Sen. John Kerry says GOP lied about Foley scandal and Iraq war

(AP) Sen. John Kerry, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, likened the congressional page scandal to the war in Iraq on Friday, saying Republicans have lied about both.

"They tell us we're making progress in Iraq and that there is no civil war. That is a lie," Kerry, D-Mass., said in remarks prepared for delivery at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's annual fall fundraising dinner. "There is a civil war and it is costing American and Iraqi lives every single day, and we must change course in Iraq."

Republicans also are lying when they claim the page scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley is a Democratic plot to win the midterm elections, Kerry said.

"This issue is here because of a Republican cover-up," he said. "And those from the party that preaches moral values that covered this up have no right to preach moral values anymore."

Foley, R-Fla., resigned Sept. 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit computer messages he sent to a teenage male page. For several days afterward, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., blamed Democrats for the scandal but later changed course and took responsibility for the matter.

On Thursday, the House ethics committee questioned a former Foley aide who has said he took complaints about Foley's conduct to Hastert's chief of staff three years ago. Hastert's chief of staff has denied that exchange took place.

Kerry, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in 2004, has packed his schedule with appearances for Democratic candidates for Congress and state offices.

New Hampshire Republican Reps. Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley "have failed to ask the tough questions, failed to demand the answers and rubber-stamped a willful president's wrongful course," Kerry said.

The Democratic candidates, Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter, offer independent voices, he said.

Fallout from the Foley case, along with continuing violence in Iraq and dissatisfaction with President Bush's leadership, could help Democrats pick up the 15 seats they need to win control of the House.