Thomas vote delayed; nominee denies harassment
n
WASHINGTON (A!*) The Son
iitr Oil Tuesday postponed its vote
on Glaroncn Thomas' Supreme
(iourt nomination for one wo k to
NATIONAL
investigate a 1 locations hi- sexually
harnssc.il a former aide? Thomas
'Totally and unequivocally” denied the ar c usalion.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee
pledged public hearings, possibly as early as Friday
"The nominee has the right to lie confronted by his ac
cuser," Sen. Joseph Diden. D-Del , said in reference to
Anita Hill. Thomas’ former aide
Diden provided an outline for hearings after a day ol
drama in which Thomas requested .1 delay to "clear
my name nd several crucial Democratic supporters
said they could not vote for him until the allegations
were aired
Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole first called for .1
Friday vote, then reluctantly agreed to the week delay
proposed by Senate Democ ratic header Ccorge Mite h
oil Dole predic ted Thomas ultimately would he con
finned by a comfortable margin
"This is a test for Clarence Thomas," Dole said "It is
u test of tils character and I believe he is up to the
lest."
Hill, a law professor who says Thomas made repeal
ed lewd remarks to her when she worked for him a
decade ago, said she would cooperate with the Senate
"I intend to go to Washington if it is requested,” she
said
Thomas, too, pledged to work with the committee
Sen John Danfort!), K Mo . said Thomas told him that
"1 have to restore what they have taken from me I
have to appear before the appropriate forum and c lear
my name
In an emotional speec h, Danforth complained hitler
ly that a confidential Mil report on the matter had hi i-n
leaked He said Thomas was being crucified and
sought ussuranc i s that the hearings would c ’ bee , :m
,1 "fishing expedition
Diden replied, 'Any questions alxnit his conduct in
terms of v. ether or not he harassed this individual or
any other mdivmual are relevant."
T he White House swiftly issued .1 statement in sup
port of Thomas
"We will work with the committee and the full Sen
ate to bring this mutter to a vote," the statement said
"Judge Thomas is an outstanding individual who has
demonstrated his honesty and integrity throughout his
life."
Thomas appeared a sure lx-t for confirmation until
Hill's allegations became public over the weekend Ills
supporters initially fought a delay, hut relented when
it became clear there might not he enough support lor
confirmation if tin' Senate voted Tuesday it seemed
to mi: it was a gambit! not worth taking," Dole suit)
Thi! division to delay the vote c^ippori a dramatic
and remarkable day which saw the Senate agonizing
not only over how to proceed with the nomination but
also with the larger issue of its sensitivity to the issue
of sexual harassment
liven as they reluctantly agreed to the delay. Repub
licans vented anger that a private committee report on
Ms, Hill s allegations was leaked to the media Sen.
Hank Brown, R-(iolo , Judiciary Committee member,
said he would demand appointment of a special prose
cutor to investigate unspecified violations of Senate
rules.
‘Any questions about his conduct
in terms of whether or not he
harassed this individual or any
other individual are relevant
Sen Joseph Biden
This is a test for Clarence
Thomas. It is a test of his
character, and I believe he is up
to the test/
Sen. Robert Dole
Under the agreement reached Tuosdav night, tin;
vote on tin* Thomas nomination was delaved exactlv
one week, until (i j).tn KDTOct 15
Mitchell said the tiehn, was to give tilin' for further
ini|uirv into this matter bv tin' )udi< iary Committee
"We are going to ventilate this subject to give lioth
Professor Hill the opportunitv to make tier case in lull
and give the nominee Ins opportunitv to state Ins de
fense tn lull." Hiden said
Seven of i t Democrats who had announced their
support for Thomas Alan Dixon of Illinois, Richard
Drvnn and Harry Reid of Nevada. Joseph Lioberman of
Connecticut, ) James bxon of Nebraska, Wn he howler
of Georgia and Richard Shelbv ol Alabama all r ailed
for a delay in the vote
It supporters forced a vole, "this senator would be in
a position to vote against the nomination," brvan said
Kxnn said he would either abstain or vote against
Thomas d the vote were held Tuesdav
Thomas remained out ol public view during the dav
But Danfort!) in an effort to stop the loss of support, re
leased a sworn affidavit in which the nominee said. "I
totally and unequlvoc ally deny Anita Hill's allegations
of misconduct of anv kind toward her, sexual or other
wise*
"At all times during the period she worked with me,
our relationship was strictly professional," Thomas
said "During that time and subsequently, the relation
ship has been wholly cordial
Danforth said as in* released the affidavit several
hours before calling for the delay that there was no
reason to postpone the vote lx*( ause Hill's allegations
against Thomas were known by most senators and the
public.
