House of Reps Page Program to End
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 1:00PM After nearly 200 years, the House will no longer have congressional pages because with the Internet and email, they have little to do other than get hit on by Congressmen and Senators and party into the early hours of the morning.
Pages are typically high school juniors who serve as messengers while they live in their own dorm and attend their own school.
They could be seen around the Capitol complex with their dark blazers and neatly trimmed hair, running when summoned by a member of Congress. They all were smart, needing a minimum 3.0 grade average in core school subjects to get into the program.
Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi say they can no longer justify spending $ 5 million a year on the program when most messages are delivered electronically.
The message announcing the end of the program was, however, sent by mail. The House program will end by Aug. 31. The Senate page program will continue.
Former House Pages included the likes of Bill Gates, William Cushing, and Andrew Napolitano
