A US senator was caught on a hot mic apparently referring to high school-age pages as “beautiful girls” while Congress was preparing to pass a deal to end the government shutdown.

“I thought you were going to say this was one of the most beautiful girls,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said on the Senate floor while appearing to point at a group of seated pages. “What about these others?”

Wicker and Sens. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) were speaking to the pages at the time.

Booker appeared to smile and laugh, as did some of the pages.

Pages can be as young as 16 years old.