John Spratt: “I do not rise to defend the President's conduct. It was wrong, and months of deceit only made it worse. But that still…”

“I do not rise to defend the President's conduct. It was wrong, and months of deceit only made it worse. But that still leaves the question, was the conduct of such enormity that it can be compared to bribery or treason? I followed the hearings. I read the report last night. I have listened to the debate today. I do not think this case meets constitutional requirements. I come down on the side of President Ford and Senator Dole. I think President Clinton should be censored, censored severely, and the censure should be imposed right here in the well of the House. The President should be called to this spot and our rebuke read to him before the Congress, the cabinet and the whole country. So given the chance, I will vote to censure but not to impeach, not to inflict a remedy that has been invoked only twice in 210 years and used only once to remove a President. The majority argues that articles of impeachment are the proper form of censure. The problem is that a resolution of impeachment in the House requires a trial of impeachment in the Senate. And it could be a pointless trial, as the majority well knows, because there is little chance today that two-thirds of the Senate will vote to convict. So what do we have? We have a country bitterly divided on this issue. But let me tell you, I think everybody will agree with this, there is no clamor in the country to have this evidence replayed again, to see an instant replay of this trial.”