SPRINGFIELD – Wednesday, Democrat State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit personally and publicly issued an explanation of her comments on the State House floor Tuesday, in which she wished death upon State Rep. Peter Breen's family.
Despite calls for her resignation, censuring and/or dissent, Kifowit responded with a "sincere apology" after saying Tuesday evening that her words had been misconstrued.
Kifowit wrote on her Facebook page:
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 Veteran and 1 spouse 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
She requested her comments be stricken from the official House transcript and the member agreed unanimously.
Representative Breen responded to the situation in strong comments gathered on a video by Edgar County Watchdogs:
During my 16 years in the Illinois House, I certainly witnessed and experienced stressful relationships between and among colleagues. And I saw and experienced tough and even unfair campaign messages. But I never saw anything that came close to the trash being thrown at voters in recent Illinois elections, each year getting more extreme and untruthful. And I never heard anything such as happened to Rep. Breen this week in House debate. That “veteran” who attacked him should be more than ashamed of herself; she should be a former Representative, and she should not hide her outrageous remarks behind an excuse of standing for veterans. No veteran I know would want to be represented by someone like Ms. Kifowit or used by her as cover for such a despicable act.
Breen makes an excellent summation of the problem.
Time to move out of Illinois, friends. Even DuPage County is now a Democrat hellhole.
Her comments have been expunged from the House record.
Typical of the Stalinist Democrats
Dupage county is now 30% non White.
The tipping point has been reached unless virtually all Whites, and that includes single women, vote for Republicans. That ain’t going to happen.
I keep saying it over and over again.
Demographics of the 3rd world invasion. And Republicans let it happen.
My dad said that decades ago. The politicians were letting them in looking for easy votes until the numbers got so big that they’ll never elect one of the old timers again.
good luck to rep Breen, kifovik or whatever her name is puzzles me. she doesnt sound like a veteran.
Classy and measured response from Peter Breen. But I wish there were also a Republican push to KEEP Kifowit’s words in the permanent record. Let Kifowit’s egregious conduct be known by both present and posterity, not erased and covered up by her fellow Democrats…