Statement from Kildee on House Page Committee and Shimkus

Kildee Statement on Speaker Hastert’s October 5th Press Conference

Congressman Dale Kildee (D-MI), the Democratic Member of the House Page Board, released the following statement today:

Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Page Board Chairman John Shimkus have recently asserted that they did exactly the right thing in their handling of former Congressman Mark Foley’s inappropriate emails to a former House page.

The facts are:

* The Speaker and Page Board Chairman Shimkus did not inform me as the only Democratic Member of the House Page Board.
* They did not inform Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, the other Republican Member of the House Page Board.
* They did not inform the House Ethics Committee, which is charged with regulating the conduct of Members of the House.
* It appears that they did not inform the House Sergeant at Arms, the top law enforcement official in charge of security for the U.S. House, including the pages.
* They did not inform the House Democratic leadership.

Had Speaker Hastert followed the traditions and past practices of the U.S. House, he would have immediately consulted with the Democratic House leadership. That is how then-Speaker Tip O’Neill and then-Republican Leader Bob Michel handled the previous page scandal in the 1980’s.

And if my colleague, Mr. Shimkus, had been allowed to do what he now publicly acknowledges that he wishes he had done, he would have informed me and the rest of the House Page Board. A formal meeting of the Page Board, with a bipartisan representation of the House and with the House Sergeant at Arms providing law enforcement advice, would have given guidance as to how to best address this situation with the well-being and safety of the pages being foremost in mind.

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