"That memo is my mistake. I take responsibility for it," Darling told The Tampa Tribune on Tuesday in his first public comments on the flap. "I feel terrible about it."

The document pushed for support of emergency legislation intended to restore Schiavo's feeding tube last month. It called the brain-damaged woman's case "a tough issue for Democrats" and targeted Florida Democrat Bill Nelson for his lack of support.

Martinez unwittingly passed the memo to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin without reading it when the Iowa Democrat asked him for background information on the bill ordering a federal court to review the Schiavo case. New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg requested the committee investigation.

Schiavo, 41, died March 31 in a Pinellas Park hospice, 13 days after the tube was removed by court order in a bitter seven-year legal fight between her husband and her parents. Federal courts repeatedly rejected what Republicans said was the intent of the bill: to have the tube restored and prolong Schiavo's life.

© 2005 Associated Press

Editor's note: