[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 13 (Monday, January 25, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SUPPORT OF THE WELLSTONE/HARKIN ``SUNSHINE'' MOTION

 Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of 
the Wellstone/Harkin motion. This motion would allow open Senate debate 
during the Impeachment trial. Mr. Chief Justice, the American people 
should not be excluded from one of the most important Senate 
deliberations in United States history.
  The result of the debates and discussions over the next days or weeks 
could require the removal of the President of the United States for the 
first time in our nation's 222 year history. In our deliberations, my 
colleagues and I will contemplate no less than reversing the outcome of 
an election in which nearly 100 million Americans cast their vote. Such 
a significant decision, a decision with such profound consequences, 
should not be reached behind closed doors.
  I believe my constituents and all Americans deserve to hear Senate 
deliberations from Senators--not leakers and speculators and 
commentators.
  From my earliest days as a Baltimore social worker to my tenure as a 
United States Senator, I have lived by the principle that the public 
has a right to know and a right to be heard. This principle is no less 
important when a Presidential Impeachment trial is underway. It is more 
important than ever.
  Now, some of my colleagues have said that these deliberations should 
be closed because we are jurors and jurors' deliberations are kept 
secret in a court of law. But let me tell you that this Senate tribunal 
cannot be compared to a simple court of law. Of course, the law is the 
foundation for our work in the Senate. But as my colleague from Iowa, 
Senator Harkin, noted during the trial, we are more than jurors.
  We are representatives of our nation. We are given responsibilities 
to deliberate on matters of public importance and vote in the public 
interest. Never was that more true than in the Senate Trial in which we 
are now engaged.
  The United States Senate is, ultimately, the public's institution--
not ours. It is for them we work and it is to them we owe our continued 
service. I hope and believe we serve the institution well and that our 
stewardship gives credit and credence to the wisdom of our Founding 
Fathers. By keeping our deliberations open, we will do service to the 
American public we serve, this institution we cherish, and those 
Founding Fathers we revere.
  I absolutely will not support closing the doors to the public and 
hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting the Sunshine 
motion.

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