[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 15, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10387-S10388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 276--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
 PRESIDENT SHOULD REIMBURSE THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER FOR COSTS ASSOCIATED 
 WITH THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL'S INVESTIGATION OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH 
                          MS. MONICA LEWINSKY

  Mr. MURKOWSKI submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 276

       Whereas, on January 17, 1998, President Clinton testified 
     in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones and 
     denied a sexual relationship with a former White House intern 
     Monica Lewinsky;
       Whereas, President Clinton's personal lawyer, David 
     Kendall, stated on September 13, 1998 that the President 
     ``absolutely'' sought to mislead Ms. Jones's lawyers in the 
     January 17 deposition;
       Whereas, during a January 26, 1998 White House news 
     conference, President Clinton stated, ``I did not have sexual 
     relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky'';
       Whereas, President Clinton invoked Executive Privilege in 
     an effort to limit grand jury questioning of aides Bruce 
     Lindsey, Sidney Blumenthal, Cheryl Mills, Nancy Hernreich and 
     Lanny Breuer;
       Whereas, none of President Clinton's claims of Executive 
     Privilege were ever supported by the courts;
       Whereas, on May 22, a federal judge denied a previous 
     motion by the President to prevent Secret Service agents from 
     being compelled to testify before a grand jury;
       Whereas, on July 7, 1998, a federal appeals court denied 
     the President's appeal and ruled that Secret Service 
     employees must tell the grand jury what they observed by 
     guarding the President;
       Whereas, on July 29, 1998, President Clinton agreed to 
     testify from the White House in response to a subpoena issued 
     by the Independent Counsel's office;
       Whereas, on August 17, 1998, President Clinton testified 
     before a grand jury and made an address to the nation 
     admitting ``an improper relationship'' with Monica Lewinsky;
       Whereas, the President has unnecessarily and improperly 
     prolonged the investigation of Independent Counsel Kenneth 
     Starr;
       Whereas, the President knowingly provided inaccurate 
     information in a sworn deposition and in public statements 
     about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky;
       Whereas, the President invoked improper claims of Executive 
     Privilege, attorney-client privilege and Secret Service 
     privileges: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That
       (1) it is the sense of the Senate that President Clinton 
     has unnecessarily delayed the investigation of the 
     Independent Counsel, and
       (2) President Clinton should reimburse the American 
     taxpayer for the costs associated with the Independent 
     Counsel's investigation of his relationship with Ms. 
     Lewinsky.

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, last Friday, Congress and the American 
people were finally able to read the 445-page report on the 
investigation of the independent counsel, Judge Kenneth Starr. It is 
now, of course, the constitutional duty of the House of Representatives 
to review that report and determine whether the articles of 
impeachment, censure, or whatever action, are indeed warranted against 
the President.
  I rise today not to discuss that specific issue of impeachment or 
censure, but I rise today to discuss the issue of equity. For the last 
7 months, due to the actions of the President--and I might add, the 
President alone--substantial costs have accumulated as a result of the 
President's intentional strategy. And that strategy is to delay and 
thwart the investigations of Judge Kenneth Starr.
  Mr. President, I think it is the duty of this body to discuss and 
reflect on the cost that has been borne by the American public as a 
result of the calculated deception that has gone on for the last 7 
months. Certainly, it has been evidenced by the report that it was a 
deception, a deception to cover up and delay. It is clear that after 
the President testified on January 17 in Paula Jones' sexual harassment 
lawsuit that the President began a calculated plan to mislead and 
basically deceive the independent counsel and the American public with 
his ``legally accurate'' testimony in the Jones case.
  Indeed, when the President's attorney, David Kendall, was asked 
yesterday if the President was purposely attempting to mislead the 
attorneys for Paula Jones during his sworn deposition, he replied 
``absolutely.''
  Mr. President, it has been 7 months now, 7 months since President 
Clinton sought to prevent the independent counsel from determining the 
veracity of his statements. Despite the fact that the Clinton 
administration issued a statement in 1994 that the administration would 
not invoke executive privilege for any personal wrongdoings, the 
President withdrew and reasserted claims of executive privilege on five 
specific occasions. These claims were warrantless and served as nothing 
more than a delay tactic. In fact, not one of the claims of executive 
privilege was found by a court of law to be justified.
  As a result of the President's plan for public deception--I hate to 
use that word, but I can't put it in any other term--and certainly 
delay, the investigation of independent counsel Starr was unnecessarily 
prolonged for approximately 7 months, despite the fact that the 
President, in January of 1998, promised, promised, the Congress and the 
American public to cooperate fully with the investigation.
  Lastly, the President refused six invitations to voluntarily testify 
before the independent counsel's grand jury. It was only when he was 
faced with the subpoena and the result of the DNA test and the reality 
that the tests would soon be completed that the President finally 
appeared before the grand jury.
  Where are we? What does all this really mean? It means that for more 
than 7 months, President Clinton has pursued a strategy of deceiving 
the American people and the Congress and purposely delayed and impeded 
the independent counsel's investigation. The cost of the President's 
campaign of delay and deception totals nearly $4.4 million.
  I ask unanimous consent the letter from the Office of the Independent 
Counsel be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


