"Speaker Hastert should not resign. He and the Page Board conducted themselves with honest intent and responsibly given what was known at the time.

"Hindsight is perfect. Now that the second set of instant messages - the sexually explicit ones - surfaced last week on ABC, we know that Mr. Foley lied to all involved. At its heart this was an unconscionable breech of trust and possible criminal behavior by Mr. Foley.

"I know Congressman Shimkus - co-chairman of the House Page Board who confronted Mr. Foley about the original emails -- well. Four of us members of Congress share a townhouse while we work in Washington. He is a father of three young children, an Army Ranger and West Point graduate who takes seriously the safety and wellbeing of our pages. He would not tolerate for a minute anyone, for any reason, who could be a threat to the young people entrusted to us.

"What I find revealing is that other news organizations, such as the St. Petersburg Times, had the same set of emails last year as the House Page Board did, investigated Mr. Foley and drew the same conclusions. How do you possibly claim a 'cover-up' when the press had the same information for nearly a year and independently agreed that the same set of emails did not merit publication?

"It would be a terrible loss to abolish the page program. It has been a wonderful educational experience for our young people and shouldn't be tossed out because of the terrible conduct of a few over the past decades. The page program, like internships on Capitol Hill, have real value for young people wanting to learn more about how they can make a difference for their country."