There are countless wasteful programs in Washington, D.C., but the U.S. House page program is not one of them. The program gives high school juniors the opportunity to live, work and learn in our nation's capital.
Letter of the Day (Aug. 27): House page program

With the sponsorship of Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., I had the honor of serving as a congressional page this spring. Little did I know that my class would be the last of the 200-year-old program.
As a page, I witnessed the State of the Union address and addresses by the prime ministers of Israel and Australia in person.
I was instructed by compelling and talented teachers at the page school in the Library of Congress, and I forged friendships with kids from every corner of the nation. In recent days, the media have decried the program as an inexcusable waste, with annual expenditures exceeding $5 million.
Severe cuts can't be made without compromising the program's integrity. Ultimately, as a page, I learned what it means to be a civil servant.
There is an understated deficiency of political efficacy in my generation, and the page program sought to correct the crisis by training youth leaders in civil service.
It's no coincidence that Bill Gates was a page, or that more than 70 pages went on to become members of Congress. The end of the House page program is the death of a tradition nearly as old as the country itself.
ALLIE VREEMAN, CHANHASSEN