Who Knew What and When Did They Know It

Foley is not the first politicain to engage in questionable behavior with congressional pages. Rep. Dan Crane had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female page in 1980, while Rep. Gerry Studds admitted to a similar affair with a 17-year-old male page in 1973.

It stands to reason that these public scandals are merely the tip of the iceberg, since victims of sexual harassment and abuse often help hide the crimes due to embarrassment and desire to keep it private. Also, given the considerable power wielded by members of Congress, victims have likely kept their silence on such matters out of fear.

In the United States Congress, the page system began in 1839 but the pages
and romantic dalliances dates back to the Middle Ages and before. Pages served knights, royal courts, and acted as apprentices for artisans.

Mercutio, in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , provides a brief glimpse of the historical role of pages in Act III:

Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch;
Marry, 'tis enough.
Where is my page?
Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.

The actions of Foley are particularly galling in light of the fact that the congressman had been chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, and recently sponsored legislation to crack down on Internet child pornography sites.

But even more important, is now it appears that some members of the Republican leadership might have known more than they originally stated.

At the Capitol, Republicans spent the night trying to explain how this could have happened on their watch.

Among the explanations during the night:

— The congressional sponsor of the page, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., said he was asked by the youth's parents not to pursue the matter, so he dropped it.

— Alexander said that before deciding to end his involvement, he passed on what he knew to the chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y. Reynolds' spokesman, Carl Forti, said the campaign chairman also took no action in deference to the parents' wishes.

— Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the Page Board that oversees the congressional work-study program for high schoolers, said he did investigate but Foley falsely assured him he was only mentoring the boy. Pages are high school students who attend classes under congressional supervision and work as messengers.

— The spokesman for Speaker Dennis Hastert, Ron Bonjean, said the top House Republican had not known about the allegations. Shimkus said he learned about them in late 2005.

Speaker J. Dennis Hastert faced intensifying questions on Monday about why Republicans had not reacted more assertively to Representative Mark Foley's messages to a teenage page, as members of his party, fearing a political debacle, demanded a strong response.

Straining to hold the party together five weeks from Election Day amid unfolding revelations about the case, Hastert and his leadership team held a conference call with House Republicans on Monday night and heard blunt advice and criticism from participants who pressed for further action to reassure voters.

"This is a political problem, and we need to step up and do something dramatic," Representative Ray LaHood of Illinois said afterward, adding that he had proposed abolishing the Congressional page program.

As a registered Republican, I can only hope that Mark Foley doesn't cost the Republicans control of the House or the Senate or both. But if the Republican leadership allowed a sexual predator to remain in office by covering up his crimes than maybe it's time for a change.