PRECEDENTS AND PARTISANS
"I have to say, as one U.S. Senator who is going to vote on how to dispose of this matter in a fair and just fashion to all concerned, I do not want to base my vote on a stack of papers." That's what Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) said about deposing witnesses--in the Packwood case in 1995.
She wasn't the only one. As Sen. Mitch McConnell has pointed out, a lot of Senate Democrats spoke in favor of witnesses. Call it the Packwood precedent.
Sen. Richard Bryan (D., Nev.): "As a former prosecutor, I know a little about evidence. I know that sometimes when a witness faces a jury in person, he or she provides additional information or gives additional insight from what can be gathered from reading a written report."
Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.): "It may help [the defendant] to have some of these people asked questions publicly, to have the full measure of these accusations judged by the American people, not off paper that everybody knows they will never read, but in the full light of day. That is what this is really about. Staff doing a deposition is not a Senator asking a question within public scrutiny of the hearing process."
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D., Conn.): "I believe that I, as one Senator, will not be able to reach the kind of informed decision that I want to reach on the serious allegations that have been made. . . without the benefit of testimony from the witnesses live. . . subject to examination [by both sides]."
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.): "It is that history and tradition that I believe that calls us now, as we get ready to vote, to honor the precedent of public hearings, for cross-examination of witnesses, to resolve discrepancies in testimony, to have a fair format."
On Wednesday, Sens. Boxer, Bryan, Kerry, Lieberman, and Mikulski all voted against witness deposition.
READ ALL ABOUT THEM
Regnery Publishing will issue "Unfinished Business" by Steve Forbes in May, and Word Publishing will release "Worth Fighting For" by Dan Quayle in June.
FREE! FREE! FREE!
The Claremont Institute has a limited number of free tickets available for its Lincoln Day program on February 9 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. Highlights include a lunchtime speech with Rep. Jim Rogan (R., Calif.) and a keynote lecture that evening by Justice Clarence Thomas. To take advantage of this un-niggardly offer, contact Nazalee Topalian at 909-621-6825 or Topalian@msn.com .
