Posted on 11/28/2018 12:43:22 PM PST by infool7
State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit said she "intends to apologize" for her "poor choice of words" after drawing criticism from fellow legislators for comments she directed at a lawmaker on the State House floor Tuesday regarding the deadly Legionnaires outbreak at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy.
Lawmakers were debating a measure that would increase the cap for funds the state would pay in civil lawsuits from $100,000 to $2 million, designed to help those affected by the Legionnaires disease outbreak at the veterans home in 2015, which has so far killed 13 people. The House ultimately voted 71-36 to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's amendatory veto of the bill, which was originally passed in May.
During the debate, Kifowit, D-Oswego, directed a comment to State Rep. Peter Breen, R-Lombard, who is the outgoing House Republican floor leader, after Breen questioned the cost of the measure. Breen lost his bid for re-election earlier this month to Democrat Terra Costa Howard.
“I would like to make him a broth of Legionella and pump it into the water system of his loved one, so that they can be infected, they can be mistreated, they can sit and suffer by getting aspirin instead of being properly treated and ultimately die,” Kifowit said.
Kifowit's comments were immediately denounced by State Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, on the House floor.
Kifowit later tried to clarify her remarks and said they were "misinterpreted."
“For the fact of it being misrepresented, I’m going to say that what was said earlier is a mischaracterization of what my words were,” Kifowit said on the House floor. “And for that, for it being misinterpreted, I will apologize. But I will not apologize for what happened to those families. And I will clearly say to all of us, imagine if it was your family.”
Kifowit, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was recently appointed to Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker's Serving Illinois Heroes Committee, a 19-member veterans issues advisory panel for Pritzker's transition team.
On Facebook, Kifowit again tried to clarify her remarks, stating they were "hypothetical" and that she "never stated anything to wish [Breen's] family death."
"Just to stem the lies - we were discussing restitution for the families of our veterans who died of Legionella," she wrote. "It’s been revealed that the state knew it pumped a 'broth of Legionella' of 1,600 gallons into the Quincy Veterans Home. In response to remarks against giving restitution by Rep. Breen I stated my words as a hypothetical because it did happen to families. I never stated anything to wish his family death. My words were twisted and misrepresented but keep in mind - he was angry at the thought. For the families of the Veterans who died and the individuals that were sickened - this is reality."
On Wednesday, Kifowit said she was planning to apologize personally and publicly to Breen for her "poor choice of words."
"I'm going to talk to him before session and publicly apologize to him for my poor choice of words," she said. "The sentiment I was trying to convey was to have him put himself in the shoes of the families of the veterans who died. My word choice was a little bit poor because I should have directed them to the body as a whole instead of just him as an individual, and of course I mean no ill will or harm or anything terrible to happen to his family or himself."
She continued, "The point is, as you know, we had 13 veterans die, one spouse, 70 people get ill, and we had [Illinois Department of Public Health] Director [Nirav] Shah waving off the fact that, in his words, a broth of Legionella was released into the Quincy Veterans Home. And to me that's a very serious issue that we need to continue to talk about. So it was an attempt to convey individuals to put themselves in the shoes of the families, and unfortunately the choice of words was more in a personal affect to Peter Breen than it should have been to the [legislative] body as a whole to empathize with the families."
On Facebook, Breen wrote, “Today on the House Floor, Stephanie Kifowit called for the death of my family. She was applauded by the Democrats."
State Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego, released a statement Tuesday evening condemning Kifowit's remarks, stating that the House members "witnessed a shocking personal attack rising to the level of a threat made by one member of the General Assembly against a colleague."
"Kifowit’s statement went way beyond a breach in decorum," Wheeler wrote. "Way beyond a casual incendiary remark made during a moment of heated debate on an emotional issue. Her words were a cruel and utterly dehumanizing attack against a colleague who is the proud and loving adoptive father of two young sons; a toddler and an infant."
Wheeler also slammed Kifowit's attempt to apologize on the House floor.
"Given the opportunity to apologize, she instead portrayed herself as the victim, claiming that her remarks were 'misheard' and 'misrepresented,'" Wheeler said. "Her refusal to accept responsibility and offer a simple apology make her vicious attack even more appalling."
Wheeler said the people of her district "deserve better from their state representative."
"The threat of violence has no place in public discourse. Period," Wheeler stated. "For a member of the General Assembly to explicitly state her personal desire to inflict fatal harm on the family of a colleague is beyond reprehensible. Representative Kifowit brought shame upon her office and the dignity of the Illinois General Assembly today. Republican or Democrat, we should all agree that Stephanie Kifowit’s contempt for those who disagree with her has no place in public discourse."
Both the Illinois Republican Party and the Kendall County Republican Party called for Kifowit to resign on their respective Facebook pages Wednesday.
"Rep. Stephanie Kifowit should resign, she should be ashamed of herself for wishing State Rep. Peter Breen and his wife and family should suffer and die," the Kendall GOP post read. "This shows the true nature of Stephanie and her Democrat Socialist party agenda. They are not about Freedom, Liberty, and respect for individuals and LIFE!"
However, when asked about those posts, Kifowit said it should be Shah who should resign over the Legionnaires' disease outbreaks.
"No, I believe the person to resign is Director Shah," she said. "And that's who the call should go to."
Some BAMs are ugly. Some BAMs are fat. And then there’s the few BAMs who are Democrat stupid.
Yes. Conservatives must think, ‘while sheep remain sheep’.
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Drats, missed it by THAT much.
7
She clearly and directly attacked the guy....she should be penalized for that not just make a twisted apology intended only because she was called on it.
Left always say what they want then give a fake apology after the fact when they’re called out on it...... with no consequences. Tired of these people skating.
“I offer my sincere apology to Representative Peter Breen, his family, and all of my House colleagues for my poor choice of words during a serious discussion on our Veterans’ health and safety. I would never wish any harm or mortality on anyone’s family, including the Breen family. As a Marine Corps Veteran, I feel very passionate about what happened in our Quincy Veterans home, which resulted in 13 Veterans and 1 spouse’s deaths, in addition to over 70 individuals being ill. The truth is this did happen to our heroes, and my attempt to illustrate empathy for the families that were affected by the loss of their loved ones was not conveyed properly. “Lost in my comments yesterday was our obligation to work together on behalf of our Veterans to ensure that the situation in Quincy never happens again. As legislators, we are fallible people, but we are tasked with the tremendous responsibility of caring for the Veteran men and women who have never let us down. We owe them so much more. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to expand access to health care and mental health resources for our Veterans.”
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