November 1, 1999
Web posted at: 3:25 p.m. EST (2025 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After dropping out of the Republican Party in July and claiming the party had abandoned its conservative principles on such issues as gun control and abortion, New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith said Monday he is returning to the GOP.

"It became obvious that the most effective way for me to have a conservative impact on public policy as a senator was as a member of the Republican Party," Smith said at a news conference.

Smith also said with his return to the GOP majority, he hopes to become the next chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. The post is open due to the death last week of Sen. John Chafee (R-Rhode Island).

Smith said he had "made my intentions known" about returning to the party to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott before Chafee's death. Smith had been next in line to become chairman before he left the party. The position is customarily awarded based on seniority.

"I am the next-most-senior senator in line for that chairmanship," he said. "I felt that since I was coming back to the party," fellow Republicans should know that before picking a new chairman.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) is behind Smith on seniority on the committee and also wants to be named chairman. Lott, who attended the news conference along with Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson, said he expects to have the issue of the committee chairmanship resolved within the next week to 10 days.

Smith also acknowledged that some of "my colleagues and party officials were justifiably angry, bitter and frustrated" at his departure last summer. But he also noted that "no disciplinary action was ever taken against me."

Smith said he became convinced being outside the Republican Party was hurting the conservative principles he worked to promote.

"People that I respect and trust told me, in some cases in no uncertain terms, that I'd become a lightning rod for divisiveness, not the rallying and unifying factor that I hoped to be in the Senate and among grassroots conservatives," said Smith.

Nicholson and Lott praised Smith, saying in principle and in practical terms he never really left the Republican Party.

"Sometimes even the closest of families has a little squabble, a little disagreement about exactly how to proceed, but the best thing to do when you have that disagreement within the family is you talk it out, you work it out and you stay together, and that's what we've done here today," said Lott.

Smith had launched an independent bid for president in 2000 but abandoned that last week, citing an inability to raise money. After a brief flirtation with the U.S. Taxpayers Party, his campaign had been invisible for months.

When he resigned, Smith said in a speech on the Senate floor that he had made a "decision of conscience" and was heavily critical of the Republican Party.

Smith blasted the GOP, saying its "platform is not worth the paper it's written on." In making that statement, Smith said that he had "committed the unforgivable sin" in the eyes of some Republicans.

"I've exposed the fraud. It is a fraud and everyone knows it," he said in the speech.

CNN's Dana Bash and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Monday, November 1, 1999

• Clintons close on Chappaqua house
• Election day 1999 may signal trends for 2000
• Election 2000 briefs
• Smith rejoins GOP
• With no budget deal, GOP would spend $34 billion over 1999
• Des Moines Register analysis: Dole's exit leaves gap for McCain
• Bush slightly injured while jogging
• In one city election, it's a fluoride conspiracy
• Clinton renews call for more teachers
• First lady shows art treasures in televised White House tour
• Trie gets harsher-than-expected sentence
• Bradley credible and McCain not out yet, says Clinton

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