### §4901. Congressional pages

#### (a) Appointment conditions

A person shall not be appointed as a page of the Senate or House of Representatives—

(1) unless he agrees that, in the absence of unforeseen circumstances preventing his service as a page after his appointment, he will continue to serve as a page for the period specified in writing at the time of the appointment; and

(2) until complete information in writing is transmitted to his parent or parents, his legal guardian, or other appropriate person or persons acting as his parent or parents, with respect to the nature of the work of pages, their pay, their working conditions (including hours and scheduling of work), and the housing accommodations available to pages.

#### (b) Qualifications

A person shall not serve as a page—

(1) of the Senate before he has attained the age of sixteen years; or

(2) of the House of Representatives before he has attained the age of sixteen years.

(Pub. L. 91–510, title IV, §491(a)–(d), Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1198; Pub. L. 97–51, §§101(c), 123, Oct. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 959, 965; Pub. L. 104–186, title II, §204(36), Aug. 20, 1996, 110 Stat. 1735; Pub. L. 108–447, div. G, title I, §9, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3170.)

#### **Editorial Notes**

#### Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 88b–1 of this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Repeal of subsecs. (c) and (d) of this section is based on section 304(a) of H.R. 4120, as reported July 9, 1981, which was enacted into permanent law by section 101(c) of Pub. L. 97–51 and amended by section 123 of Pub. L. 97–51.

#### Amendments

2004—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 108–447 substituted "sixteen" for "fourteen".

1996—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 104–186, §204(36)(A), substituted "the period specified in writing at the time of the appointment" for "a period of not less than two months".

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–186, §204(36)(B), substituted a period for "; or" at end of par. (2) and struck out concluding provisions which read as follows: "(except in the case of a chief page, telephone page, or riding page) during any session of the Congress which begins after he has attained the age of eighteen years."

1981—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 97–51 struck out subsecs. (c) and (d) which had provided, respectively, that pay of pages of the Senate began not more than five days before the convening or reconvening of a session of the Congress or of the Senate and continued until the end of the month during which the Congress or the Senate adjourned or recessed or until the fourteenth day after such adjournment or recess, whichever was the later date, except that, in any case in which the Congress or the Senate adjourned or recessed on or before the last day of July for a period of at least thirty days but not more than forty-five days, such pay would continue until the end of such period of adjournment or recess, and that the pay of pages of the House of Representatives began not more than five days before the convening of a session of the Congress and continued until the end of the month during which the Congress adjourned sine die or recessed or until the fourteenth day after such adjournment or recess, whichever was the later date, except that, in any case in which the House adjourned or recessed on or before the last day of July in any year for a period of at least thirty days but not more than forty-five days, such pay would continue until the end of such period of adjournment or recess.

#### **Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries**

#### Effective Date

Subsecs. (a), (c), and (d) of this section effective immediately prior to noon on Jan. 3, 1971, see section 601(1) of Pub. L. 91–510, set out as an Effective Date of 1970 Amendment note under section 4301 of this title.

Pub. L. 91–510, title IV, §491(f), Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1198, provided that: "Subsection (b) of this section shall become effective on January 3, 1971, but the provisions of such subsection limiting service as a page to persons who have attained the age of sixteen years shall not be construed to prohibit the continued service of any page appointed prior to the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 26, 1970]."

#### Pay of Pages Between Recess or Adjournment

Prior to the repeal of subsecs. (c) and (d) of section 88b–1 (now 4901) of this title by Pub. L. 97–51, provisions for continuing the pay of pages of the Senate and House of Representatives during specific periods of recess or adjournment of Congress by making such subsecs. (b) and (c) inapplicable to the pay of pages during such periods, were contained in the following appropriation acts:

Pub. L. 97–12, title I, June 5, 1981, 95 Stat. 65.

Pub. L. 96–536, §101(c), Dec. 16, 1980, 94 Stat. 3167.

Pub. L. 96–38, title III, §303, July 25, 1979, 93 Stat. 142. Subsequently repealed by Pub. L. 97–51, §§101(c), 123, Oct. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 965.

Pub. L. 95–391, title III, §305, Sept. 30, 1978, 92 Stat. 789.