Weight of Clinton Speech Remains to Be Seen on Capitol Hill

President Clinton’s speech about Haiti on Thursday night only partly mollified Democratic lawmakers who have complained that he was not doing nearly enough to convince the American people of the need to invade Haiti and oust its military junta.

Although they praised his speech as forceful and eloquent, even some of the President’s closest congressional allies said he had failed to persuade them that he was on the right course.

While Republicans who have strongly opposed the invasion said Clinton had not made a case for intervening in Haiti, Democrats gave him high marks for what Rep. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a senior member of the House Democratic leadership, said was “a good, strong speech” that showed Clinton’s “guts and strong convictions on this issue.”

But echoing the view of most Democrats in Congress, Richardson agreed with the President’s critics that a compelling case for the need to risk American lives in Haiti had not been made.

“Regrettably, as much as many of us would like to support him, he (Clinton) hasn’t made the case for an invasion yet and there is no strategic American interest at stake to justify it,” Richardson said.

Clinton “did a better job tonight than he has done so far” in laying out the rationale for an invasion, added Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee that appropriates foreign aid. But Leahy also said he regarded the speech as an effort that is “too little” and comes “too late” to persuade either Congress or the public to support an invasion.

Republicans, predictably, panned the speech as unconvincing and renewed their calls for a congressional vote on using force in Haiti before an invasion begins.

GOP lawmakers also seized on Clinton’s disclosure that a small U.S. force would probably have to remain in Haiti until early 1996 to help oversee new elections as an admission that the American commitment to Haiti would be long and costly.

“The President is going to commit U.S. troops to Haiti for up to two years . . . and I really fear for their lives because I think their presence is going to be resented by the Haitians,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).