DAVID FISHLow.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

”I am heartened and convinced that impeachment
is inescapable for Richard Nixon. i think unlike

Lt, Calley it’ll do more-than send. him to his room
until he is sorry."

MARGARET KIESELi ‘
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

“One simple step toward rebuilding citizen con—'
trol and conﬁdence in government is in your hands.

Write your congressman, phone your congressman,

send a personal opinion message to your congress-

man. Your own apathy can be a step toward a loss

of citizen control. Members of Congress have great

responsibilities in this matter.” ‘

THE GRINN'ELL\SCARLET AND BLACK MAY 3, 1974 FAGE 3

Citizens’ Panei

. on
Impeachment

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FRANK ZEIDLER.
SOCIALIST PARTY. U5.Al

"This (Watergate) is an indictment of the Amer-
ican moral values. The only way that I can see us
finally erasing this indictment is for the emergence
of a progressive third party, maybe not the word ’
socialist or something of this type, which repre-
sents an entirely different tradition in government--
namely one that is concerned truly with the interests
of the people, is not concerned with the great cor-
porate and special interests, is not concerned with
the political machines, but is truly concerned with

human values.

Now if we can get this out of the present proceed-
ings which face us in the future, then we will have

made progress.”

ERHARD FFINGSTEN ,

NATIONAL FARMERS ORGANIZATION

”There are so many people that have decided that
the President is guilty that ifhe is not impeached...
there is going to be a complete loss of faith even
far greater than what it is now because the people
as a whole of this nation believe ’long time that we
had two types of justice in the United States -- one
for the rich and one for the rest, and now we have

a third level, a different application of laws to those

who are power.”

W‘ cerium

 

EDRIS OWENS,
UNITED AUTO WORKERS

“I don’t see how Mr. Nixon can
bring this country back to the po-
sition and to the point where we
have to be. With unemployment,
high inﬂation, the economy in a
rampage that no one can do any-
thing with, it would just seem to me
and certainly I do give the man
his due day in court and all I can
do, if he is not impeached... it
would seem to me that he has to
resign, Only for the good of the
country do we have to have an-
other leader and we have to have
it quickl ."

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Melvinsky, Railsbnck Assess Impeachment Procedures

QUESTION: Would EditEd trans-
cripts be a valid response to the
subpoena, or would you consider that
an evasion?

-ANSWER, MEZVINSKY: It would
not be, I would not accept that. We
specifically stated what conversa-
tions we wanted. Our role is to de-
termine what is relevant; therefore,
if the response is edited trans-
‘cripts, copy of conversations, I wo—
uld not accept that as a compli-
ance.

ANSWER, RAILSBACK: I don’tthink
a majority of the minority would ac-
cept edited transcripts. The White
House does not have the right to
determine what sort of initial res-
ponse to make to the subpoena,
I do support the informal suggestion
that the [our man screening group,
(Rodino, Hutchinson, Jenner and
Dear) go over to the White House
and meet, with St. Clair present,
and listen to all the tapes we sub-
poenaed, on our equipment...But I
would not be about to buy having
them turn over on a unilateral
basis transcripts which they the m-
selves have edited.

%%

by Scott Weil

This exchange between the audi-
ence and the two Congressmen on
Saturday afternoon, coupled with the

President‘s speech on Monday night
and the release ofeditedtranscripts
of the White House tapes on Tues-
day moming,-point to a confronta-
tive drama in Washington, D.C. this
week. The entire chain of events,
still unravelling, suggests that last
Saturday’s Iowa impeachment For-
um was perhaps the most newswor-
thy and relevant event that this Col-
lege has been involved in during the
past four years.

#K

House
Judiciary

\ Members /

The afternoon sessionbeganat1230

pm in Herrick Chapel and featured
the appearance ofRepEdwardMez-
vinsky (D-Iowa) and Rep Thomas
Railsback (R.-Ill., Grinnell ‘54).
Rep. Mezvinsky ‘spoke first. “The
reason we are here today is that
we are down to the last resort -
impeachment, to bring accountabil-
ity to say that no one is above the
lamehe role of our committee,
what we decide and the manner in
which we decide, will have a major
bearing, without question, if not the
total bearing, on the future of Pr-
esident Nixon. "

Scarlet .mi Black photo by only llnlxoy

. On his way to Herrick Chapel, Rep. Thomas Railsback (Rep—Ill.) is dues-

tioned by WOl-5 news team from Ames for the evening news, which spread
the word about the Iowa Impeachment Forum beyond the Grinnell campus.

