The Republicans' Response to the Democrats' Proposed Impeachment Inquiry            Full Coverage Search Clinton in Crisis The Trial Trial Guide Evidence Guide Transcripts Video Discuss the Trial The Starr Report and Rebuttals Video Index Documents Starr Investigation Jones v. Clinton Whitewater Jones v. Clinton Whitewater Hours before the House Judiciary Committee released more documents from the Kenneth Starr's report, the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee proposed an alternative plan to the Republicans' open-ended impeachment inquiry on President Clinton. Their proposal called for an end to the impeachment inquiry by Nov. 25 and requested that the the investigation be limited to Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky and provided an option of censuring the president. The following is Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde's response to the Democrats' proposal. October 2, 1998 The Democrat's alternative resolution is certainly made-to-order for the White House, but not for the American people. We are committed to an expeditious search for the truth. But spending a month studying the law of impeachment in the abstract, while brushing aside documented allegations of serious crimes by the President does nothing to further that goal. I have made great overtures to my Democratic colleagues, but unfortunately, I am sad to say I have not seen a willingness on their part to meet me anywhere close to half way.I believe this process should be fair, so at the urging of my Democratic colleagues, I have proposed we follow the same procedures the Democratic-led Judiciary Committee adopted during the Watergate inquiry. Those procedures include shared investigatory powers, shared subpoena powers, and full participation by the President's counsel, even if the Committee is in executive session. These are highly unusual accommodations. Now the Democrats are proposing an alternative resolution which is more concerned with coming to a hasty conclusion, rather than the right conclusion. Time limits, narrow scope, defining impeachable offenses before we know the facts, and censure options, have no historical or constitutional basis in any previous impeachment inquiry, and were specifically considered and steadfastly rejected by Chairman Rodino, John Conyers, and the rest of the Democrats during the Watergate inquiry. Despite attempts to derail the search for truth through cries of procedural unfairness, I am still committed to doing everything I can to move this process forward in a fair and expeditious manner."