[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 23, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H8502-H8504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE--IMPEACHING KENNETH W. STARR

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce a question 
of privilege pursuant to rule IX and call up House Resolution 545 for 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                               Resolution

       Impeaching Kenneth W. Starr, an independent counsel of the 
     United States appointed pursuant to 28 United States Code 
     Sec. 593(b), of high crimes and misdemeanors.
       Resolved that Kenneth W. Starr, an independent counsel of 
     the United States of America, is impeached for high crimes 
     and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of 
     impeachment be exhibited to the Senate;
       Articles of Impeachment exhibited by the House of 
     Representatives of the United States of America in the name 
     of itself and of all the people of the United States of 
     America, against Kenneth W. Starr, an independent counsel of 
     the United States of America, in maintenance and support of 
     its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.


                               article i

       In his conduct of the office of independent counsel, 
     Kenneth W. Starr has violated his oath and his statutory and 
     constitutional duties as an officer of the United States and 
     has acted in ways that were calculated to and that did usurp 
     the sole power of impeachment that the Constitution of the 
     United States vests exclusively in the House of 
     Representatives and that were calculated to and did obstruct 
     and impede the House of Representatives in the proper 
     exercise of its sole power of impeachment. The acts by which 
     Independent Counsel Starr violated his duties and attempted 
     to and did usurp the sole power of impeachment and impede its 
     proper exercise include:
       (1) On September 9, 1998, Independent Counsel Kenneth W. 
     Starr transmitted two copies of a ``Referral to the United 
     States House of Representatives pursuant to Title 28, United 
     States Code, Sec. 595(c).'' As part of that Referral, Mr. 
     Starr submitted a 445-page report (the ``Starr Report'') that 
     included an extended narration and analysis of evidence 
     presented to a grand jury and of other material and that 
     specified the grounds upon which Mr. Starr had concluded that 
     a duly elected President of the United States should be 
     impeached by the House of Representatives. By submitting the 
     Starr Report, Mr. Starr usurped the sole power of impeachment 
     and impeded the House in the proper exercise of that power in 
     various ways, including the following:
       (a) In preparing the Starr Report, Mr. Starr misused the 
     powers granted and violated the duties assigned independent 
     counsel under the provisions of Title 28 of the United States 
     Code. Section 595(c) does not authorize or require 
     independent counsel to submit a report narrating and 
     analyzing the evidence and identifying the specific grounds 
     on which independent counsel believes the House of 
     Representatives should impeach the President of the United 
     States. By submitting the Starr Report in the form he did, 
     Mr. Starr misused his powers and preempted the proper 
     exercise of the sole power of impeachment that the 
     Constitution assigned to the House of Representatives. Mr. 
     Starr thereby committed a high crime and misdemeanor against 
     the Constitution and the people of the United States of 
     America.
       (b) In his preparation and submission of the Starr Report, 
     Mr. Starr further misused his powers and violated his duties 
     as independent counsel and arrogated unto himself and 
     effectively preempted and undermined the proper exercise of 
     power of impeachment that the Constitution allocated 
     exclusively to the House of Representatives. Mr. Starr knew 
     or should have known, and he acted to assure, that the House 
     of Representatives would promptly release to the public any 
     report that he transmitted to the House of Representatives 
     under the authority of Section 595(c). With that knowledge, 
     Mr. Starr prepared and transmitted a needlessly pornographic 
     report calculated to inflame public opinion and to preclude 
     the House of Representatives from following the procedures 
     and observing the precedents it had established for the 
     conduct of a bipartisan inquiry to determine whether a 
     President of the United States had committed a high crime or 
     misdemeanor in office meriting impeachment. Mr. Starr thereby 
     committed a high crime and misdemeanor against the 
     Constitution and the people of the United States.
       (2) Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr further usurped 
     and arrogated unto himself the powers that belong solely to 
     the House of Representatives by using and threatening to use 
     the subpoena powers of a federal grand jury to compel an 
     incumbent President of the United States to testify before a 
     federal grand jury as part of an investigation whose primary 
     purpose had become and was the development of evidence that 
     the President had committed high crimes and misdemeanors 
     justifying his impeachment and removal from office. With 
     respect to the President of the United States, the only means 
     by which the holder of that office may be called to account 
     for his conduct in office is through the exercise by the 
     House of Representatives of the investigative powers that the 
     constitutional assignment of the sole power of impeachment 
     conferred upon it. Mr. Starr improperly used and manipulated 
     the powers of the grand jury and his office to effectively 
     impeach the President of the United States of America and to 
     force the House of Representatives to ratify his decision. 
     Mr. Starr thereby committed a high crime and misdemeanor 
     against the Constitution and the people of the United States.
       In all this, Kenneth W. Starr has acted in a manner 
     contrary to his trust as an independent counsel of the United 
     States and subversive of constitutional government, to the 
     great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the 
     manifest injury of the people of the United States.
       Wherefore Kenneth W. Starr, by such conduct, warrants 
     impeachment and trial, and removal from office.


