[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 143 (Sunday, October 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   AUTHORIZING THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER 
   SUFFICIENT GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF WILLIAM JEFFERSON 
                CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

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                               speech of

                         HON. VINCE SNOWBARGER

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 8, 1998

  Mr. SNOWBARGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 581. The 
House Judiciary Committee must hold a formal inquiry into whether the 
charges set forth by the Independent Counsel are sufficient grounds for 
the impeachment of the President of the United States.
  We shirk our constitutional duty as Members of the U.S. House of 
Representatives if we bury our heads in the sand in the face of 
evidence that the President--having sworn an oath to tell the truth, 
the whole truth and nothing but the truth--may have committed perjury 
before a Federal judge and before a grand jury, may have involved other 
administration officials in a cover-up, and may have conspired to 
suborn perjury.
  The President's apologists on the other side of the aisle are quick 
to point out that Mr. Clinton's admitted pattern of lies were to cover 
up an affair with a White House intern. The lies with which we are 
concerned were not to his family. Let us face the fact that his lies 
also were a deliberate effort to subvert justice in a sexual harassment 
suit filed against him by another workplace subordinate. He was a 
defendant, trying to dodge a judgment by fudging the truth.
  To ignore the President's transgressions, to allow this President to 
escape the scrutiny he has earned by his own actions, would be to 
establish a precedent in which perjury by future elected officials 
would be permissible. That is not tolerable in a nation based on the 
sanctity of law.
  What do we say to the 100-plus prison inmates who are behind bars for 
their failure to tell the truth in courtrooms if we abdicate our duty 
to further investigate this President? What do we say to Susan 
McDougal, a friend of Mr. Clinton's who languished in prison for 18 
months after refusing, like our President, to fully answer the 
questions of a grand jury? Do we tell them that our President is above 
the law?
  More importantly, what do we say to those who are victims of such 
perjury in the future? Do we tell them justice does not matter and lies 
under oath are no longer really important?
  Mr. Speaker, Justice is blind so she cannot be influenced by the 
sight of who is before her, no matter how exalted an office he may 
hold. Her scales are balanced so that all before her are treated 
equally. If a man who holds the highest office of trust the people of 
this Nation can bestow may--with impunity--unbalance those scales 
through perjury, none of our fine legal and judicial institutions mean 
anything other than a cynical farce.
  The President is still presumed innocent. By voting for this 
resolution, I am not voting for a rush to judgment or a preordained 
result. That would be just as much an abuse of the process as ignoring 
the charges because they are made against the President. The 
Independent Counsel has presented his report and the evidence 
supporting it cites possible impeachable offenses. The President has 
the right to present his formal defense. But for him to do so, there 
must be an inquiry. That is why we must pass this resolution.

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