REP. CONYERS' OPENING STATEMENT

		Rep. John Conyers Jr., the ranking Democrat of the House Judiciary Committee, delivers his opening statement on today's hearings.

Return to the Hearings Index. Chairman Hyde's opening statement. Text and analysis of President Clinton's address to the nation following his grand jury testimony. A look at the independent counsel law and how it affected one case (From Frontline) President Clinton's interview with Jim Lehrer in which he denies any relationship with Monica Lewinsky. (From Online NewsHour) Washington Week in Review reacts to growing scandal.     The House Judiciary Committee Background on the impeachment process from JURIST, the Law Professor Network.

REP. JOHN CONYERS JR. (D-MI): Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for providing the White House the opportunity to present their witnesses. The independent counsel had four years to investigate the president. This committee has had four months. The White House is now getting two days. There is no question that the president's conduct was wrong, that he misled the country and the nation. But I believe that the legal case against the president is not strong. Republicans have said that Democrats do not contest the charges. Well, we do. There is no question that the president misled the country in his January 21 press conference. But that does amount to perjury. The president already admitted before the grand jury, to an improper sexual relationship. Now the Republicans insist that he must admit to "sexual relations" under the contorted definition provided by the Paula Jones attorneys. That's really at the heart of the perjury charge. That's the strength of its foundation. The effort to find Monica Lewinsky a job started well before there was any Paula Jones witness list. The president never offered Lewinsky a job. That charge is frivolous. Betty Currie was not on the witness list, and thus, the president's conversations with her could not possibly have been the basis for obstruction. It is perfectly legal for the president or anyone else to tell a civil witness, in this case Ms. Lewinsky, that an affidavit may satisfy the requirements of the court. That is not obstruction. It was Monica Lewinsky's idea to return the gifts. The president was never concerned about the gifts, and kept giving them. And Monica Lewinsky, in the most significant, clarion statement before the grand jury, said that no one asked her to lie and no one promised her a job. The legal case against the president is, in my judgment, a house of cards. The Judiciary Committee has heard from no factual witnesses to validate any of the charges. Instead, it is relying on un-cross- examined, often contradictory, grand jury hearsay to support an already weak case. That wouldn't satisfy any court of law, and it cannot possibly serve as the evidentiary foundation for an impeachment. And even if these shaky allegations were proven true, they would not rise to the standard of impeachment, which requires the abuse of official power. So we're at a critical crossroads today. We can either impeach the president along a largely party-line vote and send this resolution to the Senate, where there will be a six-month or more full-blown, intensified investigation, or we can find a meaningful way of censuring the president. The public, you may know, is overwhelmingly against impeachment and is for censure. But our new Republican leadership, led by Speaker-elect Livingston and Whip Tom DeLay, are thumbing their noses at the American people and telling them that the solution the American people want most cannot even come to the floor for a vote. Well, if the American people ever wanted strong evidence that the extremists are still in control of this process, then that is it. It is time to give the American people a holiday gift, to end this sordid tale. But the gift that the extremists on the other side offer is six more months of this investigation, by changing the venue to the Senate. This, Mr. Chairman and colleagues, is not the way to bring this important issue to a speedy conclusion. Thank you. REP. HYDE: Thank you, Mr. Conyers.