US House of Representatives Page Program

United States House of Representatives Page Program was a program run by the United States House of Representatives, under the office of the Clerk of the House, in which voluntary appointed high school juniors applicants acted as non-partisan federal employees in the House of Representatives, providing supplemental administrative support to House operations in a variety of capacities in Washington, D.C., at the United States Capitol. Pages reported to "Chief Pages", commonly referred to as work bosses (or "House Page Work Supervisors") on the Democratic and Republican sides of the House of Representatives Floor. As was the practice in Middle Ages, pages were used as a messaging service for the four main House Office Buildings (Rayburn, Longworth, Cannon, and Ford) as well as inside the Capitol. Other Page responsibilities included: taking statements from members of congress after speeches (for the Congressional Record), printing and delivering vote reports to various offices, tending members' personal needs while on the floor of the House, managing phones in the cloakrooms, and ringing the bells for votes. Pages were nominated by representatives based upon a highly competitive application process. Congressional Pages had served within the U.S. House of Representatives for almost 180 years.

On August 8, 2011, Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced that the House Page program would end due to costs and the technological advancements that have rendered the program no longer essential. The Senate Page program will continue.

Pages serve in one of four terms: a five-month fall semester (September–January), a four and a half-month spring semester (February–June), or one of two three-to-four week summer sessions. Those selected to serve during the summer period may serve either the summer directly before or directly after their junior year of high school. After completing one session, Pages may be eligible for the subsequent session, based upon merit and space. Prospective House Pages are nominated by a representative or congressional delegate (Pages have come from all 50 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa). Pages for the majority party tend to spend the entire academic year involved in the program; others from the minority party may apply and continue throughout the school year as well.

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