In an effort to ensure that scandals such as those involving former Rep. Mark Foley's inappropriate contact with underage male pages never occur again, U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) cast his vote in support of a bill Friday that will improve House Page Board Oversight.

"Protecting the young people who serve as pages, including a number of West Virginia students, is a top priority of mine, as it should be of every Member of Congress," Rahall said. "For more than 150 years, young men and women from across the nation have come to Washington to serve as pages in the U.S. Capitol. The Page School is a national treasure, and the young people who attend it and work in the Congress are our special trust. We must do all we can to ensure that their experience here is a safe and rewarding one."

The bill, which passed the House unanimously, includes a number of provisions to improve the efficiency of the Page Board, which oversees the page programs. During the investigation of the allegations involving Foley, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee criticized several House members and senior staffers for not doing enough. The bipartisan Ethics Committee report said that the Page Board, which oversees the page programs, met rarely even as reports of Rep. Foley's misbehavior toward pages circulated for years. (The board met only twice in 2006, once right after Foley resigned on Sept. 29; once in 2005; and twice in 2004.) Further, the report found that Rep. Shimkus (the head of the Page Board) failed to tell the two other members of the Page Board about Foley's conduct.

The new legislation adds a House Member to the Board to make it two Republicans appointed by Minority Leader and two Democrats appointed by the Speaker. (Currently, it is two majority Members and one minority.) This will remove partisanship as a consideration in dealing with complaints against House Members.

The bill will also add a former page and the parent of a person who is or has been a page in the past 5 years to the Board - both to be appointed jointly by the Speaker and Minority Leader.

Finally, the legislation requires regular meetings of the Page Board, as determined by the Speaker and the Minority Leader, as called for by the bipartisan Ethics Committee in reporting on the Foley matter. The Ethics Committee report said that more frequent meetings of the Page Board would force the Clerk of the House to provide more reports about the program.

"This measure is another critical step in restoring integrity to the institution of the House of Representatives that has been tarnished by scandals," Rahall said.