[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 150 (Tuesday, October 20, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H11688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DEFINING AN IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, over the last several weeks, the American 
people have rightly asked, what is an impeachable offense? When the 
framers used the term ``high crimes and misdemeanors,'' they were using 
a 600-year-old term that did not appear in criminal law. A high crime 
and misdemeanor does not have to be a crime or a misdemeanor.
  Impeachable offenses are not necessarily criminal acts. Supreme Court 
Justice Joseph Story wrote that offenses growing out of, ``personal 
misconduct must be examined upon very broad and comprehensive 
principles of public policy and duty.'' In other words, misconduct can 
be an impeachable offense. An impeachable offense may be anything that 
is dishonorable, like abuse of power, obstructing justice or lying 
under oath.
  In conclusion, Abraham Lincoln once made a statement. He said, ``You 
can fool some of the people all of the time, you can even fool all of 
the people some of the time, but you can never fool all of the people 
all of the time.''
  He made that statement in a place called Clinton, Illinois.

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