What 'pisses off' Sen. Mark Kirk

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., made a rare speech from the Senate floor on Thursday, during a debate about terrorism insurance, where he said what “pisses me off” is that the world’s tallest building is not in Chicago or anywhere in the U.S.

Kirk’s comments lasted little over a minute and he started by noting, “I haven’t spoken that much in the chamber” since he suffered his stroke. His remarks came in advance of the Senate voting to extend a terrorism insurance measure to give protections to insurance companies facing mega claims following a terrorism attack.

Standing next to a chart of tall buildings, Kirk said, “Behind me is a representation of the world’s tallest buildings. Of the 10 tallest buildings in the world, none are in the U.S.A. Look over at that tallest one. That kind of still kind of pisses me off, that Burj Khalifa, which is right now the tallest building in the world,” Kirk said. “I believe as the senator representing Chicagoland, the city that invented the skyscraper, that Chicagoland citizens get to have a right to grow up in the shadow of the world’s tallest building,” Kirk said. “And unless we quantify the risk from building one of these buildings through the TRIA legislation, we will return skyscrapers to the country that invented skyscrapers.”