And yet, on Dec. 19, 1998, Rep. Pelosi presented a forceful argument in favor of censuring President Bill Clinton
I found Speaker Pelosi’s 1998 remarks on her House website’s archives of previous statements under the headline, “Pelosi Votes Against Articles of Impeachment; Argues in Favor of Censure.” The introductory explanation to her remarks makes clear that, “Pelosi’s statement was entered into the record.” In other words, she did not actually deliver her remarks on the floor, but exercised her prerogative to insert her views in the Congressional Record.
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To ascertain the full context of that impeachment imbroglio, I retrieved the Congressional Record debate from December 19, 1998. After all the arguments were presented for and against the four articles of impeachment reported by the House Judiciary Committee, Democrat Rep. Rick Boucher (Va.) offered a motion to recommit the articles with instructions to report back immediately a substitute containing a censure. The five-paragraph substitute concluded: “William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States, by his conduct has brought upon himself, and fully deserves, the censure and condemnation of the American people and this House.”