Dole Advocates Prompt Packwood Ethics Probe

Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole said Sunday that an ethics probe of Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) should begin quickly, perhaps this year, even before the next Congress convenes.

Packwood, who won reelection Nov. 3, was entering an unidentified clinic for treatment of alcohol-related problems, according to two of the senator’s friends quoted by the Sunday Oregonian newspaper.

“He knows he has to answer questions publicly, but he just doesn’t feel strong enough to do it now,” the Oregonian, in Portland, quoted one of the unnamed friends as saying.

Ten women who are former Packwood staff members or lobbyists have accused the four-term senator of uninvited and unwanted sexual advances over the years.

Dole (R-Kan.) and Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) said they favor swift resolution of the matter.

“My view is the quicker the better,” Dole said on ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley.” “Let’s get it behind us maybe before the next Congress convenes.”

Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), a member of the Senate Ethics Committee, also wouldn’t rule out an investigation before the next Congress meets.

The Packwood matter “could be heard this month,” Rudman, who is retiring from the Senate, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Packwood on Friday requested an ethics probe and said he would seek advice about his use of alcohol.

The allegations against Packwood were reported by the Washington Post after Packwood narrowly defeated Rep. Les AuCoin (D-Ore.) to win a fifth term. Before the election, Packwood categorically denied the allegations to the Post. But he has since backed away from those denials, conceding in two statements that the unwanted advances could have taken place, and apologizing.

Female lawmakers are expected to press Senate leaders to deal with sexual harassment issues on Capitol Hill.

“I think sexual harassment should be rooted out wherever it occurs,” Sen.-elect Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) said Sunday on the Brinkley show.

Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.), also appearing on “Face the Nation,” said the Senate “needs the same rules (on sexual harassment) that we have passed in civil rights legislation regarding the rest of the public.”