The following is a statement from the Senate’s closed deliberations on the Articles of Impeachment against President Clinton, excerpts of which senators were allowed to publish in the Congressional Record for Friday, February 12, 1999.
Senator Strom Thurmond was a Republican senator from South Carolina. He served from 1956 until 2003. He was initially a Democrat, until he switched to the Republican Party in 1964. He died in 2003, aged 100, the only member of Congress ever to have served at that age.
Statement by Senator Strom Thurmond (Republican – South Carolina)
Mr. Chief Justice, the vote I cast on the articles of impeachment was one of the hardest votes that I have had to make in all my years in the United States Senate, not that I do not think I made the correct decision. While I am saddened that we had to make the judgment we made in this impeachment trial, each of us had a duty to undertake this task, and I do not shirk from duties.