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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zoltan! who wrote (4305)	9/9/1998 6:03:00 PM
From: Who, me?	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13994

Key Judiciary Committee Members By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The weighty task of exploring impeachment of President Clinton will fall to a relatively few House members at first. Here is a look at key members of the House Judiciary Committee, which will review Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report and decide whether and how to proceed further: Chairman Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill. Hyde, 74 and respected by lawmakers of both parties, has said that retaining Congress' credibility in handling the Starr report is his top priority. Raised a Democrat, Hyde graduated from Georgetown University and Loyola Law School and was elected to the Illinois legislature in 1966 as Republican. The Democrats, he believed, had become too friendly to the Soviets. In the post-Watergate election of 1974, Hyde was one of only a few Republicans elected to Congress. He quickly made a national name for himself as an abortion opponent, and in 1977 succeeded in attaching language to a spending bill limiting federal funding of the procedure. Such ''Hyde amendments'' have been attached to spending bills every year since. Hyde's voting record is one of the most conservative in the House, but he has bucked his party, too, opposing the GOP proposal to limit lawmakers' terms and voting for the Brady bill on a waiting period for gun purchases. As he prepared for Starr's report earlier this year, Hyde hired professional investigators from Chicago with experience in sexual harassment law but few political connections in Washington. His chief investigator, David Schippers, is a Democrat. Hyde issued stern advice to members of his committee already clamoring for Clinton's removal: ''Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut.'' ------ John Conyers, D-Mich. The committee's highest-ranking Democrat is also the only member of the panel to have served on it during Watergate. Conyers, 69, is one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus and was chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee for six years. A graduate of Wayne State University and law school, Conyers began his career on Capitol Hill as a staff member for Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., in 1958. Conyers was elected to Congress in 1964 and has built one of the House's most liberal voting records during his 17 terms. Conyers has not defended Clinton's actions, instead waiting to see the evidence Starr presents to Congress. However, Conyers is expected to be vigilant. He has sought, for example, authority to independently verify the evidence Starr presents. And he has complained that Hyde shortchanged Democrats when it came to staff funding. Conyers has hired as his chief investigator Abbe Lowell, a veteran Washington lawyer who has defended several congressmen against charges of ethics violations. ------ Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla. The chairman of the panel's Subcommittee on Crime, McCollum was one of the Republicans' most visible members in the days following Clinton's Aug. 17 admission of an improper relationship with Lewinsky. He is expected to assume a similar role during any impeachment proceedings. In back-to-back interviews that week, McCollum, 54, said that a perjury charge against Clinton stemming from his testimony in the Paula Jones case would constitute an impeachable offense. Deeming it anything less, McCollum said, would send the wrong message to defendants and their attorneys. A graduate of the University of Florida and its law school, McCollum is known for perseverance even on losing issues. He led the fight for the ''Contract With America's'' proposal for term limits, which died in the House. He also played a pivotal role in fighting the Brady Bill on gun sales. ------ Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. One of the House's best debaters, Frank has been tapped by senior Democrats to deliver rapid-fire rebuttals to Republican questioners on the Judiciary Committee. It is a role he has filled often since the Republican takeover of the House in 1994, when Democratic leaders asked him to be the party's point man on floor debates. Hyde has acknowledged enjoying listening to Frank speak. A graduate of Harvard University and its law school, Frank, 58, has represented Boston suburbs since 1980. He has pursued laws to provide redress to Japanese Americans interned in World War II, shaped immigration acts for a decade and backed housing block grants to states. Frank, who is openly gay, suggested allowing homosexuals in the military to continue their lifestyle while off base, a proposal Clinton rejected. ------ Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla. Canady will play a key role in guiding any impeachment inquiry past constitutional guideposts. Businesslike and studious -- his father has been quoted as saying young Canady read the encyclopedia for fun -- Canady has sometimes challenged such debaters as Frank during partisan hearings. Canady, 44, has crafted a reputation as a loyal Republican during three terms representing citrus-growing central Florida. He was the chief sponsor of a bill to ban so-called partial birth abortions. But he also showed willingness to work with Democrats when he and Frank worked on a lobbying reform bill. He is a graduate of Haverford College and Yale Law School. Elected as a Democrat to the Florida House in 1984, he switched parties four years later and was elected to the House in 1992. ------ Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif. The eight-term congressman is expected to play a key intermediary role between committee Democrats and Hyde. Close friends with the chairman since they wrote a law authorizing embargoes on nations that condone terrorism, Berman, 57, also is considered a voice of wisdom by Democratic members of the panel. Berman is the ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee. He was elected to the California Assembly in 1973, rising to majority leader a year later. He is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles and its law school. AP-NY-09-09-98 1642EDT