William R. Richardson: “I, too, rise to address the issue of Whitewater, dealing with facts and reality instead of the hype that currently…”

“I, too, rise to address the issue of Whitewater, dealing with facts and reality instead of the hype that currently surrounds the issue. I think it is clear the reason the Republicans want to talk about Whitewater is that they do not want to talk about the fact that the economy is in good shape or health care reform or President Clinton's many accomplishments. They want to distract attention from the main issues of the day: crime, welfare reform, deficit reduction, by focusing on Whitewater, an issue that most Americans dismiss as partisan Beltway politics. Having returned from town meetings over the last few weeks in my State of New Mexico, I see more clearly than ever that real people are not concerned about Whitewater. In fact, recent polls show that two-thirds of the American people see the Republican attacks as political, unfair, and mean-spirited. Let us face two fundamental facts. The Republicans demanded that a special counsel at the Justice Department be appointed, and the President complied. Number two, this special counsel, a Republican, has cautioned against congressional hearings because he feels they may jeopardize his investigation. Let us all, Democrats and Republicans, respect that. let us also look at some facts that the other side want to ignore. First, in 1993, nearly 2 million jobs were created, 70 percent more private sector jobs in one year than were created in the previous 4 years.”