Jesse Jackson Joins Calls to Deny Key Senate Post to Helms

The Rev. Jesse Jackson joined the outcry over Sen. Jesse Helms’ remarks about President Clinton, urging that Helms be denied the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In a letter sent Friday to Senate Republican leader Bob Dole, Jackson said Helms’ “reckless” and “irresponsible” behavior should disqualify him from the post when the Republicans take control of Congress in January.

Helms, a North Carolina Republican, suggested the President was so unpopular with military personnel in North Carolina that “he’d better have a bodyguard” if he visits the state. The remark, in a newspaper interview, came days after Helms called Clinton unfit to be commander in chief.

“This sends a jarring, destabilizing message around the world,” Jackson wrote. “Lesser governments could be overthrown by such a statement implying military disloyalty.”