Senator Pat Roberts (Republican - Kansas) Voting Record -- Impeachment Trial of William (Bill) Jefferson Clinton

Statement Taken From U.S. Senate Web Site February 25, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 12, 1999

Statement of Kansas Senator Pat Roberts on Articles of Impeachment Votes

I today voted to sustain both articles of impeachment of President William J. Clinton. I so voted because I believe the President is guilty of obstructing justice and lying to a grand jury and because I believe these crimes are so serious they warrant his removal from office.

This has been a difficult time for our nation. It has been a difficult time for me and for each Senator who was required to weigh the evidence and vote on the most important constitutional issue of our generation.

I listened to 18 days of debate and testimony covering nearly 70 hours. I reviewed 14 hours of taped testimony by three witnesses and the President. I spent many more hours reading the voluminous record of the impeachment articles and meeting with my fellow Senators in order to reach a conclusion that was 1) fair, 2) met the constitutional mandates and 3) best served the nation.

I did not seek that responsibility. I have, however, carried it out to the best of my ability.

As a Senate juror, I was asked to weigh whether the House articles of impeachment charging the President with lying and with obstructing justice were likely true or false and, if true, whether the offenses rose to a level that requires the President be removed from office.

I was especially impressed with testimony that misleading witnesses does indeed constitute obstruction of justice. I was equally swayed by the video testimony that painted a clear picture of a president willing to be untruthful and to encourage others to be untruthful in order to cover up abhorrent personal behavior.

I believe that any open-minded individual hearing what I heard and applying the principles of Kansas common sense would arrive at the same conclusions.

We in Kansas know that you don't call witnesses in the middle of the night unless you want to sway them. The President did so.

We in Kansas know that you don't urge hiding legal evidence under the bed unless you want to affect the outcome of a legal proceeding. The President did so.

We in Kansas know that you don't hide behind the meaning of "is" when you are asked a direct question. The President did so.

Do these actions rise to the level envisioned by our founding fathers in the Constitution as "high crimes and misdemeanors" so warranting removal from office? Our Constitution requires that the threshold for that judgement must be set by each Senator sitting as a juror.

Again, I believe an open-minded individual applying Kansas common sense would reach the conclusion that I reached.

In similar circumstances, 182 individuals were convicted and jailed in 1997 for perjury. That same year, 144 persons were convicted and jailed for obstruction of justice. The Senate has removed from office federal judges found guilty of perjury.

Are we to have standards for the President different from standards applied to other citizens? Americans long ago rejected the imperial presidency. The President is not above the law. He is not a king.

In arriving at the conclusion this President should be removed from office I weighed whether his actions damaged the national security of the United States. Again, I concluded that the President, by his actions, has severely damaged his ability to act as a leader in the community of world nations at a time when solid leadership is needed.

This President has lost respect of our allies. His actions have emboldened our potential enemies, creating opportunities for them to act adversely to U.S. interests. Our foreign policy is adrift. The consequences to this generation and future generations are severe.

I am convinced that this President has used foreign policy and the power of his office for his own purposes in an effort to divert attention from the legal and personal problems he created.

Last February, as the President's sordid affair surfaced, President Clinton threatened an attack on Iraq, complete with national town meetings and a cabinet road show.

Last August, as Monica Lewinsky testified, President Clinton ordered a missile attack on targets in the Sudan and Afghanistan. There is increasing evidence his hand-picked target in the Sudan was a mistake.

Last December, on the eve of the House impeachment vote, President Clinton ordered air strikes on Iraq. The result is murky at best, the reasons unclear.

Each time the President has acted, charges of "wag the dog" have reverberated around the globe. Whether those charges are true or false is no longer material. What is material is that the President of the United States is not credible. He is not trusted. He cannot act in the best interest of America.

He has lost the moral mantle of leadership.

He has selfishly placed this nation in jeopardy.

It is precisely this kind of situation, I am convinced, that worried America's founding fathers as they devised the impeachment mechanism to remove a sitting president whose actions endangered the republic.

Senator Richard Lugar said this:

"We have been fortunate that this damaged presidency has occurred during a time of relative peace and prosperity. In times of war or national emergency it is often necessary for the President to call upon the nation to make great economic and personal sacrifices. In these occasions, our President had best be trustworthy a truth teller whose life of principled leadership and integrity we can count upon."

The trial is concluded. The votes have been cast. It is important to note that our democratic institutions were tested and survived intact.

We are a strong nation because we have a strong people.

Working together to heal the wounds and put this behind us, we will emerge even stronger as a nation and as a people.

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Last updated: March 02, 1999; Version: 1.3