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Mark Kirk

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U.S. Senator

The Resume

    (September 15, 1959- )
    Born in Champaign, Illinois
    Represented Illinois’ 10th District (2000-2010)
    US Senator from Illinois (2010-17)
    Defeated for re-election by Tammy Duckworth (2016)
    Republican

Why he might be annoying:

    He was twice investigated by the Pentagon for allegedly conducting political business while on military duty.
    One of his campaign biographies falsely claimed he had served in Operation Desert Storm.
    During a speech on the House floor (2003), he said, ‘The last time I was in Iraq, I was in uniform, flying at 20,000 feet and the Iraqi Defense network was shooting at us,’ but later admitted his aircraft had never been fired on.
    While running for the Senate, he said that as a Congressman he had voted for a carbon dioxide cap-and-trade bill ‘because it was in the narrow interests of my district,’ but as a Senator he would vote against it.
    He was the only Republican senator to earn an ‘F’ grade from the National Rifle Association.
    He announced his plans to run for reelection by declaring, ‘No frickin’ way am I retiring.’ (‘Frickin’? Really?)
    During a debate (October 27, 2016), after Duckworth mentioned her and her family’s military service, he replied, ‘I’d forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington.’ (Duckworth’s mother is a Thai immigrant, while her father’s ancestors had come to America before the Revolutionary War.)
    In response, the Human Rights Campaign withdrew their endorsement of Kirk – a first for the organization – and backed Duckworth, declaring his remarks ‘deeply offensive and racist.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    As a military officer in the Naval Reserves, he served in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (1999) and the enforcement of the Iraqi no-fly zone (2000).
    After he apologized for misstatements about his military record, Medal of Honor recipient and veteran’s advocate Allen Lynch said, ‘He’s done a Christ ton for veterans. So I think this is being blown way out of proportion.’
    He was one of only two Republicans in Congress to oppose legislation authorizing the indefinite detention of American citizens (2011).
    He suffered a stroke (2012), but was able to resume his Congressional duties after a year.
    He was the second sitting Republican Senator to support same-sex marriage (2013), following Rob Portman.
    He was the first Republican Senator to co-sponsor the Equality Act, which would extend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity (2016).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 24 Votes: 54.17% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 36 Votes: 36.11% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 15 Votes: 13.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 29 Votes: 58.62% Annoying