Tom Harkin: “We urge the distinguished Senators who are sitting as triers of fact in this case not to be fooled. We urge you to use…”

“We urge the distinguished Senators who are sitting as triers of fact in this case not to be fooled. We urge you to use your common sense, your reasoning, your varied and successful career experiences, just as any trier of fact and law anywhere in America might do. Just as other triers of fact and law do, so, too, have each of you sworn to decide these momentous matters impartially. Your oath to look to the law and to our Constitution demands this of you. As this great body has done on so many occasions in the course of our Nation's history, I and all managers are confident you will neither shrink from nor cast aside that duty. Rather, I urge and fully anticipate that you will look to the volume of facts and to the clear and fully applicable statutes and conclude that William Jefferson Clinton, in fact and under the law, violated his oath and violated the laws of this land and convict him on both articles of impeachment. Even though such a high burden--that is, proof of criminal violations--is not strictly required of you under the law of impeachment, in fact, such evidence is here. That higher burden is met. Perjury is here; obstruction is here in the facts and the law which forms the basis for the articles of impeachment in the House which we believe properly would form the basis for conviction in the Senate.”