                               article ii

       In his conduct of the office of independent counsel, 
     Kenneth W. Starr violated the oath he took to support and 
     defend the Constitution of the United States of America and 
     his duties as an officer of the United States and acted in 
     ways that were calculated to and that did unconstitutionally 
     undermine the office of President of the United States and 
     obstruct, impede, and impair the ability of an incumbent 
     President of the United States to fully and effectively 
     discharge the duties and responsibilities of his office on 
     behalf and for the benefit of the people of the United States 
     of America, by whom he had been duly elected. The acts by 
     which Mr. Starr violated his oath and his duties and 
     undermined the office of President and obstructed, 
     impeded, and impaired the ability of the incumbent 
     President to fully and effectively discharge the duties of 
     that office include:
       (1) Mr. Starr unlawfully and improperly disclosed and 
     authorized disclosures of grand jury material for the purpose 
     of embarrassing the President of the United States and 
     distracting him from and impairing his ability to execute the 
     duties of the office to which the people of the United States 
     had elected him. Mr. Starr has thereby committed high crimes 
     and misdemeanors against the Constitution and people of the 
     United States.
       (2) Mr. Starr engaged in a wilfull and persistent course of 
     conduct that was calculated to and that did wrongfully 
     demean, embarrass, and defame an incumbent President of the 
     United States and that thereby undermined and impaired the 
     President's ability to properly execute the duties of the 
     office to which the people of the United States had elected 
     him, including not only Mr. Starr's wrongful disclosures of 
     grand fury material, but also other improper conduct, such as 
     his actions and conduct calculated to suggest, without 
     foundation, that the incumbent President had participated in 
     preparing a so-called ``talking points'' outline to 
     improperly influence the testimony of one or more persons 
     scheduled to be deposed in a private civil action. By his 
     wilful and persistent conduct in misrepresenting as well as 
     improperly disclosing evidence that he had gathered, Mr. 
     Starr committed high crimes and misdemeanors against the 
     Constitution and the people of the United States of America.
       (3) Mr. Starr intentionally, willfully, and improperly 
     embarrassed the people and the President of the United States 
     by including in the Starr Report an unnecessary and improper 
     and extended detailed, salacious, and pornographic narrative 
     account of the consensual sexual encounters that a grand jury 
     witness testified she had with the incumbent President of the 
     United States. By including the unnecessary and improper 
     pornographic narrative, Mr. Starr intended to and did 
     undermine and imperil the ability of the President to conduct 
     the foreign relations of United States of America and 
     otherwise to execute the duties of the office to which the 
     people of the United States had elected him, and he knowingly 
     and improperly embarrassed the United States as a nation. By 
     including that narrative, knowing and intending that it would 
     be published and disseminated, Mr. Starr committed a high 
     crime and misdemeanor against the Constitution and the people 
     of the United States of America.
       In all of this, Kenneth W. Starr has acted in a manner 
     contrary to his trust as an independent counsel of the United 
     States and subversive of constitutional government, to the 
     great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the 
     manifest injury of the people of the United States.
       Wherefore Kenneth W. Starr, by such conduct, warrants 
     impeachment and trial, and removal from office.


