's a generic Republican seat. Anybody with a Republican jersey could have won." — Rep. Jack Kingston (news, bio, voting record), R-Ga., on "Fox News Sunday."

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"What is clear is that the leadership did not do a very good job of protecting these 15- and 16-year-old pages from what appears to be a predatory kind of behavior. And frankly I think all of us are pretty shocked by it." — Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., on Fox.

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"It's taken a week of fumbling around to get to where we are. So instead of talking about how we have the lowest unemployment rate in the world; the stock market hit a new all-time high; oil prices are down 25 percent, we're fumbling, talking about these other issues. And that's not good for us." — Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., on CBS' "Face the Nation."

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"I believe that if Speaker Hastert had known about this, he would have called Foley in, gave him what we call a Dutch uncle talk and then monitored the situation. I really believe that because of the way that he's handled these other ethically challenged members. But, look, mistakes have been made. There's no question about it." — Rep. Ray LaHood (news, bio, voting record), R-Ill., on CBS.

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"I think anybody that hindered this in any kind of way, that tried to step in the way, of hiding this or covering it up is going to have to step down, whoever that is." — Davis.

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"This is going to be the most difficult 30 days in the last 12 years that we've been the majority party." — LaHood.

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"I think voters are going to have a serious choice on election day. And they're not going to decide based on a scandal from an obscure congressman from Florida. The question remains, though: What person, group or political entity had these nasty instant messages and possessed the e-mails in order to solicit this story? And in a partisan environment like we're in right now in Washington, four weeks out from a national election, that question must be asked." — Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., on CNN's "Late Edition."

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"I think it's ridiculous. But if I was in a bind, as the Republicans are now, I guess I would be reaching for straws. But it's sad." — Rep. Charles Rangel (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., on CNN, responding to allegations of a Democratic leak.

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"Dennis Hastert is a decent man and I'm very fond of him, but he's in a Catch-22. Patrick is right. If he resigns, he's admitting that he had information and it was covered up. If he stays in, the story continues. He's in a very uncomfortable position." — Rangel.