From CNN Political Editor Mark Preston

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, and other GOP leaders handled the page scandal appropriately, by forcing Rep. Mark Foley, R-Florida, to resign upon learning of his sexually explicit correspondence with teenage pages, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said Sunday.

"The fact is the speaker and our leadership could not have been more aggressive," Mehlman said in an interview on CNN's 'Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.' "The moment they found out about this, they gave Mark Foley the political death penalty."

Mehlman added, "They said, get out of Congress or we're going to throw you out. They called in the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate."

Mehlman also said he doesn't anticipate that Foley's misdeeds will hurt the GOP in the November elections.

"I traveled around the country this past week, to a number of competitive states," Mehlman said. "What people were talking about there was whether their tax cuts were going to stay in place or taxes were going to increase."

America Votes 2006