1983 Congressional Page Sex Scandal Article Index for
1983
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1983 Congressional Page Sex Scandal




On page and in 1973, the year he entered office, Studds invited a Male page, who testified he felt no ill will towards Studds, to his Georgetown apartment and later on a two week trip to Portugal . Both representatives admitted to the charges.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953990-1,00.html

On July 20 , 1983 , the House voted by a Supermajority to revise the reprimand recommendation to Censure , a more extreme measure. Censure had never previously been used in a case of Sexual Misconduct . The motion to censure the two House members was introduced by Rep. Robert H. Michel ( R - IL ), the Republican House Minority Leader . Aides later said that Michel proposed this bill to head off a move by Republicans to Expel the two legislators.1 Rep. Newt Gingrich ( R - GA ) was one of the leaders of the calls for the expulsion of Crane and Studds.2

At the beginning of the debate, Rep. Crane said, "I want the members to know I am sorry and that I apologize to one and all." When he was called to be censured, Rep. Crane stood facing the House. According to ''The New York Times'', after the censure was read, Mr. Crane, escorted by a friend, quickly left the chamber. However, an Associated Press article says that Crane walked back to his seat in the rear of the House and slumped in it.3 In 1984, Rep. Crane won the GOP primary but lost the General Election .http://www.mediamatters.org/items/200610100018

Studds gave up his right to a public hearing reluctantly, saying that he objected to the conclusions of the Ethics Committee but wanted to protect the privacy of the pages involved4 and that that the affair was a "mutually voluntary, private relationship between adults."5 At the same time, Studds did admit to "a very serious error in judgement," saying that he should not have had sex with a congressional subordinate, regardless of the individual's age or sex. As his censure was read, Studds faced the Speaker who was reading the Motion , with his back to the other House members. Studds continued to be re-elected until his Retirement in 1997.


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