Packwood May Undergo Alcohol Testing

Sen. Bob Packwood said Friday that drinking may partially explain his alleged unwanted sexual advances against 10 women. He promised to undergo tests for alcohol dependency.

“I realize I have problems and will seek professional advice in connection with my use of alcohol,” the Oregon Republican said in a statement.

“If I take the proper steps I hope my past conduct is not unforgivable,” Packwood said in the statement.

Two of the women who accused the senator of unwanted advances were dissatisfied with Packwood’s comments and called on him to resign.

The statement “appears to be an attempt to blame his behavior on alcohol,” but “in the situation I was in, there was no alcohol involved,” said Julie Williamson of Portland.

Williamson was a Packwood staffer in 1969 when the senator allegedly grabbed at her clothes, pulled on her ponytail and stood on her toes, but was unable to get her girdle off at his Portland, Ore., office.

Another of the 10 women, Maura Roche, said alcohol “may have been a factor” in her case, in which Packwood allegedly pulled out a binder and read several sexually explicit jokes to her while working in the office one evening in 1989.

Roche said “I do not think that somebody who behaves this way deserves to hold the office that he has.” Williamson said: “I would like to see Bob Packwood removed from a position where he can harm women.”

Packwood’s statement said that “whether alcohol was a factor in these incidents, I do not know. In any event, alcohol at best can only be a partial explanation, not an excuse.”

Packwood also said he will cooperate with any Senate Ethics Committee investigation of the matter.

Matt Evans, a spokesman for Packwood, said the senator will be evaluated by medical professionals to “find out if there is a chemical dependency problem.”

Packwood said that when he was interviewed about the women’s allegations on Oct. 29 by The Washington Post, he categorically denied them because “I honestly believed these events had never occurred.”

He said he also denied the allegations “to my friends, and to myself.”

Reacting to Packwood’s statement, Marcia Greenberger of the National Women’s Law Center said, “I wish that the behavior never took place, and I hope both the nation and Congress learns from” it.

Women’s groups are urging the Senate to investigate the allegations.