                              article iii

       In his conduct of the office of independent counsel, 
     Kenneth W. Starr violated the oath he took to support and 
     defend the Constitution of the United States of America and 
     the duties he had assumed as an office of the United States 
     and acted in ways that were calculated to and that did 
     unconstitutionally arrogate unto himself powers that the 
     Constitution of the United States assigned

[[Page H8503]]

     to the federal courts; that were calculated to and did 
     undermine the institution of the grand jury established by 
     the Constitution of the United States; and that were 
     calculated to and did undermine and bring into disrepute 
     the office of independent counsel and offices of all those 
     charged with investigating and prosecuting crimes against 
     the United States. The acts by which Mr. Starr violated 
     his oath and his duties and by which he undermined the 
     federal courts and the grand jury and undermined and 
     demeaned the office and role of all federal prosecutors 
     include:
       (1) Mr. Starr disclosed and authorized and approved the 
     disclosure and misuse of grand jury materials in violation of 
     Rule 6(e)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and 
     with contempt for the federal courts and for the rights of 
     those who appear before grand juries of the United States and 
     of those who are subjects of grand jury investigations.
       (2) Throughout his investigations, Mr. Starr abused the 
     powers of his office and condoned the abuse of those powers 
     to improperly intimidate and manipulate citizens of the 
     United States who were interviewed or called to testify 
     before a grand jury or who were actual or potential targets 
     of his investigations and to deprive them of rights 
     guaranteed to all citizens of the United States. Mr. Starr 
     and subordinates for whose conduct he is responsible further 
     abused and misused the powers of the office of independent 
     counsel and the powers of the grand jury to improperly invade 
     and needlessly intrude upon the privacy of individuals and to 
     demean the rights guaranteed to all by the First and Fifth 
     Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
       (3) Throughout his investigations, Mr. Starr has abused and 
     misused and has authorized and approved the abuse and misuse 
     of the powers of his office in ways that have demeaned the 
     prosecutorial office and that have undermined and will 
     undermine the ability of other prosecutorial officers of the 
     United States to discharge their duty to take care that laws 
     of the United States be faithfully executed.
       (4) In his conduct of the office of the independent 
     counsel, Mr. Starr has needlessly and unjustifiably expended 
     and wasted funds of the United States. Over the past four 
     years, Mr. Starr has expended more than forty million dollars 
     ($40,000,000) in a relentless pursuit of investigations and 
     prosecutions that he knew or should have known did not merit 
     and could not justify such extraordinary expenditures.
       By the conduct described in this Article III of these 
     Articles of Impeachment, Kenneth W. Starr committed high 
     crimes and misdemeanors against the Constitution and the 
     people of the United States of America.
       In all of this, Kenneth W. Starr has acted in a manner 
     contrary to his trust as an independent counsel of the United 
     States and subversive of constitutional government, to the 
     great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the 
     manifest injury of the people of the United States.
       Wherefore Kenneth W. Starr, by such conduct, warrants 
     impeachment and trial, and removal from office.


                               article iv

       By his conduct as an officer of the United States of 
     America, including the conduct described in Articles I 
     through III of these Articles of Impeachment, Kenneth W. 
     Starr has violated the oath he took to uphold and defend the 
     Constitution of the United States of America. He has acted 
     and persisted in acting in ways that were calculated to and 
     did embarrass the United States and the people of the United 
     States before the international community and that were 
     calculated to and did undermine the ability of the 
     Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial 
     Branch to effectively exercise the powers and discharge the 
     duties assigned to each by the Constitution of the United 
     States of America. He has unconstitutionally and improperly 
     exercised powers that were not his to exercise and has acted 
     in ways that were calculated to and did improperly demean a 
     President of the United States and diminish the capacity of 
     the President to effectively discharge the duties that the 
     people of the United States elected him to perform. He has 
     unconstitutionally and improperly exercised his powers and 
     has acted in ways that were calculated to and did demean the 
     House of Representatives and that have effectively deprived 
     the House of Representatives of its right to exercise its 
     sole power of impeachment in a deliberate and bipartisan 
     manner that was consistent with the procedures and precedents 
     it had established in prior proceedings and inquiries to 
     determine whether the President of the United States should 
     be impeached. He has unlawfully and improperly exercised his 
     powers in ways that demeaned the institution of the federal 
     grand jury, that demonstrated contempt of the courts of the 
     United States and the rules that govern their proceedings, 
     and that demeaned the office of independent counsel and 
     offices of all those charged with responsibility for seeing 
     that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed. 
     By his conduct as an independent counsel, Kenneth W. Starr 
     has committed high crimes and misdemeanors against the 
     Constitution and the people of the United States.
       In all of this, Kenneth W. Starr has acted in a manner 
     contrary to his trust as an independent counsel of the United 
     States and subversive of constitutional government, to the 
     great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the 
     manifest injury of the people of the United States.
       Wherefore Kenneth W. Starr, by such conduct, warrants 
     impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

