Tom Harkin: “I take the floor today with my colleague and friend from Minnesota, Senator Wellstone, to speak about an issue that is…”

“I take the floor today with my colleague and friend from Minnesota, Senator Wellstone, to speak about an issue that is going to be coming up here in the next several days that is going to have an importance to all of the American people and, indeed, to future generations. That is the issue of whether or not the Senate, in its deliberations on the impeachment of President Clinton, will do it in secret or will do it in public; will do it behind closed doors, behind a curtain of secrecy, or do it openly so that the American people know what we are doing. I want to take just a few minutes to lay out the case for why I believe it should be open. Last week, Mr. President, I raised an objection during the trial to the continued use of the word 'jurors,' as it pertains to Senators sitting in a Court of Impeachment. I did that for a number of reasons, because we are not jurors. We are more than that. We are not just simply triers of fact. We are not just simply finders of law. But sitting as a Court of Impeachment, we have a broad mandate, an expansive role to play.…”