Over the past few days, the Texas Republican has mobilized the formidable resources of his Whip Office, calling staff members back to Capitol Hill from vacation so they can research political history and fax any relevant information to lawmakers who are spread around the country on recess. It is now the congressional clearinghouse of scandal, where members can find everything from President Richard M. Nixon's popularity rating in the midst of the Watergate crisis to Clinton's comments as a congressional candidate at the time. But he emphasized that his operation is aimed at putting pressure on the chief executive in light of his recent admissions that he had an affair with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky and lied about it. DeLay and his senior aides emphasized that they were not recruiting other members to join in calls for Clinton's resignation. But DeLay's top aide left no doubt as to their preferred outcome.
Resignation is what's best for the country.
Aside from asking his colleagues to speak about the scandal on radio talk shows and contacting grass-roots groups, DeLay is taking a few concrete steps to affect how Congress might act against the president. He is already criticizing the idea of passing a nonbinding resolution censuring Clinton, a move publicly supported by some Democrats. Censure means nothing. He also has sent a letter urging lawmakers to support public disclosure of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's report once it reaches Capitol Hill. In a conference call among GOP House leaders last week, according to several Republicans, Gingrich indicated that lawmakers could discuss the possibility of Clinton resigning as long as they did not speculate on impeachment.