[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H10223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

  (Mr. NADLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I saw the news this morning that 400 and 
some odd Members of the House yesterday voted for an inquiry into 
impeachment of the President, including all of those of us who voted 
for the Democratic amendment to the Hyde resolution. That is simply not 
true. Many people who voted for the Hyde resolution voted for it, many 
people who voted for the Democratic amendment voted for it because they 
wanted an inquiry, but they thought the Republican Hyde resolution was 
a formula for an open-ended, politicized fishing expedition, and at 
least this would make it fairer. So they voted for the Democratic 
amendment, and then, when it failed, they voted against the Hyde 
resolution.
  Some of us, however, thought and think there is no impeachable 
offense described in the Starr Report. Even if you assume the President 
did everything it alleges he did, there is no impeachable offense. He 
should be punished in some other way for things he did that are not 
good things to do, but there was no impeachable offense.
  We voted for the Democratic amendment as an amendment to make a bad 
bill, a bad resolution, a better bill, but, had the amendment passed, 
we still would have voted against the bill because, although it would 
have mitigated the damages in the bill, it made it much damaging to the 
country, it was still calling for an unnecessary inquiry. So one has to 
ask each Member who voted for the Democratic amendment which position 
he took, but one cannot say they all voted for an inquiry.
  I thought the record should be set straight.

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