WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. John Shimkus has told congressional leaders he doesn't want to be reappointed to a board that oversees the page program, according to a report published Sunday.

The Illinois Republican headed the board last year when an election-eve scandal unfolded involving Florida Rep. Mark Foley, who sent sexually suggestive e-mails to teenaged boys involved in the page program.

"I think I have been tarnished by it," the Illinois Republican said. "I'm done with it, and not because I don't love the kids. If you're going to have a new look at it, in all honesty, you ought to have some new eyes looking at it."

The House Ethics Committee said last month it had found no evidence members of Congress other than Foley had violated rules. Foley, a Republican, resigned in September.

The committee noted Shimkus had told another Republican page board member that he withheld information about Foley's messages from the panel's sole Democrat out of fear that "it would be blown out of proportion."

Shimkus called the episode "just a terrible incident by Congressman Foley that got caught up in politics and got spun in a really personal, devastating way. But people in my congressional district who knew me rallied to my support."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she will seek more oversight of the Page Board, including adding a parent of a current and a former page to the panel.