Impeachment Debate Moves to Full House
Judiciary Approves Four Articles; Rejects Censure

By DAVID ESPO
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Dec. 12) - Plagued by partisanship to the end, the House Judiciary Committee on Saturday approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Clinton, submitting his case to the full House for its verdict. A Democratic call for the lesser punishment of censure was rejected. By a vote of 21-16, the committee accused the president of abuse of power, saying he had ''given perjurious, false and misleading'' answers to some of the 81 questions the panel recently asked about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The vote was along straight party lines, in keeping with Friday's approval of three other articles alleging perjury and obstruction of justice. Republicans lined up solidly against the Democratic proposal to censure Clinton for ''reprehensible conduct with a subordinate'' - Ms. Lewinsky. The vote was 22-14, with one lawmaker voting present. With that, the impeachment inquiry into the nation's 42nd president, triggered by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's evidence, became the pressing concern of all 435 members of the House. Clinton was overseas at the time the committee acted. An aide, Gregory Craig, stepped outside the White House to deliver a stinging statement of rebuttal: Impeachment, he said, will ''divide the country, gridlock the government and defy the will of the people.'' In a prediction that Republicans may pay a political price for their actions, he added, ''In the end, the American people will make the final judgment about whether the impeachment of the president is in the national interest.'' Inside the committee room, the debate grew ever sharper as the panel neared the end of its historic inquiry into the behavior of the nation's 42nd president. Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan told committee members: ''This does, sometimes to some people, begin to take on the appearance of a coup.'' Republicans bristled at that. Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., told of having trouble sleeping. He said he had jogged at 2:30 a.m. down Washington's darkened, historic mall, stopping along the way at some of the Capital's most hallowed sites as he pondered the historic proceedings unfolding in the committee. ''Part of my conscience is driven by my military service,'' he said. With no doubt about the outcome of the committee's deliberations, all sides were focusing on a vote expected next week in the House - the first presidential impeachment proceedings to get that far since Andrew Johnson sat in the White House in 1868. Clinton's defenders were cheered by comments from New York Republican Gov. George Pataki, who told The New York Times he favors censure. That alternative ''is an attractive and appropriate step,'' he said in comments likely to give political leeway to a half-dozen so Republican lawmakers from his state who are undecided on whether to impeach the president. Moments after the vote on the fourth article of impeachment, Democrats sought passage of their alternative of censure, saying the president had ''dishonored the office'' he holds and noting that he remains subject to criminal prosecution after his term ends. ''It is the American public's preferred outcome,'' said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va. He added that while the president's ''conduct was reprehensible, it did not threaten the nation'' and does not warrant impeachment. Republicans argued that the censure resolution amounted to little and was of doubtful constitutionality. ''This president mocks the people, mocks the Congress and this censure is just what he wants,'' said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. The vote, like those on articles of impeachment, was nearly exactly along party lines. All Republicans and Democratic Rep. Robert Scott of Virginia opposed the proposal, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., voted present. Democrats then made one final attempt to win a promise from Republicans that they will permit the entire House to vote on censure. But committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., declined to make a commitment and said later that he opposed allowing a censure resolution to be offered when the House convenes Thursday. In a letter to House Speaker Newt Gingrich and incoming Speaker Bob Livingston, Hyde said believes that a resolution proposing censure ''in lieu of impeachment violates the rules of the House,'' and he urged that no vote be allowed on it when the House convenes Thursday. Gingrich, R-Ga., and Livingston, R-La., concurred with Hyde in separate letters. ''This underscores how partisan and unfair the process has become,'' White House spokesman Jim Kennedy said in reaction. ''How can people vote their conscience if they won't be allowed to speak their mind?'' Democrats knew in advance their censure effort would fail in the committee, but forced a debate as part of their effort to gain a vote on the House floor. House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri sought to raise the political stakes, urging Livingston in a letter to permit a censure vote on the floor. ''Your decision ... will decide whether or not history will mark our actions as a purely political exercise or a high-minded debate on the impeachment of a president,'' Gephardt wrote. Clinton, who issued an unambiguous invitation for Congress to censure him on Friday, was on a journey to the Middle East. Ironically, one of the lawmakers aboard Air Force One en route to the region was Rep. Rick Lazio, a New Yorker who is publicly uncommitted on impeachment. Lazio said it was up to Clinton to broach the subject in conversation, if he chose to. Inside the committee room, Republican Rep. George Gekas persuaded fellow Republicans to narrow the scope of the article of impeachment alleging abuse of power. On his initiative, the panel stripped out language citing Clinton's decision to assert executive privilege in trying to limit testimony sought by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. ''He was simply uttering a privilege that is accorded him,'' Gekas said. ''We ought to give the benefit of the doubt to the president.'' Most committee Democrats agreed, even though they continued to oppose the remaining allegation of abuse of power. As amended, the article's only abuse-of-power accusation faults Clinton for failing to fully and truthfully answer some of the 81 written questions posed by the committee about the Lewinsky affair. Chairman Hyde called Clinton's evasive answers to the questions ''an assault on the Congress.'' But Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said even the more limited accusations of abuse of power were ''absolutely indefensible.'' The questions were designed to trap Clinton in his own words, Nadler argued, and never should have been posed. All four impeachment articles arise from Clinton's relationship with Ms. Lewinsky and his long effort to cover it up, drawing from material that Starr submitted to Congress in September. The first two concerned Clinton's testimony before Starr's grand jury and in the Paula Jones case, alleging he ''provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony.'' The third alleges Clinton obstructed justice in an effort to impede Starr's investigation. In particular, it cites alleged efforts by Clinton to encourage Ms. Lewinsky to testify falsely, to coach presidential secretary Betty Currie in her own testimony, to hide the truth about gifts the president received from Ms. Lewinsky and other matters. The fourth article is limited to the responses the White House submitted a few weeks ago to the 81 questions.

AP-NY-12-12-98 2218EST

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