Mark Kirk suffers a stroke (Politico)

Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk has suffered a stroke and has been hospitalized, according to his office.

Kirk?s office said he had checked into the hospital on Saturday and underwent surgery early Monday morning.

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?On Saturday, Senator Kirk checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital, where doctors discovered a carotid artery dissection in the right side of his neck,? said the statement. ?He was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where further tests revealed that he had suffered an ischemic stroke. Early this morning the Senator underwent surgery to relieve swelling around his brain stemming from the stroke. The surgery was successful. Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator?s recovery over the weeks ahead

Kirk, 52, was elected to the Senate in 2010 after five terms in the House. He first came to Capitol Hill in 1984 as a staffer for former Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.). He then worked for World Bank and State Department. He practiced law at Baker & McKenzie and served as a counsel to the House International Relations Committee prior to winning his House seat in 2000.

He currently holds seats on Appropriations, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committees.

Kirk is also an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves, holding the rank of commander.

Kirk is one of the few moderate Republicans left in the 47-member Senate Republican Conference. He won President Barack Obama?s old Senate seat in 2010 amid the Rod Blagojevich scandal in Illinois and after his Democratic opponent, Alexi Giannoulias, had problems with his family bank.

Since joining the Senate last year, Kirk has maintained a hawkish position on foreign policy ? most notably on Iran, where he has demanded tougher sanctions against the regime ? while seeking to project a more bipartisan appeal on some domestic issues. He and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have been holding weekly bipartisan lunches, and he?s been quietly working with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a deal to repatriate offshore profits and create a national infrastructure bank.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71823_html/44274348/SIG=11mcqo3u4/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71823.html

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