Congressman Resigns After Violating "Live Boy/Dead Girl" Rule

WASHINGTON. Mark Foley, member of the House of Representatives for Florida's 16th Congressional District, resigned today after violating the "live boy-dead girl" rule first formulated by former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.

"He's a great kid."

In a letter of resignation sent to Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Foley apologized for his breach of House regulations.

"I am deeply sorry for sending steamy emails to a live boy," the letter said. "Had I sent them to a dead boy or a live girl, I would be able to defend myself against these outrageous but true allegations."

Under Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution, the House of Representatives is "the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and shall have sole Power to choose the Soft Drinks and Snacks that shall be offered in its Vending Machines." Rule 5.1 of the House currently states that representatives may send steamy emails to, or sit on the laps of, either live girls or dead boys, but not both during the same session.

ABCNews.com obtained copies of the following email exchanges between Foley and a former congressional page whose identity is given only as "Teen" in order to protect his privacy.

Maf54: You alive or dead?
Teen: Dead. I've been at a college interview that went late.
Maf54: Well, then--what ya wearing?
Teen: tshirt and shorts
Maf54: Love to slip them off of you.
Teen: You'd have to. I'm too tired to move.
Maf54: Cool.

The "live boy/dead girl" rule is enforced against Republicans but not Democrats such as former Congressman Gerry Studds, the first openly gay member of Congress who had an affair with a 17-year-old male page in 1983, or Senator Edward Kennedy, whose drunken crash off a bridge on Martha's Vineyard in 1969 left a young woman dead. When asked to explain the disparity in enforcement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said "Governor Edwards was a Democrat, so we get an exception." When accused of a double standard, she replied "Life is unfair," quoting Joseph Kennedy, Senator Kennedy's father.

The rule that Foley broke is based on a comment by Governor Edwards that the only way he could lose a 1983 re-election bid was to be "caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy". Other House rules based on colorful offhand comments by Democratic politicians include the "sex with a goat rule" first espoused by Lyndon Baines Johnson in a special election to represent the 10th Congressional District of Texas. "I would never accuse my opponent of having sex with a goat," Johnson said, "but I'd love to hear him deny it."

Foley denied having sex with a goat.

Copyright 2006, Con Chapman