Impeachment Vote

WASHINGTON -- Republican House members from Maryland have joined numerous other congressional Republicans in questioning the motivation and strategy behind President Clinton's decision Wednesday to order airstrikes on the eve of a House debate on whether to impeach him.All eight Maryland representatives -- along with a nearly unanimous House -- voted yesterday for a resolution backing U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf.Three of the state's Republican lawmakers cast doubt on Clinton's decision, suggesting he may have launched the attack as a way to delay, and deflect attention from, the impending impeachment vote.

The dismissal by the House of Delegates' Democratic leadership of Del. Don Dwyer's motion for a full floor vote on the impeachment of Attorney General Douglas Gansler marks a monumental departure from the law of the land: the Maryland Constitution ("Impeachment effort rejected, April 1). The events that transpired undermine the Maryland Constitution, which the delegates have taken an oath to uphold. The subversive tactics employed by the elected officials are unprecedented and, more to the point, unconstitutional.

A headline in yesterday's national news section incorrectl attributed to a former aide of Rep. Robert L. Livingston a statement that Livingston would prefer an impeachment vote while Newt Gingrich is speaker of the House. In fact, it was Livingston's advisers -- including the former aide -- who expressed that preference.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 11/12/98

Dan Rather, clearly disturbed that many Americans seem to be regarding President Clinton's trial with a shrug, signed off CBS' coverage last Thursday with a not-so-mild slap at the public apathy.CBS was just about to complete its broadcast of the opening statement by House prosecutor Henry Hyde, coverage the ratings would later show drew about 1.5 million fewer viewers to the network than on a normal weekday afternoon. But Rather and most of his network news colleagues, who can read poll results as well as anyone else, already knew Americans were tuning out the proceedings.

A headline in yesterday's national news section incorrectly attributed to a former aide of Rep. Robert L. Livingston a statement that Livingston would prefer an impeachment vote while Newt Gingrich is speaker of the House. In fact, it was Livingston's advisers -- including the former aide -- who expressed that preference.The Sun regrets the error.WASHINGTON -- Even as House Republicans are increasingly consumed with their leadership struggles, presidential impeachment proceedings are advancing with remarkable speed.

WASHINGTON -- They can argue their case. They can attack the partisan motives of their opponents. But President Clinton and his allies cannot quarrel with the arithmetic.Yesterday, to the continuing drumbeat of pro-impeachment announcements by the moderate Republicans it had pinned its hopes on, a bitterly disappointed White House faced the stark reality that, short of a miracle, William Jefferson Clinton would this week become the first president in more than a century to be impeached.The airstrikes against Iraq may have bought the president a day's reprieve.

WASHINGTON -- In this climate, even the Pledge of Allegiance can prompt partisan catcalls.Rep. Gerald B. H. Solomon, a New York Republican, rose yesterday to deliver the pledge, yesterday's first order of business for the House of Representatives. After he reached "with liberty and justice for all," spectators in the gallery who were against impeachment began shouting, "ALL." Their point: justice was being delivered only to the Republicans, since censure was not an option.The calls eventually hushed, but it took two slams of the gavel to stop them.

WASHINGTON -- One moment, the tired, beleaguered and imperiled president was imploring a Republican lawmaker to help him avoid impeachment. The next moment, the commander-in-chief, flags perched behind him, was addressing the nation from the Oval Office, announcing "a strong, sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq."The "split-screen presidency" that has characterized the past few days and weeks at the White House could not have been more evident yesterday as President Clinton struggled to fight both near-certain impeachment and Saddam Hussein, two fearsome and bedeviling nemeses.

Here is how members of Maryland's delegation on Capitol Hill were recorded on important roll-call votes last week:Y: Yes N: No X: Not votingHouse: ImpeachmentThe House voted, 258-176, to begin a formal, open-ended investigation into whether President Clinton committed impeachable crimes in attempting to conceal his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. Thirty-one of the 206 Democrats supported the measure.A yes vote was to begin the third presidential impeachment proceeding in U.S. history.

WASHINGTON -- In an ominous sign for the White House, six previously undecided House Republicans jumped off the fence yesterday and declared their support for impeachment, narrowing the pool of swing votes that could save President Clinton from the ignominy of impeachment.Reps. Frank A. LoBiondo of New Jersey, Zach Wamp of Tennessee, John M. Shimkus of Illinois, Charles Bass of New Hampshire, James T. Walsh of New York and Rick Hill of Montana said they would vote for at least one article of impeachment late this week.

Neighbors had tucked notes under the windshield of her husband's car. Actor Robert De Niro had telephoned to sway her. Someone rang her doorbell at 9: 20 one evening and handed her a petition.So by the time Rep. Connie Morella finally approached the floor of the House of Representatives to reveal her decision, her stomach felt like it was tied in knots. In her 12 years in Congress, the moderate Republican from Maryland had never endured a more stressful week than the one leading up to the vote to impeach President Clinton.

WASHINGTON -- In this climate, even the Pledge of Allegiance can prompt partisan catcalls.Rep. Gerald B. H. Solomon, a New York Republican, rose yesterday to deliver the pledge, yesterday's first order of business for the House of Representatives. After he reached "with liberty and justice for all," spectators in the gallery who were against impeachment began shouting, "ALL." Their point: justice was being delivered only to the Republicans, since censure was not an option.The calls eventually hushed, but it took two slams of the gavel to stop them.

WASHINGTON -- After a debate yesterday shot through with raging partisanship, a tortured and torn House of Representatives will convene this morning to vote on the impeachment of the 42nd president of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton.The House's impeachment of a president for the first time in 130 years is all but a foregone conclusion. Democrats spent yesterday intermittently pleading for national forgiveness and hurling invective across the aisle at Republicans -- but largely declining to engage the other party in debate over the law.Republicans have begun preparing for a landmark trial in the Senate that would decide whether Clinton should be convicted and removed from office.

WASHINGTON -- After a one-day delay in deference to military action in Iraq, a bitterly divided House of Representatives will begin a historic debate today on the fate of President Clinton, with impeachment now an all-but foregone conclusion.Confident that they have the votes to pass at least one of four articles of impeachment, Republicans pushed forward yesterday, brushing aside vociferous Democratic argument that the impeachment process should be put on hold until military action ends in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON -- They can argue their case. They can attack the partisan motives of their opponents. But President Clinton and his allies cannot quarrel with the arithmetic.Yesterday, to the continuing drumbeat of pro-impeachment announcements by the moderate Republicans it had pinned its hopes on, a bitterly disappointed White House faced the stark reality that, short of a miracle, William Jefferson Clinton would this week become the first president in more than a century to be impeached.The airstrikes against Iraq may have bought the president a day's reprieve.

WASHINGTON -- Republican House members from Maryland have joined numerous other congressional Republicans in questioning the motivation and strategy behind President Clinton's decision Wednesday to order airstrikes on the eve of a House debate on whether to impeach him.All eight Maryland representatives -- along with a nearly unanimous House -- voted yesterday for a resolution backing U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf.Three of the state's Republican lawmakers cast doubt on Clinton's decision, suggesting he may have launched the attack as a way to delay, and deflect attention from, the impending impeachment vote.

Dan Rather, clearly disturbed that many Americans seem to be regarding President Clinton's trial with a shrug, signed off CBS' coverage last Thursday with a not-so-mild slap at the public apathy.CBS was just about to complete its broadcast of the opening statement by House prosecutor Henry Hyde, coverage the ratings would later show drew about 1.5 million fewer viewers to the network than on a normal weekday afternoon. But Rather and most of his network news colleagues, who can read poll results as well as anyone else, already knew Americans were tuning out the proceedings.

WASHINGTON -- After a one-day delay in deference to military action in Iraq, a bitterly divided House of Representatives will begin a historic debate today on the fate of President Clinton, with impeachment now an all-but foregone conclusion.Confident that they have the votes to pass at least one of four articles of impeachment, Republicans pushed forward yesterday, brushing aside vociferous Democratic argument that the impeachment process should be put on hold until military action ends in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON -- One moment, the tired, beleaguered and imperiled president was imploring a Republican lawmaker to help him avoid impeachment. The next moment, the commander-in-chief, flags perched behind him, was addressing the nation from the Oval Office, announcing "a strong, sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq."The "split-screen presidency" that has characterized the past few days and weeks at the White House could not have been more evident yesterday as President Clinton struggled to fight both near-certain impeachment and Saddam Hussein, two fearsome and bedeviling nemeses.

WASHINGTON -- In an ominous sign for the White House, six previously undecided House Republicans jumped off the fence yesterday and declared their support for impeachment, narrowing the pool of swing votes that could save President Clinton from the ignominy of impeachment.Reps. Frank A. LoBiondo of New Jersey, Zach Wamp of Tennessee, John M. Shimkus of Illinois, Charles Bass of New Hampshire, James T. Walsh of New York and Rick Hill of Montana said they would vote for at least one article of impeachment late this week.