D’Amato Issues Warning on Whitewater
The head of the Senate Whitewater Committee threatened Wednesday to move the investigation to another forum as Senate Republicans failed again to end a stalemate that has put the inquiry on hold.
“We will be forced to go forward with our work” in the Senate Banking Committee if the Whitewater Committee does not have its authority extended, said Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.), who heads both panels. The Whitewater panel’s authority expired on Feb. 29.
Its hearings have been politically embarrassing for President Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.C.) has said that moving the investigation to the Banking Committee would set “a precedent that is unacceptable and would be very, very dangerous to the legislative process.”
D’Amato said such a move would make for a wider inquiry and “a very confrontational atmosphere” compared with the relatively bipartisan posture of the Whitewater Committee.
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