McKinney - News Briefs

WASHINGTON, DC -- "To this point I have not made a public statement about the Clinton /Lewinsky / Starr triangle because my focus is on four primary responsibilities: raising my son Coy, doing my job in Congress, helping my constituents, and using my contacts in Africa to be a source of reason as we attempt to stop the violence and genocide that threaten to engulf that Continent."

"Now, however, because of the delivery of Ken Starr's report to Congress, I feel the time is now appropriate for a statement. My silence from January until today should not be interpreted as blind support of a man whom I consider to be a friend and a supporter."

"I am deeply disappointed in the behavior of the President. His reckless behavior with Monica Lewinsky has brought us to the brink of a constitutional crisis at a time when his intellect and America's power could and should be used to make a difference for America and the entire world."

"Sadly, Bill Clinton's political myopia has resulted in diminished status for the man who could be the leader of the free world. His lost credibility means he is no help to me raising my son, his leadership is missing in action on Capitol Hill, he has shattered the confidence of too many people in my district, and he is marginalized and of no help to the people and governments of Africa as they spiral in and out of hunger, war, and genocide."

"I will make no prejudgement on the matter of whether or not Bill Clinton should resign, be censured or impeached. These are merely options--points--on a political roadmap that once pointed surely toward greatness, but that now has taken a wrong turn toward a sad and lonely avenue of lost possibility."

"Finally, I wish to say that I stand in solidarity with my friend Hillary Rodham Clinton. She has met this humiliation at the hands of the man she loves with character, charm, and grace."

"We are all poorer because of the mistakes of a man who has squandered a historic opportunity, disgracing himself in the eyes of the world and his family. Bill Clinton's greatest punishment will be that he has to face that reality every morning for the rest of his life."