President Bill Clinton, facing an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives later this week, said yesterday he has refused to consider resignation. Democratic and Republican leaders are saying the vote is too close to call. The final stages of the voting of four articles of impeachment in the House Judiciary Committee took place at the weekend as President Clinton was on his way to the Middle East. At a press conference in Jerusalem yesterday, the President said he was not surprised at the committee's vote. He urged members of the House to follow their consciences when they vote on impeachment, probably on Thursday.
The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr Henry Hyde, said yesterday that President Clinton should step down. "I think he could be heroic if he did that. It would be a way of going out with honour. If he doesn't (resign), it's hard to predict the consequences," Mr Hyde said.
Mr Clinton said he had "no intention of resigning" and that "it never crossed my mind."
President Clinton again ruled out the possibility that he admit to lying under oath when he denied he had sexual relations with Ms Monica Lewinsky. "I could not admit to doing something that I am quite sure I did not do," Mr Clinton said..
If the House of Representatives votes to impeach him, the Senate will then conduct a trial of the President early next year to decide by two-thirds majority if he should be dismissed from office. The President is accused of perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of office arising out of his affair with Ms Lewinsky.
Dismissal by the Senate is considered unlikely as Republicans have only a 55 per cent majority. But the prospect of a prolonged Senate trial of a President for the first time since 1868 is sending shock-waves through the political establishment. Calls for a motion of censure instead of impeachment were rejected by the Republican leadership, despite public support for this alternative.
Clinton's optimism undercut by Israel's tough line: page 16