August 8, 2011 6:26 PM

House Page program ends after nearly 200 years

By
Jill Jackson
Topics
Congress

Capitol pages on the U.S. Capitol in January 2001.

(Credit: SHAWN THEW/AFP/Getty Images)
A nearly two-hundred year old tradition in the House of Representatives ended Monday with the termination of the U.S. House of Representatives Page Program.

High school juniors running around the Capitol wearing navy blazers and grey slacks and skirts were a regular sighting on Capitol Hill. The pages were there whenever the House was in session. They filled the elevators to maximum capacity, slammed the cafeteria in the basement all at the same time and wandered the marble halls in herds.

The pages also had official duties. During the semester they spent learning the ways of Washington at the U.S. Capitol, the students delivered messages and packages to members on the House Floor, answered phones in the cloak rooms and attended Page School to keep up on their regular high school courses. The pages all lived in the House Page Residence Hall conveniently located just a few blocks from the Capitol.

But House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced today that the House Page Program must now come to an end. They cited the program's $5 million annual price tag, which does not include the costs of the residence hall and the school. They also said that the page's services are no longer necessary.

"This decision was not easy, but it is necessary due to the prohibitive cost of the program and advances in technology that have rendered most Page-provided services no longer essential to the smooth functioning of the House," Boehner and Pelosi said in a joint statement.

The statement pointed out that messages that once had to be delivered to lawmakers in person are "no longer required for that purpose as most Members are contacted directly via electronic devices."

The page program has made headlines in the past for being at the heart of notable congressional scandals. Democrat Gerry Studds of Massachusetts and Republican Daniel Crane of Illinois were both punished by the House of Representatives for sexual affairs with pages in the 1970's and 1980's. And more recently, Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) was forced to resign from Congress in 2006 after exchanging sexually explicit messages over the internet with male pages that went public.

But the page program is meant to groom future leaders of the country. The House Page Program produced notable graduates in the past including former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and the longest serving member of the House of Representatives John Dingell (D-MI) who is still serving today.

Pelosi and Boehner said in their statement that "although the traditional mission of the Page Program has diminished, we will work with Members of the House to carry on the tradition of engaging young people in the work of the Congress."


Add a Comment See all 24 Comments
by nottellin1 August 9, 2011 6:07 PM EDT
How can the government program be "almost 200 years old", when the USA is only 135 years old.

The media expects we are stupid.
Reply to this comment
by PVperson2 August 9, 2011 6:14 PM EDT
Try 1776 instead of 1876 idiot.
by Jaylah54 August 9, 2011 4:40 PM EDT
I would imagine that all members of Congress do carry Blackberries/etc, but I'd be willing to bet that this decision had a lot more to do with removing temptation from members of the House that have trouble keeping their pants zipped in the presence of adolescents than anything else.
Reply to this comment
by antoniof123 August 9, 2011 3:57 PM EDT
The country was created by geniuses and is run by idiots.

Way to go idiots a 200 year old program that taught kids and helped them understand the workings of Democrocy brought down by a bunch of morons.

Thank you for nothing.
Reply to this comment
by rnrstar August 9, 2011 3:41 PM EDT
Don't be fooled. It had nothing to do with the $5 million cost. It was about the temptations that many in the GOP just couldn't resist.
Reply to this comment
by Zann-Zel August 9, 2011 3:22 PM EDT
I wonder if you could have put all those Pages into a room and asked THEM to come up with a way to reduce the deficit? I'd be willing to bet they could have done it!
Reply to this comment
by bobnjersey August 9, 2011 3:21 PM EDT
[the House Page Program must now come to an end. They cited the program's $5 million annual price tag, which does not include the costs of the residence hall and the school.]
-----------------------------------------------
how much do the lifetime pensions and the top tier medical plan cost for all the members of congress?

if they want to allow businesses to suspend pension payments for their employees ... and they want to propose reneging on the ss/medicare deal made w/ tens of millions of americans for decades ... i'd assume their giving up their deals as well, no?
Reply to this comment
by parisdakar August 9, 2011 3:13 PM EDT
Why don't Congressmen use bookmarks? Because they like their pages bent over.
Reply to this comment
by doubt1 August 9, 2011 2:30 PM EDT
I am waiting to hear the penny splash in the well of USA deficit based on the end of this program.
Reply to this comment
by Dgunner August 9, 2011 2:23 PM EDT
The state next to mine hosts the second largest military airshow in the nation.The cost of these shows in fuel alone runs into the millions way past the cost of the page program just the public can see military aircraft and the pilots exhibit thier skills and spend a boat load of money. We the people get enough entertainment from reading the headlines on washington.Military airshows are ridiculous and the first political candidate to help stop this form of govt. waste gets my vote regardless of thier party affiliation.
Reply to this comment
by DidHeSayThat August 9, 2011 1:23 PM EDT
Now if Congressmen would just quit acting like high schoolers, we might get back to business and let the adults take over.
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