Congressional Page
The Congressional Page program is where high school juniors (who are at least 16) are employed by Congress to serve administrative tasks.[1] The page program has existed since 1829, when Senator Daniel Webster appointed the first Senate page.[2] Currently there are 72 pages employed by the House of Representatives, and 30 by the Senate.[1] Pages must be appointed and sponsored by a member of Congress for one academic school year, at which time they will live in Washington and attend classes at the Library of Congress (unless serving in the summer).[3]
Scandals
In 1983 Representative Gerry Studds, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Representative Dan Crane, a Republican from Illinois, were involved in sex scandals over their affair with two 17 year old pages (Studds' affair was homosexual, Crane's was heterosexual). The two were censured by Congress, marking the first time a censure has resulted from sexual conduct. Studds, who was openly gay, stated that his privacy was violated by the House Ethics Committee. Studds was subsequently re-elected in a more liberal area than Crane's, and continued to serve in office until his retirement. Crane apologized for his actions, saying, "I'm human", but was voted out of office the following year.[4]
In 2006, Representative Mark Foley, a Republican from from Florida, was forced to resign after lewd instant-messages, sent to a male page, were discovered.[5] After resigning, Foley checked into rehab.[5]