On the Senate floor, Danforth said the confirmation
process had turned into "the worst kind of sleazy poli
tical campaign, with no effort spured to assassinate the
character of Clarence Thomas '
Danforth also produced telephone logs Thomas kept
as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission indicating that Hill telephoned him 11
times during a it -year period Hfter she left the agency.
She had worked for him earlier at the lulu cat ion De
partment
The senator also read from an affidavit by Carlton
Stewart, a former EEOC official who said he overheard
Hill praise Thomas' nomination at last August's Amer
ican Bar Association convention in Atlanta.
On the* Senate floor, Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, recited the
list of Hill's telephone culls and asked, "Does this
sound like a victim speaking to her harasser?”
Among the log notations was the message, "Just
called to say hello. Sorry she* didn’t get to see you last
week." A Jan. 2, 1985, message "please call tonight"
left the* phone numlter of Washington's Embassy Row
Hotel and her room number
One Republican supporter of Thomas, Sen. Arlen
Specter of Pennsylvania, said, "1 think the Senate itself
is on Irial, the best course of action is to bring in Judge
Thomas, bring in Ms Hill tomorrow and vole on
Thursday"
Hut Diden said he favored a longer delay to allow
the EBI to conduct a more thorough investigation be
fore the Judiciary Committee hold hearings on the alle
gation. Asked how long that would t.ike, Biden said "I
haven't the* slightest notion.”
All but two of the Senate's 43 Republicans James
Jeffords of Vermont and Hob Puckwood of Oregon
have said they will support Thomas. Puckwood on
Tuesday joined Jeffords in opposing the nomination
Sen Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., one of the Senate's
two women and a Thomas opponent, said the failure
to fully investigate Ms Hill's allegation had hurt the
Senate's image
"What concerns me as much as the allegations them
selves is the U S Senate appears not to take the charge
of sexual harassment seriously," Mikulski said.
-
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Baker renews attempt
to start Arab-lsraeli talks
WASHINGTON (AP) Selec
tion of Palestinian delegates ac
ceptable to all sides looms as
the biggest problem as Secre
tary of State lames A Baker 111
makes a new effort to set up a
Middle bast peace conference
Baker will leave Saturday
night on his eighth trip to the
region since the end of the war
with Iraq in February and make
stops in Fgvpt, Israel, Jordan
and Syria, State Department
spokeswoman Margaret D. Tut
wilor said Tuesday.
Ho probably will meet with
Palestinian Arabs in Washing
ton later this week and is plan
ning another session during the
trip.
In effect. Baker is operating
against u deadline.
In July, even while the par
ties wore bickering over the
terms for negotiations, Presi
dent Bush and Soviet President
Mikhail S. Gorbachov un
nouncod they would issue invi
tations for u peace conference
this month
Baker's toughest problem is
trying to steer between Israel's
objections to even an offstage
role for the Palestine Liberation
Organization and PLO chair
man Yasser Arafat's attempt to
influence the selection of Pales
tinians for the negotiations and
tliu agenda itself.
The Bush administration
hopes that Palestinians accept
able to both Israel and the PLO
will make public statements
that they will participate as
part of a delegation with Jor
dan.
The Palestine National Coun
cil. the would-he legislature of
a PLO-run state, cleared the for
mula at a meeting last month in
Algiurs. To avoid a PLO im
print. the administration would
like the Palestinians to an
nounce their Intention to attend
as representatives of Arabs on
the West Bank and Gaza.
Spokeswoman Tutwilcr de
clined to discuss the intricacies
of Baker's diplomacy. But she
said "we ant very anxious to
see formation of a joint Pales
tinian delegation and this is
something that obviously the
secretary will continue to be
working on."
Asked if Palestinians had tak
en steps yet in that direction.
Ms. Tutwilcr replied "no" and
added: "Obviously he (Baker)
would like to see public steps
being taken.”
Faisal Husseini and Hunan
Ashrawi, two Palestinians con
sidered likely participants in
negotiations, were questioned
on Tuesday by police in Jerusa
lem on suspicion they met with
PLO officials in violation of Is
raeli law.
No charges were filed, and
they were not detained.
Meanwhile, a senior adminis
tration official said Soviet For
eign Minister Boris Pankin may
go to the Middle Fast while
Baker is there.