Reuters
Sunday, November 22, 1998; Page A16

A senior House Democrat said yesterday that one way to resolve the impeachment issue would be to have President Clinton appear before the House and make a statement.

"I don't know exactly how it will be worked out, quite frankly," Rep. Martin Frost (D-Tex.), the new Democratic Caucus chairman, said on the Fox News program "Beltway Boys."

"But if there is censure, my guess is that he would need to come to the House, and my guess is that he would be called upon to make some sort of a statement," said Frost, who is now the third-ranking Democrat in the House.

Frost was noncommittal on what language any censure of the president should include or whether there should be further punishment, such as a fine.

"I think it's an open subject. Clearly something should be done," he said. "The things that the president did were wrong. Most Democrats recognize that."

The House Judiciary Committee is holding hearings that could lead to impeachment on allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from the president's affair with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky.