Isle leaders
decry ‘brute force’
in impeachment

Isle leaders staying
impartial in case Senate
moves to trial

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka say they are trying to keep their minds open on the impeachment of President Clinton since they could be jurors in a potential Senate trial.

But the two Hawaii Democrats hope it won't come to that.

Inouye predicted before the House passed two articles of impeachment that Senate leaders will plea-bargain with Clinton for a lesser punishment, such as censure.

The Senate "would be torn apart" if it fails to reach a compromise with Clinton and a trial occurs, he said.

"We all want to get this over with," Inouye said. "The longer it lingers, the more it festers. If it takes an alternative action such as censure, that would be fine."

Akaka said he joins those calling for reconciliation and a lowering of voices in the issue, and prays for "a return to civility in public life."

"Like many Americans, I have been concerned with the partisan nature of the House action and the underlying fairness of the entire investigation," Akaka said in a statement.

He said he has not commented on Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report and the four articles of impeachment sent by the House Judiciary Committee so that he could "do impartial justice" as a potential Senate juror.

Associated Press
House Democrats leave the House Chambers on Capitol Hill
in protest when Republicans blocked their effort to force a vote on
censure instead of impeachment. Hawaii Rep.
Neil Abercrombie is near lower-left.

Inouye also said he has tried to avoid news coverage of the impeachment and hasn't read Starr's report.

"I've tried to avoid making up a judgement," Inouye said. "This type of responsibility deserves the highest consideration by every senator."

Former Hawaii Republican U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong said the House was right to impeach the president because of the acts he committed.

"I think they're (House Republicans) doing what they have to do," he said. "But it won't pass the Senate."

Fong, who served in the Senate from 1959 to 1976, said he doesn't believe the House majority's action today will affect the GOP in the next election.

But U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who voted against all the impeachment articles, said: "In twisting the Constitution for partisan ends, the GOP is playing with fire.

"They have their sights on President Bill Clinton, but the ultimate victims of this impeachment battle will be the entire nation."

Abercrombie joined House Democrats on a visit to the White House after today's vote. He condemned congressional leaders' refusal to allow the House to consider a resolution to censure Clinton.

By denying the House a chance to vote on that option, he said, "the Republican leadership betrays a partisan bias that taints these proceedings."

Abercrombie deplored the "vitriol and visceral personal hatred" in the rhetoric against Clinton.

He said historians have given poor marks to the 1868 House impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, "and there is good reason to believe that future historians will view today's events in a similar light."

U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, a Democrat who also voted against all the artices, said she felt they were faulty because they lacked specifics to support the charges.

People calling her office said Clinton should be treated like an ordinary citizen with respect to the charges, and the GOP articles "fell very short to being the kind of 'indictment' the ordinary person is entitled to have," she said.