Date: 1998-12-19
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the Republican majority will vote to pass Articles of Impeachment against President William Jefferson Clinton. This is truly a sad day for the nation. -The Republican majority has seen fit to trample the Constitution in railroading these Articles through both the Judiciary Committee and the House of Representatives. The Republican majority insists that this is being done to preserve the Presidency. This is not their true concern. The Republican majority wants to destroy this President. He has been too effective for too long. President Clinton is truly a representative of the American people. He rose from poverty to gain an education. to gain the highest office in the State of Arkansas. and finally. to gain the highest office in the United States and the world. He has long been a threat to the Republican party. and now the majority is looking to destroy this man to save themselves. The Republican majority insists that this is being done to preserve the Constitution. The unfair and partisan process followed by the Republicans is evidence that this is not true. The Framers of the Constitution did not intend impeachment to be taken lightly. The constitutional standard calls for impeachment when "treason. bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors" have been committed. This standard envisioned crimes against the statecrimes which truly cut deep through the fabric of the nation. The Republican majoritys Articles of Impeachment do not reflect such crimes. The President has betrayed himself and his family. He exercised bad judgment. He did not betray this nation. The Republican majority insists that this is being done for the good of the American people. This is clearly not true. The majority of Americans have come out in opposition to impeachment and yet the Republicans have gone forward with this process. Instead of listening to the desire of the people to move forward. the Republicans have chosen to ignore the public. This is not democracy. this is tyranny. The Republicans have pushed forward in an atmosphere fraught with unfairness. forcing through Articles of Impeachment without concern for the rule of law. The Republicans have abandoned all due process in their investigation. calling only the Independent Counsel to attest to the socalled "facts" brought to bear in this case. The Republicans have argued that the President is not above the law. Neither should the President be held beneath the law. He deserves the basic protections that we give all Americans in cases of this magnitude. The Office of the President deserves better. the American people deserve better. During the IranContra investigation. the current chairman of the Judiciary Committee. the Honorable HENRY HYDE. was quoted as. "mock[ing] those who sermonized about how terrible lying is and sa[ying] it made no sense to label every untruth and deception an outrage" by the Los Angeles Times. Further. he characterized the investigation of Col. Oliver North a "witch hunt." What a difference an election makes. The Republicans became the majority party in the House of Representatives. and have long since forgotten those words. The Republicans have embarked on a forty million dollar. six year fishing expedition. hoping to find something to pin on the President. What the Republicans have caught should be thrown back. I do not condone the past actions of the President. but his actions do not constitute "high crimes and misdemeanors." I only hope that history will forgive this House for the grave mistake we have made today.