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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1998)
Nation & World Impeachment inquiry vote goes to HouseThursday If the proposal succeeds, Clinton will become the third U.S. president to face a possible impeachment By David Espo The Associated Press WASHINGTON — With a House vote set for Thursday on launching an open-ended im peachment inquiry, Democrats rushed to counter Republican plans while still underscoring their disapproval of President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. At the White House, spokesman Joe Lockhart accused the GOP leadership of using the impeachment issue “to embar rass the president” and produce political gain for Republicans at the polls this fall. Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said the issue would come to the floor for a vote on Thursday. Republican officials expressed confidence they would prevail, thus making Clinton the third president in history to face possible impeachment proceed ings. “The fact of the matter is, it is about obstruction of justice. It is about lying to the American peo ple,” Armey told reporters Tues day. “It is about using all the in struments, and many of the people in the White House ... to go out and tell a story that the president himself knew to be un true.” The GOP-controlled House Ju diciary Committee approved a sweeping impeachment inquiry in a party-line vote on Monday, after first brushing aside two De mocratic alternatives. With midterm elections less than a month away, political cal culations weighed heavily as the issue moved toward a vote on the House floor. Rank-and-file Democrats cau cused privately during the day to discuss their response to the GOP proposal. Leaders are likely to redraft a plan offered in the Judiciary Committee on Monday that would have limited the scope of the inquiry to the Lewinsky affair and called for it to be concluded by Nov. 25. One possible change would set a deadline of Jan. 1, a date that Rep. Henry Hyde, the committee chairman, has set as his goal for concluding work on the issue. A second proposal defeated on Monday, offered by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., would have re quired the committee to first de cide whether Independent Coun sel Kenneth Starr's allegations, if proven, would constitute im peachable offenses. If so, the Ju diciary Committee would then be empowered to investigate with unlimited time. Party sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Democratic rank-and-file group remains divided, however. Some liberal lawmakers from safe seats favor no inquiry on grounds that Clinton’s offenses don’t rise to the level of impeachment. But others, including moderates who face difficult election battles, are likely to vote for the GOP mea sure, officials said. “What works in nine districts doesn’t work in the 10th,” said Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York. He said the Democratic leadership is “trying to figure out where the equilibrium is.” “There are Democrats from rural, conservative districts who will lose if they don’t vote” for the GOP proposal, conceded one Democratic official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The White House would like all Democrats to vote against the Republican plan, officials said, to buttress the claim that the GOP is pushing a partisan impeachment probe. But House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt’s objective is somewhat different, officials said — it is to ensure the re-elec tion of as many Democrats as possible this fall. White House officials — con cerned with the president’s fate — have circulated polling in re cent days suggesting that Democ rats will fare best nationally in the elections if they oppose the GOP measure. They say Republi cans are vulnerable to election year criticism that they want to open the way to a prolonged in vestigation at a time when the public favors a swift end to the impeachment drama. Republican polling has detect ed a change, as well, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. A survey taken re cently for the Republican Nation al Committee reported an in crease in the number of Democrats intending to vote compared with a few weeks ago, although it still lags behind Re publicans. Against that backdrop, some junior Republicans spoke pri vately about the prospects for a last-minute compromise on the impeachment inquiry with De mocrats, although any type of agreement seemed unlikely be fore the roll is called on Thurs day. Yugoslavian crackdowns draw NATO closer to airstrikes Officials fear the crackdowns will lead to instability in south Serbia By Dusan Stojanovic The Associated Press BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — Moving closer to NATO airstrikes, the United States told Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Tuesday that he has failed to show the West he really means to end his harsh crackdown in Koso vo province. U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke met Milosevic for the second day Tuesday after visiting the south ern Serbian province, where Yu goslav forces were battling ethnic Albanian rebels seeking indepen dence. In Washington, President Clin ton said Holbrooke was telling the Yugoslav leader that NATO is prepared to act if Milosevic fails to honor U.N. resolutions order ing him to withdraw from areas of conflict and allow a political set tlement. He warned that, unchecked, Serb violence in the province could lead to instability through out the region. “The stakes are high,” Clinton said. “The time is now to end the violence in Kosovo.” After meeting with ethnic Al banian political leaders in Koso vo, Holbrooke said Serbian secu rity forces still maintain a strong presence. “U.S. diplomatic observers are doing a terrific job bringing us in formation, and the information they’re bringing is not good,” Hol brooke said. Milosevic’s seven-month crack down against the secessionists has killed hundreds, left tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians homeless and led to growing re solve among NATO allies to stop the bloodshed by striking Yu goslav army targets if necessary. Kosovo is a province of Serbia, the main republic of Yugoslavia. But ethnic Albanians form 90 per cent of the 2 million-strong Koso vo population, and most favor self-rule. Hours after Holbrooke left Kosovo for Belgrade, reporters saw about 100 Yugoslav military vehicles of all sorts — ranging from armored personnel carriers to trucks loaded with troops — moving outside Kosovo in an ap parent show of Milosevic’s com pliance with international de mands. Additionally, state-run Serbian TV claimed that all Serbian spe cial police units were pulled out of the province — a key interna tional demand. Defense Secretary William Co hen told Congress a pullback of troops in Kosovo by Milosevic was not enough to ward off NATO attacks. Airstrikes might be followed by some “internation al presence” on the ground, he said. If more Serb forces don’t pull out of the province, NATO inter vention "will become inevitable,” French President Jacques Chirac said. However, Yugoslav govern ment spokesman Miodrag Popovic told Associated Press Television News that the com plete withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from Kosovo is out of ques tion. “Who in the right mind would do so? Is there a country in the world that would do so, especial ly with an armed rebellion on their hands?” Popovic asked. Milosevic told Holbrooke in talks Monday night that his gov ernment is willing to seek a “po litical solution” to the crisis. But he also called the NATO threats against his country “a criminal act.” Holbrooke, who negotiated the 1995 agreement that ended the Bosnian war, was dispatched to the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade in what appeared to be a last chance diplomatic effort. NATO officials say they are ready to launch airstrikes. No de cision is expected until Thursday, when NATO ambassadors meet in Brussels. Canada’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Sophi Legendre said evacuation of nonessential diplomatic staff and families of all diplomatic staff from the coun try’s Belgrade embassy was com pleted Tuesday. GIVE BLOOD ,^UD€*r EMU Fir Room Tuesday & Wednesday October 6 & 7 10 am - 3 pm Ill SAVE LIVES 4418 Dont iorget your picture ID and blood donor card! 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