Foley is single and quit a potential run for the Senate in 2003 after news reports surfaced that he is gay, though he told supporters that his father's battle with cancer made it impossible to mount an effective campaign.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, said he was "shocked" by Foley's news and "extremely disappointed."

But Matheson said this should not become a party issue. It is a wrongful act by someone in Congress and everything should be done to protect the pages, Matheson said.

James Keifert of West Jordan, who was a Hatch-sponsored Senate page in 2004, does not want to see this destroy the page program. While the Senate and the House page programs are separate, they are similar. Keifert said he was surprised by the news.

"It is hard to imagine it happening," Keifert said. "How do you get into that situation where a representative is talking like this?"

Keifert said it is not uncommon to talk with congressional staff members or give them an e-mail address but rare to communicate directly with a member.

"It is part of your job to talk with them but strictly on a professional basis," Keifert.

Keifert said his page experience was one he would never forget. He said for a lot of the pages it is the first time living on their own away from home. Pages who serve during the school year go to a special school to satisfy what they usually need for their junior year of high school. There are curfews and other rules in place for the students participating in the program.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert has called for the House Page Board to review the page program. He will create a toll-free telephone number for House pages, parents, grandparents and staff to confidentially report incidents of concern, he said. On Sunday he called for the Justice Department to investigate the allegations against Foley. An FBI spokesman said his agency is looking into the allegations.

He said Monday that House GOP leaders were unaware of the "vile and repulsive" sexually explicit instant messages.

"Congressman Foley duped a lot of people," Hastert said at a Capitol news conference. "He deceived the good men and women in organizations around this country, with whom he worked to strengthen our child predator laws. I have known him for all the years he served in this House. He deceived me, too."

The conservative newspaper The Washington Times has called for Hastert to step down over the scandal. The lead editorial on its web site said, "House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once."

On Monday Florida GOP legislators chose attorney Joe Negron to run in Foley's place in November's general election.

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Contributing: Associated Press and Cox News Service

E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com