AP has a list of Repuke "excuses" for Foley's not being fired earlier. [View All]

"At the Capitol, Republicans spent the night trying to explain how this could have happened on their watch.

Among the explanations during the night:

_The congressional sponsor of the page, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., said he was asked by the youth's parents not to pursue the matter, so he dropped it.

_Alexander said that before deciding to end his involvement, he passed on what he knew to the chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y. Reynolds' spokesman, Carl Forti, said the campaign chairman also took no action in deference to the parents' wishes.

_Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the Page Board that oversees the congressional work-study program for high schoolers, said he did investigate but Foley falsely assured him he was only mentoring the boy. Pages are high school students who attend classes under congressional supervision and work as messengers.

_The spokesman for Speaker Dennis Hastert, Ron Bonjean, said the top House Republican had not known about the allegations. Shimkus said he learned about them in late 2005."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060930/ap_on_go_co/congressman_e_mails;_ylt=AkxxtkpVKS.xx5nfZbzlf5ayFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--


Edited to remove some Yahoo News links that didn't work in the cut & paste.