Twenty-nine House members have asked House leadership to reconsider the decision to end the House Page Program, and Minnesota’s Betty McCollum is among them.
House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced the end of the $5 million-a-year Page Program earlier this month, saying the program was not cost effective and the pages’ tasks were now more easily accomplished electronically.
But Monday, 29 lawmakers wrote to the pair, saying they’d like to be consulted on ways to bring down costs and save the program.
“We firmly believe that the U.S. House of Represenatives Page Program remains an asset to Congress,” they wrote. “Former pages have gone on to be today’s leaders, both in government and the private sector. It would be a shame to perminantly take away this opportunity for our youth.”
McCollum was the only member of the Minnesota delegation to sign the letter. All but one of the signers are Democrats.
The text of the letter (via the Washington Post) is here.
Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com.
