House to end page program after almost 200 years
After almost 200 years, the House page program that allowed high school students to serve as messengers and learn about Congress is ending, rendered obsolete by the Internet and email in cost-cutting times.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Monday that the $5 million annual expense can no longer be justified when messages and other materials are delivered electronically. The blue-jacketed pages, who have been a common sight in the House since the 1820s, now have little to do, according to the two leaders.
The program, which also has been touched by scandal, will end by Aug. 31.
Before the Internet and personal electronic devices, pages “crisscrossed the congressional complex each day delivering countless messages and documents to members, committees and leadership offices,” the two leaders said in a letter to House members — delivered via email.