House Judiciary Committee

On December 11 and 12, 1998, following a series of hearings, the House Judiciary Committee approved four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. The vote was on party lines, with Republicans favoring and Democrats opposing impeachment. In the following viewpoint, taken from the official statement of the committee, the members who supported impeachment argue why they had taken this step. They accuse Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice in failing to be fully candid about a sexual affair, and maintain that he thereby failed to uphold his presidential oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” On December 19, 1998, the full House of Representatives, again voting mostly on party lines, approved two of the four impeachment articles.

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