                            Office of the Independent Counsel,

                               Washington, DC, September 11, 1998.
     Mr. David L. Clark,
     Director, Audit Oversight and Liaison, U.S. General 
         Accounting Office, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Clark: This is in response to Senator Frank 
     Murkowski's letter to you dated September 3, 1998, requesting 
     certain costs incurred by this Office relating to the Monica 
     Lewinsky investigation. In your meeting with personnel in our 
     Office on September 4, 1998, we agreed to provide you with 
     answers to the Senator's questions as accurately as possible. 
     As we mentioned in that meeting, our financial accounting 
     system does not categorize costs by case, or project. 
     Therefore, we determined the cost by estimating the time 
     spent on the Lewinsky investigation by all staff members. 
     Further, the Lewinsky portion of certain general costs was 
     allocated based on those estimates.
       The enclosed spreadsheet displays a Summary of Expenses 
     relating to the Lewinsky investigation. The expenses are 
     categorized in the same manner as our Financial Statements 
     shown in GAO's audit reports. Work on the Lewinsky 
     investigation continues today and many members of our staff 
     are still working on this matter. For purposes of this 
     request, we chose to account for costs recorded through 
     August 31, 1998. Subsequent costs have not yet been recorded. 
     To include them here would decrease the accuracy of the costs 
     we have computed. Should the Senator request costs after 
     August 31, we will certainly update the enclosed Summary.
       In response to question 1 of Senator Murkowski's letter: 
     for the period January 15 through August 31, 1998, Lewinsky-
     related investigation costs for personnel compensation and 
     benefits (including employees and detailees) are $1,861,456. 
     Contract Services (including consultants) costs are $884,110. 
     Most incumbent members of this Office have devoted more than 
     50% of their time to the Lewinsky matter. Many staff members 
     over the past eight months, both old and new, have worked 
     considerable overtime hours,

[[Page S10388]]

     most of which were related to the Lewinsky investigation and 
     many were for uncompensated attorney-hours.
       Question 2 of the letter requests the cost of witnesses 
     associated with the Lewinsky investigation. These costs 
     amount to $13,841, which is included in the Summary, under 
     various categories.
       Question 3 of the letter, Lewinsky-related travel costs, is 
     shown in the Summary as $949,895.
       Should you or the Senator's office have any questions about 
     the estimate, please call Paul Rosenzweig or me at 202-514-
     8688.
           Sincerely,
                                           Jackie M. Bennett, Jr.,
                                       Deputy Independent Counsel.
       Attachment

             SUMMARY OF EXPENSES RELATING TO MONICA LEWINSKY            
                         [Jan. 15-Aug. 31, 1998]                        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Lewinsky  
                    Category of expense                        related  
                                                              expenses  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personnel Compensation and Benefits.......................    $1,861,456
Travel Costs..............................................       949,895
Rent, Communications and Utilities........................       356,494
Contractual Services......................................       884,110
Supplies and Services.....................................        82,653
Capital Equipment.........................................       186,021
Administrative Services...................................        73,294
                                                           -------------
      Total...............................................     4,393,923
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The expenses shown above do not include other costs allocated to  
  this Office by the General Accounting Office (GAO). Certain           
  administrative costs incurred by the Administrative Office of the U.S.
  Courts (AOUSC) are periodically charged to this Office. The amount of 
  this charge for the period in question is not available (for the six- 
  month period ending March 31, 1998, the amount was approximately      
  $121,700).                                                            
Additionally, payroll costs of FBI personnel assigned to this Office are
  paid by their agency, and therefore are not included in the above     
  expenses.                                                             


  Mr. MURKOWSKI. That letter that has just been made part of the Record 
is highlighted here relative to the detailed expense associated with 
the Monica Lewinsky incident, expenses from January 15 to August 31, 
1998, including categories of expenses relative to personal 
compensation, travel costs, contractual services, supplies, capital 
equipment, administrative services. The total is $4.3 million, roughly 
$4.4 million. That is the cost to the American taxpayer.
  The question that I brought up earlier was one of equity. Equity 
demands the costs of the delays should be borne by the President and 
not the taxpayers of this country.
  I ask that my colleagues support me in the resolution that I have 
submitted which would require the President to reimburse the American 
taxpayers for the expenses that resulted from the delays of the 
investigation, the delays that were initiated and caused directly by 
the President.
  My colleagues should note that this resolution is not unprecedented. 
We, in Congress, have required Members under investigation by the 
Ethics Committee to reimburse the committee for the costs of the 
investigation. The same standard should apply in the case of the 
President of the United States.

                          ____________________