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Politico...
Boehner,
Pelosi pull plug on pages
By John Bresnahan and Jonathan Allen
August 8, 2011
The
House page program, a vestige of
pre-wireless Washington and the subject of several sex scandals, is
coming to
an end.
In
a joint release, Speaker John
Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.),
announced
their plan to stop using teenage gophers for tasks, such as delivering
notes to
lawmakers, that have been rendered obsolete by electronic
communications. There
have been House pages serving in the chamber going back until at least
the
1840s, although “messengers” were part of the Continental Congress in
the
1770s.
“We
have great appreciation for the
unique role that Pages have played in the history and traditions of the
House
of Representatives,” they wrote. “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. 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.”
There
are 72 House page positions,
according to a 2008 Congressional Research Service report. 48 pages are
appointed by the majority, with the remaining 24 slots going to the
minority.
The pages are paid at an annualized rate of more than $20,000, although
their
rooming and meal expenses are deducted from their pay.
The
Senate will not follow the House’s
cost-cutting drive. The Senate, which has its own, separately run, page
program, has no plans to take similar action, according to Adam
Jentleson, a
spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Senate pages
typically have
less contact with lawmakers than do House pages. There are 30 Senate
pages, 16
for the majority and 14 for the minority.
While
it was cast as a matter of
fiscal responsibility — the House program costs $5 million per year — a
history
of scandal may also have factored into the decision.
Read
the rest of the story at Politico
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