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 Herb Kohl was a Democratic senator from Wisconsin. He served from 1989 until 2013.
Statement by Senator Herb Kohl (Democrat – Wisconsin)
Mr. Chief Justice, throughout this process my colleagues from both sides of the aisle have conducted themselves with decency and dignity, exactly the qualities President Clinton’s conduct lacked. But we risk opening the floodgates to more party-line impeachments if we oust a President from office for behavior that–while truly deplorable–isn’t truly removable. Lowering the standard would do as great a disservice to the Constitution as the President’s behavior has done to the Oval Office. So I am voting to acquit on both articles.