Republican Mark Kirk on Monday was again defending himself over allegations that he'd exaggerated his record.
He last month said that back in 2005 he first introduced legislation for restrictions to Iran and continued to introduce the same bill for four years. He likes to call it the Kirk bill and said it was known as the Kirk-Andrews bill until 2009, when democrats introduced a new bill borrowing heavily from the original bill.
But House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, a Democrat disagrees, and won't give Kirk any credit.
"We didn't even look at his legislation at the time," Berman said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "Our bill did so much more and went so far beyond his bill, I would have to put it in the context of an exaggeration."
Kirk, it seems, isn't suprised by Berman's assertion.
"He has shown a record in my past races of always saying something really partisan right before an election," said Kirk. "Suddenly he has forgotten this bipartisan work, and I think it represents what's wrong with Washington. That some people can ask for bipartisan cooperation on the Floor, and then suddenly two weeks before an election say that it didn't happen."
Kirk's opponent, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias called it "unfortunate" that more questions about Kirk's honesty have arisen.
"I don't know what he's going to tell us next, that he invented the United Nations?" Giannoulias said sarcastically.
But Kirk didn't waste an opportunity to level a charge at Giannoulias, asking why his opponent won't offer details of his trip to Miami with "one of the most infamous felons, prostitution leader and mobster he lent money to." Kirk is referrring to convicted felon Michael Giorango.
Giannoulias responded, saying that Kirk was just trying to change the message to one that "no one is buying."
"I went to visit property, like I visited lots of properties. It's completely irrelevant to this campaign," he said.
