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Kolbe's statement
● Kolbe's statement on his role in the Mark Foley saga:
"I have been contacted by news organizations about former Rep. Foley's e-mail contacts with former pages. This is my best recollection of the single incident I was made aware of.
 "Some time after leaving the Page program, an individual I had appointed as a Page contacted my office to say he had received e-mails from Rep. Foley that made him uncomfortable. I was not shown the content of the messages and was not told they were sexually explicit. It was my recommendation that this complaint be passed along to Rep. Foley's office and the Clerk who supervised the Page program. This was done promptly. I did not have a personal conversation with Mr. Foley about the matter. I assume e-mail contact ceased since the former Page never raised the issue again with my office. I believed then, and believe now, that this was the appropriate way to handle this incident given the information I had and the fact that the young man was no longer a Page and not subject to the jurisdiction of the program.
 "I began my own political career as a Page for Sen. Barry Goldwater in 1958. As a result, I have a special empathy for the program and have always sought to make the experience a meaningful one for them. I visit with the Pages at the back of the chamber to explain politics and parliamentary procedures on the House Floor. I have written college and graduate school recommendations for scores of the young men and women, and I have always participated in various official Page activities when asked to do so by the program, such as speaking at their graduation." 

Tucson Region

Kolbe denies he saw Foley messages

Staff and Wire reports
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.11.2006
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe said Tuesday in a statement that he was not shown the content of e-mail messages sent to a former House page by then-Rep. Mark Foley.
While his statement confirmed reports that he had referred concerns about the messages to the House Clerk's Office in 2001 or 2002, it marked a reversal of a spokeswoman's account of how much he knew about the content of the messages. The Washington Post reported Monday that spokeswoman Korenna Cline "confirmed" that a former page had shown Kolbe Internet messages.
It also reported that Kolbe confronted Foley, a point that Kolbe also denied in the statement.
"I was not shown the content of the message and was not told they were sexually explicit," Kolbe says in the statement. "It was my recommendation that this complaint be passed along to Rep. Foley's office and the clerk who supervised the page program. This was done promptly. I did not have a personal conversation with Mr. Foley about the matter."
Kolbe is traveling in Europe and his office has declined interview requests.
He is not seeking re-election in the 8th Congressional District, which covers much of Southeastern Arizona. Democrat Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Randy Graf are seeking the open seat.
Asked about the discrepancies between the initial report and Tuesday's statement, Cline, his spokeswoman, said she was speaking "vaguely" to The Washington Post reporter because "it was just so new to everyone."
The confirmation that Kolbe knew about messages sent to the former House page is key to the question of when top House Republicans knew about Foley's behavior and whether they should have acted sooner to intervene.
Until the confirmation, House Speaker Dennis Hastert had said Republican lawmakers hadn't become aware of the exchanges until last fall.
Asked about Kolbe's statement, Hastert told reporters in Aurora, Ill.:
"I don't know anything more about it. If there's something that was of a nature that should have been reported or brought forward, then he should have done that," The Associated Press reported.
It has also thrust Kolbe into the national spotlight at the end of his 22-year career.
Kolbe, 64 and the only openly gay Republican in Congress, is best known for his advocacy for free trade, international development and immigration reform.
He also has waged a quixotic campaign to eliminate the penny, which costs more to produce than it is worth and which many argue is becoming obsolete.
He served on the board that oversees the page program between 1995 and February 2001.
Despite repeated requests, Cline declined to set up an interview between the Star and Kolbe. She said she would put the interview request on "the list" with other media organizations.
Asked whether she thought, considering the gravity of the scandal, Kolbe should address his constituents, Cline said Kolbe hasn't spoken to the media about the Foley issue. "He is just busy," she said. "He has got a tight schedule right now."
She then referred to the press release issued Tuesday.
In that statement, Kolbe said he believes he handled the matter appropriately.
It's unclear how Kolbe's role in the Foley scandal will affect his future after politics or whether he will be roped into the House's bipartisan investigation.
Jessica Gleason, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House ethics committee, said she could not comment on whether the committee will be investigating Kolbe, citing House rules.
This week, Kolbe was also named one of five finalists to head the Global Fund to Prevent AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the central financing engine of international efforts to fight those diseases.
● Reporter Josh Brodesky and the AP contributed to this report.
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