Censure Could Be An Option For House
Lawmakers avoid the 'I' word for now, mull alternatives
By Jonathan Karl/CNN
WASHINGTON (Aug. 24) -- Almost no one in the House of Representatives wants to consider impeachment in the wake of President Bill Clinton's confession that he had sex with ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky and lied about it.
| |
Rep. Robert Wexler
|
In fact, most lawmakers avoid the "I" word altogether.
"No, it is not an impeachable offense," says Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
"It behooves me not to comment," says Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
"I think it's very premature for anybody to make any judgment," says House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Most Americans, too, are not ready to consider impeachment, but there is another option being floated by lawmakers in both parties: censuring Clinton.
"I think the president might well be censured for things other than committing crimes," said Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.), a member of the Judiciary Committee. "I think there are things he has already admitted to which might well warrant some kind of message from Congress that we don't approve, the country doesn't approve."
| |
Rep. Bill McCollum
|
McCollum says he favors impeachment if the president broke the law, but for lawmakers in both parties, the idea of impeachment is a political nightmare.
For Republicans it means taking on a politically popular president just as the midterm election campaigns are kicking off, and removing Clinton from office would leave a President Al Gore poised to run in 2000 as an incumbent.
Said Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), "Oh, it [a censure] is a political out. It may be a political out for some Republicans; it may be political out for some Democrats."
A vote to censure would be purely symbolic and that's what makes it an appealing option. It would allow lawmakers to express disapproval of the president's behavior while avoiding the political heat of impeachment hearings.
A presidential censure has happened before. In 1834, President Andrew Jackson was censured by Congress in a dispute over the national bank. Two years later, Jackson's party gained control of Congress and revoked the censure.
Some Republicans say censure is not enough and the president should also be forced to pay some of the costs of the Starr investigation. Most Democrats dismiss that idea, although that was exactly the situation Gingrich faced when he was reprimanded last year.
|
News
Players
Clinton