Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has been having problems finding the right words to discuss the scandal surrounding Rep. Mark Foley. Allow us to put a few words in his mouth:

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I resign my position as speaker of the House. I am resigning not because of my actions, but because of my inaction. When staff members in Rep. Rodney Alexander's office met with me in 2005 to discuss Mr. Foley's inappropriate behavior, I feared the worst. My fear translated into inaction.

"In short, I was guilty of wilful ignorance, a lack of courage and misguided loyalty. I felt a greater good was to be served, that with Republicans in charge of the House, many wonderful goals could be met for the nation. Throwing a cloud of suspicion on Rep. Foley, I felt, would weaken the trust that America had placed in us and undermine our vision for the future.

"I should have realized a noble end can never be achieved by slipshod tactics. In fact, I did know it, but apparently forgot the lesson. I have now learned it again, at great cost to me personally, to my party and to innocent young people.

"Rep. Foley needs to take full responsibility for his actions. But as speaker of the House, I must take responsibility for not addressing the issue sooner. I turned a blind eye. It was a monumental miscalculation. Now a price must be paid, and as the Republican leader in the House, I must pay it. I failed to see the big picture. I must shoulder the consequences.

"The young men and women that American parents send to Washington are precious to us all. I have let those parents down. I apologize. Although I will no longer be serving as speaker of the House, I pledge to parents I will work tirelessly to insulate the page system against any similar future abuses. If that proves to be too difficult, I will work to disband the program. You have my word.

"What Rep. Foley did was monstrous. My own timidity in the face of his actions was wrong.

"I offer my sincere regrets and apologies to the pages, their parents and the American people.

"I will do what I can to help make amends."