Early House career Foley was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 with 58 percent of the vote, defeating
Democrat John Comerford. He was re-elected in 1996 with 64 percent of the vote against Democrat Jim Stuber and again in 1998 (this time without opposition). He was re-elected in 2000 with 60 percent of the vote against Democrat Jean Elliott Brown and
Reform Party candidate John McGuire.
Constitution Party candidate Jack McLain was his only opponent in 2002. He was re-elected in 2002 with 79 percent of the vote and in 2004 with 68 percent of the vote. Foley was a
moderate Republican. He spent most of his tenure in Congress as a member of the powerful House
Ways and Means Committee. He was also the first public figure to imply that Vice President
Al Gore claimed to have invented the
Internet. On March 12, 1999,
Reuters reported Foley as saying, "The Vice President is mistaken. The only thing he has ever invented is another tax. He did not invent the Internet but he sure did tax it." In late 2000, Foley played a large role in aiding
George W. Bush during the
Presidential election recount controversy in
Florida. In 2006, Foley was a member of the Republican House leadership, serving as
deputy whip.
Senate campaign In 2003, Foley was widely considered the Republican front-runner for
Bob Graham's Senate seat, especially after Graham had announced his
retirement. However, longstanding rumors surfaced that Foley was either homosexual or
bisexual and was in a long-term homosexual relationship. The story was initially published only in local and gay press; then the
New Times broke the story in the mainstream press. Other alternative press rivals, including the
New York Press, then addressed the topic. Foley held a press conference to denounce the "revolting" rumors and stated that his sexual orientation was unimportant, but did not specifically deny the rumors. A few weeks later, he withdrew his candidacy, saying his father's battle with
cancer had caused him to reassess his perspective on life (the seat was later won by Republican
Mel Martinez). Foley had raised $3 million in campaign contributions before withdrawing.
Actions in Congress Legislation regarding pornography and sexual offenses In the House, Foley was one of the foremost opponents of
child pornography. Foley had served as chairman of the
House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. He introduced a bill, coined the "Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act of 2002" to outlaw websites featuring sexually suggestive images of preteen children, saying that "these websites are nothing more than a fix for
pedophiles." As it was written, the bill would have prohibited commercial photography of children and it failed due to the unmanageable burden it would have presented to the legitimate entertainment industry. In June 2003 he wrote letters to the governor and attorney general of Florida, asking them to review the legality of a program for teenagers of a Lake Como
nudist resort in
Land o' Lakes, Florida. Foley's legislation to change federal
sex offender laws was supported by the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, ''
America's Most Wanted'' host
John Walsh and a number of victims' rights groups. President Bush signed it into law as part of the
Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Foley also succeeded in getting a law passed that allows volunteer youth-serving organizations like the
Boy Scouts of America and
Boys and Girls Clubs to have access to
FBI fingerprint background checks.
Other social issues Foley's stances on many social issues differ from his party's leadership. Although he professes to be
Roman Catholic Foley was a member of The Republican Majority For Choice which does not believe there should be any restriction on abortion. He has, however, advocated alternatives such as
adoption and
sexual abstinence. He also supported the
Patriot Act, the
death penalty and strict sentencing for
hate crimes. Foley was a member of
Christine Todd Whitman's It's My Party Too and the
Republican Main Street Partnership. According to the
National Journal's calculations, in 2005, Foley's voting record on
social policy issues was moderate.
Other domestic issues Foley helped secure the first-ever financial commitment from Congress for the preservation of Florida's
Everglades. Foley helped pass legislation that expedites the
deportation of non-violent criminal aliens serving their sentences in federal prisons; and helped eliminate federal prohibitions on notifying a campus community when a student commits a violent crime. Foley worked to pass legislation to help surviving heirs of
Holocaust victims who have been unable to collect on
life insurance policies owed to them. == Scandal and resignation ==