Mezvinsky maintained that we are
now at a critical period; for the
first time in our history Congress
has issued a subpoena to the Pres-
ident, done in the spirit of bi-par-
tisahship.

All the Evidence

Mezvinsky lauded the work of the
two consels to the committee; “Jen-
ner and Dear are seeking to get all
the facG, they are getting all the
evidence to the Committee, so that
the Congress and the American pe-
ople can understand the evidence."

Mezvinsky then gave the audience
a tentative timetable for the Judi-
ciary Committee’s proceedings.The
Committee will begin hearing the
evidence on May 7, and by mid;
June the Committee should make a
definite decision. Mezvinsky infor-
med us that while he personally be~
lieves that impeachable offenses go
beyond the definition of criminal
offenses, the Committee’s focus in
the next few weeks will be on the
obstruction of justice and the Pre-
sident’s personal finances.

Senitment

A5 to how he will make his deci-
sion on the impeachment question,
Mezvinsky stressed that the ulti-
mate test would be the evidence,
but he will also be aware of the
public sentiment within his dist,
rict.

“Our job is not simply to impli-
cate, but it is also to tell the whole
story, and possibly exonerate the
President, if the story can be so
told...I’ don’t subscribe to resigna-
tion because it Would not clear the
air. If Nixon resigned, he Could
claim that he was hounded out of
office by a hostile press. it is bet-
ter to let the impeachment process
work its will.”

Cooperation

Mezvinsky advised the President
that the best politics, at this point,
would be the politics of full coop-
eration. “Public relations is not
going to work on this issue,” Mez-
vinsky warned.

Railsback

Rep. Tom Railsback then took the
podium and candidly told the audi-
ence that his serving on the House
Judiciary Committee during its deli»
beration on the impeachment ques~
tiOn “has been the most difficult
responsibility of my eleven years
in public office."

Railsback related accounts of the
barrage of press people focusing
in on the committee members as
well as the pressures which const~
ituents were placing on their rep-
resentatives.

History

Railsback then offered a. very in-
formative history of the circumst»
ances which led to the presentCom-
mittee investigation. Impeachment
bills were offered last summer,
one of them by Rep. Waldie, another
by Rep, Father Dryer, but were
permitted to lay dormant because
the Democratic leadership did not
think‘ the bills had much of a chance
to move.

SKlrlel. mi and. mm h'y om Hike!

Questions about impeachment drew concerned students, faculty and
townspeople out of the April sunshine into the still atmosphere of Herrick
Chapel to hear Rep. Edward Mezvinsky (Dem. —Iowa) describe actiors
being taken in the House Judiciary Committee.

But after the firing of Special
Prosecutor Cox, referred to as the
“Saturday Night Massacre, ” Congr-
essmen were flooded with a storm
of mail from Outraged constituents.
The Democratic leadership metwith
Rodino and authorized him to go
ahead with an inquiry into possi-
ble grounds for impeachment.

Shaky Start

The judiciary Committee’s inves-
tigation got off to a shaky start
when Rodino proposed that, as ch-

airman, he be given the sole right«

to subpeona all relevant data. The
minority (the Republican) resented
this proposal because of the tradi-
tion of cooperation which had been
a hallmark of the Judiciary Commit-
tee through the years.

After this early confrontation, wh-
ich broke down along strict party
lines, Railsback noted, “I think
it became apparent that there wo—
uld be no successful impeachment
inquiry unless there was some kind
of, bi-partisan participation and co-
operation...Since that time, the Jud-
iciary Committee has conducted it-
self judiciously . and with dignity,
trying to prevent leaks."

Team Workers

There are 100 full-time staff wor-
kers and 40 lawyers assisting the
Committee. Railsback has beenvery
favorably impressed with the work
of Majority Counsel John Dear and
Minority Counsel Albert Jenner.
"They have conducted themselves
extremely well, trying to work as a
team rather than on different pur-
suits."

Railsback agreed with Mezvinsky’s
point that not only the President, but
Congress as an institution was on
trial. "Bear in mind that according
to the latestpolls,Congiessappears
to have a lower approval ratingthan .
does the President."

No Prejudgmeht

As to his participation on the Com-
mittee, Railsback remarked, “My
role is not to piejudge; it is to
see that the President is afforded
the privileges of having his counsel
present and able to cross-examine
witnesses." He was impressed with
Rodlno’s decision to allow St. Clair
to be present. “It makes it easier
for all of us to get together.”

 

