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Smith leans toward impeachment But 2nd Dist. congressman says he won't decide until all evidence is in By PAUL FATTIG After 14 long years in Congress with a scant three weeks left in his final term, U.S. Rep. Bob Smith may be about to cast the most historic vote of his political career. Smith, 67, R-Medford, retiring from Congress at the end of this month, has voted on everything from a balanced budget amendment to cutting federal timberlands. But the 2nd Congressional District representative figures that pales next to what he faces next week in Washington, D.C.: voting on whether President Clinton should be impeached. "One a scale of one to ten, this may be the most important vote I'll ever cast," said Smith, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. "Never would I have thought that something like this would happen -- ever," he added. Smith, who expects to be called in to cast his last congressional vote on Thursday, is leaning toward voting for impeachment. But he cautioned that he is not making his final decision until he weighs all the evidence. "All of this business about sex in the White House is abominable to me, to everyone, but I don't think that's an impeachable offense," he said. However, Smith believes that Clinton clearly lied -- under oath, to the grand jury and to the American people and his family. If he did lie under those conditions, then Clinton violated the Constitution, which provides for impeachment if a president commits treason or high crimes and misdemeanors, Smith said. He noted that his research indicates that Clinton did violate that document by lying. The 21 Republicans on the 37-member House Judiciary Committee have already made it clear that, barring any new evidence favorable to Clinton, they will vote for at least one article of impeachment this week. Three or four articles of impeachment related to perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power are being considered. Article of impeachment were brought against President John Tyler in 1843, charging him with corruption and misconduct. The committee voted for impeachment, but the full House rejected it. Impeachment proceedings were brought against President Andrew Johnson in 1868, charging him with serious misconduct, and went all the way to the Senate. He was acquitted by one vote. And President Richard Nixon, facing obstruction and abuse of power charges in 1974, resigned before the full House voted on articles of impeachment. "They are trying to raise the Nixon issue," Smith said of those defending Clinton. "But, based on what I know about Nixon, I would have voted to impeach him as well. I don't see this as a partisan issue." The only issue that should be considered by each member of the House is whether Clinton violated the Constitution, he reiterated. "I've been following carefully all the hearings, including when the president's side presented their defense to the judiciary committee," he said, adding that he also read the answers to the 81 questions that special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's office put before Clinton. "The (Clinton's) answers were inadequate," Smith said. "They didn't admit that the president either did anything wrong or acknowledged that he did anything wrong." Smith, noting that he doesn't know if the full House will support impeachment, acknowledges that polls have shown the majority of the public opposes impeachment. "But from my point of view I have to look what is presented to me in evidence," he said. "I have to reach an independent decision. It's not a matter of polls." Smith and his wife, Kaye, have three grown children and several young grandchildren. In addition to their home in Medford, they own a ranch near Burns. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA