Democratic lawmaker calls on Senate to protect Page program participants from Roy Moore
A Democratic lawmaker in the House is calling on the Senate Sergeant at Arms to take steps "to prepare the Page Program for the possible election of Roy Moore." In a letter to the Sergeant at Arms Frank Larkin, Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wisconsin, said she urges him to protect Senate pages.
"I would like to know what preventative steps are being undertaken to safeguard Senate Pages from predatory conduct of U.S. Senators and Senate staff," she wrote. "It would be unconscionable for Congress to not be vigilant and proactive in taking precautions to safeguard these children given the well sourced allegations against Roy Moore."
Roy Moore is the GOP candidate running in Alabama's special election Tuesday for Senate. In November, a woman accused the 70-year-old candidate of initiating a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 years old and he was 32 in the 1970s, according to a Washington Post report. There were, Gwen Moore pointed out, allegations of "inappropriate relationships with at least ten minors" reported by the Post and other outlets. One woman accused Roy Moore of sexual assaulting her when she was 16 years old and he was an Alabama assistant district attorney,
Gwen Moore noted that the House Page Program was eliminated after the scandal involving former GOP Rep. Mark Foley who sent "suggestive emails and text messages to male Pages," she wrote.
Senate pages are high school juniors and must be at least 16 years old and attending school, according to a description of the program. They are sponsored by their state's senator to function primarily as messengers of legislative material and communications within Congress.
"We need to be vigilant stewards of these children going forward," Gwen Moore added.