                              {time}  1700

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hansen). The resolution constitutes a 
question of the privileges of the House under rule IX.


                 Motion to Table Offered By Mr. LaHood

  Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to table the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood) to lay House Resolution 545 on the 
table.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were-- yeas 340, 
nays 71, not voting 23, as follows:

                             [Roll No 453]

                               YEAS--340

     Abercrombie
     Aderholt
     Allen
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baesler
     Baker
     Baldacci
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Barrett (WI)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berman
     Berry
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Bliley
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bono
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (TX)
     Bryant
     Bunning
     Burr
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cannon
     Capps
     Cardin
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth
     Christensen
     Clement
     Coble
     Collins
     Combest
     Condit
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Costello
     Cox
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cubin
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (VA)
     Deal
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     Dickey
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Ewing
     Fawell
     Fazio
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Fowler
     Fox
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gejdenson
     Gekas
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Granger
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hamilton
     Hansen
     Harman
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (WI)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kildee
     Kim
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Lantos
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Manton
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHale
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Metcalf
     Mica
     Miller (CA)
     Miller (FL)
     Minge
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Morella
     Murtha
     Myrick
     Neal
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Obey
     Ortiz
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pallone
     Pappas
     Parker
     Pascrell
     Paul
     Paxon
     Pease
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pickett
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Redmond
     Regula
     Reyes
     Riley
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ryun
     Salmon
     Sanchez
     Sandlin
     Sanford
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer, Dan
     Schaffer, Bob
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Sisisky
     Skaggs
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (OR)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith, Adam
     Smith, Linda
     Snowbarger
     Snyder
     Solomon
     Souder
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stump
     Stupak
     Sununu
     Talent
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Thurman
     Tiahrt
     Tierney
     Traficant
     Turner
     Upton
     Visclosky
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watkins

[[Page H8504]]


     Waxman
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Weygand
     White
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson
     Wise
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--71

     Ackerman
     Andrews
     Blumenauer
     Bonior
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Carson
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Cummings
     Davis (IL)
     DeFazio
     Deutsch
     Dixon
     Engel
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Ford
     Frost
     Furse
     Gephardt
     Gordon
     Green
     Gutierrez
     Hastings (FL)
     Hefner
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hooley
     Jackson (IL)
     Jefferson
     Johnson, E.B.
     Kanjorski
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kilpatrick
     Lee
     Lewis (GA)
     Martinez
     McKinney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Millender-McDonald
     Mink
     Nadler
     Oberstar
     Olver
     Owens
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Rush
     Sabo
     Scott
     Slaughter
     Stokes
     Thompson
     Vento
     Waters
     Watt (NC)
     Wexler
     Wynn
     Yates

                             NOT VOTING--23

     Burton
     Coburn
     Diaz-Balart
     Ensign
     Gonzalez
     Goss
     Graham
     Hunter
     Kaptur
     Kennelly
     Lofgren
     Maloney (NY)
     McDade
     Poshard
     Pryce (OH)
     Riggs
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaw
     Torres
     Towns
     Velazquez
     Watts (OK)

                              {time}  1724

  Messrs. KIM, LINDER, BALDACCI, MCDERMOTT, LUTHER, SAWYER, ALLEN, 
COSTELLO and ROHRABACHER and Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut and Ms. 
SANCHEZ changed their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the motion to table was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________