Free Republic

So much for reform of the House page program in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal. House teenage pages are so wild and unsupervised that two GOP members of Congress have resigned from the House Page Board, protesting that they were not informed of two pages caught shoplifting and two others busted for engaging in public oral sex. One of the members who resigned, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, tells the Sleuth that she felt "very, very uncomfortable" both as a mother and a grandmother continuing to serve on a board she feels is inadequately supervised.

GERRY E. STUDDS, the blazingly articulate, acerbic former congressman representing some of the most beautiful coastline in the country, left a legacy of accomplishment for everyone, but particularly for those of us who are gay. In an age where even rehab for alcoholism is misused by those seeking to avoid responsibility, Studds faced the most personal of charges in an unforgiving spotlight, and he did it in a direct, unflinching way. When Studds was censured by the House of Representatives in 1983 for having a consensual affair with a 17-year-old page some 10 years earlier, he did it according to...

Gerry E. Studds, who championed environmental, maritime, and fisheries issues during 24 years in the US House of Representatives and lent an eloquent voice to health and human rights matters, died early yesterday. First elected in 1972, Studds entered politics as part of a generation emboldened by its opposition to the Vietnam War and turned his focus in Congress to issues close to the hearts of his constituents. A Democrat, Studds had been reelected five times when in 1983 he became the first member of Congress to openly acknowledge he was gay. [snip] He publicly disclosed his sexual orientation [only]...

Congressman Marty Meehan on Foxnews this morning was asked about Gerry Studds and the difference between Studds and Foley. Meehans response was "I was a sophmore (or Senior I cna't remember which) in High School when that happened." Implying that he couldn't be expected to respond to something that was that old and he was so young when it happened. That made me think. I was a junior in High School when that happened and I remember talking about it in our Social Studies/Current Events class. So that guy is my age?? Or within a year of it?? I looked...

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay person elected to Congress, died early Saturday at Boston Medical Center, a hospital official said. He was 69. Christian Kiriakos, central administrator at the hospital, said Studds died between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. He did not have additional information, and details of Studds' death could not be immediately confirmed. Studds, a liberal Democrat who spent more than 20 years in Congress, was censured by the House in the 1980s for having sex with a 17-year-old male page. He was re-elected for several more terms. Last year...

Former Massachsuetts Congressman Gerry Studds has died. The 69-year-old Studds died this morning at Boston Univesrity Medical Center. He'd been hospitalized after sustaining head injuries from an accident while walking his dog. Studds was a ranking member of the House Democratic leadership and advocated for New England fishermen and the ocean environment. studds, who grew up in Cohasset, was the first openly gay person elected to Congress. He served from 1973 to 1997. He is survived by his husband, Dean Hara. the couple was among the first same sex couples to be legally married in Massachusetts.

WASHINGTON - The rancorous debate over disgraced ex-Rep. Mark Foley hit a new low yesterday when a GOP congressman said indiscretions with a male page were nothing compared to Sen. Ted Kennedy's Chappaquiddick incident. Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) was trying to defend GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert when he took aim at the Massachusetts Democrat. "I know the speaker didn't go over a bridge and leave a young person in the water, and then have a press conference the next day," Shays told The Hartford Courant. "Dennis Hastert didn't kill anybody," he added. Kennedy was driving on the exclusive island...

The scandal involving inappropriate e-mail messages by former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., to congressional pages understandably has led to calls for abolishing the page program. "Even if this scandal taught members of Congress not to hit on teenagers, the page program still wouldn't be worth paying for," the Kansas City Star editorialized. "It should be eliminated, as Illinois Republican Rep. Ray LaHood has proposed, for the sake of both Congress and the pages. They need to be spared not just from lustful congressmen but from the chief lesson taught by the program: that success is all about making the right...

Reynolds (R) 45% Davis (D) 50% Undecided 5% 482 Likely Voters, MOE +/- 4.6%

Locked in a hard-fought race in a GOP-leaning district, Democrat Patty Wetterling took to the TV airwaves Tuesday to urge immediate expulsions of members of Congress who knew about or were involved in inappropriate contact with underage pages. The stark black-and-white ad plays on Wetterling's strongest political asset - her national reputation as a fighter for child protection. Her son Jacob vanished 17 years ago after a masked gunman abducted him on a lonely rural road, prompting her evolution as an advocate. "It shocks the conscience," a male voice says as headlines from the page scandal flash on screen.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., says she was not told about suggestive e-mails that a Florida congressman sent to a 16-year-old former Capitol page, even though she is one of three representatives who oversee the page program. Several high-ranking House Republicans have known about the e-mails for months, including Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the House Page Board. Late last year, Shimkus met with Foley about the e-mails. But Shimkus never told Capito or the board’s other member, Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., about them until Friday, according to all three. “There’s only three of us on the page board....