17 December 1998
WHITE HOUSE REPORT, DECEMBER 17
(Iraq, Impeachment) (650) CLINTON PHONES FOREIGN LEADERS ON IRAQ At his afternoon briefing for White House Correspondents, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said Clinton had been on the phone during the day with several foreign leaders to discuss the ongoing air strikes on Iraq. Clinton spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, President Mubarak of Egypt, King Hussein of Jordan, and President Chirac of France "in a series of calls that were constructive and productive," Lockhart said. The President "made the case that it was Saddam Hussein that precipitated this action, that in his efforts to frustrate the will of the international community -- more particularly, frustrate the work of UNSCOM -- that he led us to an unacceptable situation where we had to act and strike militarily," the Press Secretary said. In addition, Clinton phoned leaders of the US Congress to update them on the military situation in Iraq, Lockhart said. He spoke to outgoing House Speaker Gingrich, incoming House Speaker Livingston, House Minority Leader Gephardt, Senate Majority Leader Lott and Senate Minority Leader Daschle. The Press Secretary said Clinton "believes it's important to keep members of Congress, especially the leadership, up to date and consulted. He believes it's important for both the public and Congress to support an ongoing operation like this," Lockhart explained, noting that "there has been bipartisan support for this effort, particularly when you look at the members of the House and Senate who take the lead on international affairs and national security issues." WHITE HOUSE STILL HOPES TO PREVAIL IN IMPEACHMENT VOTE Asked if the White House thinks President Clinton can prevail in an impeachment vote against him in the House of Representatives, expected within the next day or two, Lockhart said: "The vote, as has been described for us, will take place on Saturday. We believe we've made a strong case. We believe that people should be reminded of that case, of the case that over 900 constitutional scholars said this didn't reach the standard for impeachment, that a bipartisan panel of prosecutors came in and said there was no case here, that a panel that the Republicans put together on perjury, when they finished their testimony, all stood up and said the President shouldn't be impeached. So we think that that's an important and a compelling case. "And ultimately, we think that members, when they go into the House of Representatives and cast one of the most important votes in their life, if they move forward based on the facts, the Constitution, and the law, we don't believe the President will be impeached. If they can put politics aside, that may happen. If they can't, then we may have another result." Asked if he weren't a little bit troubled that the House of Representatives plans to conduct an impeachment debate and vote at the same time a US military operation is ongoing, Lockhart said: "I think those questions are better put to the leaders in Congress. Again, the President makes his decisions based on what he believes the national interests of this country are and Congress is so placed to do the same for the decisions that are within their purview." "We have a system of government here where there is separation of powers, where the President makes decisions based on what he believes is in the best interests of the country and Congress makes decisions based on what they believe is in the best interests of the country. It's frankly immaterial what I think about that. They need to make those decisions, and they will." The House of Representatives is expected to begin the impeachment debate December 18. Originally the debate had been scheduled to begin December 17, but Congress put it off a day, following the announcement of the US-UK strikes on Iraq.
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