Nixon Aide Urges Censure Of Bush

Watergate Figure John Dean Says Bush's Wrongs Worse Than Nixon's

(CBS/AP) 

Feingold told the panel that censure is not only an appropriate response, but Congress' duty.

"If we in the Congress don't stand up for ourselves and the American people, we become complicit in the lawbreaking," Feingold said. "The resolution of censure is the appropriate response."

But Hatch said that passing a censure resolution would do more harm than good.

"Wartime is not a time to weaken the commander-in-chief," he said.

The title of Dean's 2004 book, "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush," made his view of the administration clear even before the wiretapping program became public.

After The New York Times revealed the program in December, Dean wrote that "Bush may have outdone Nixon" and might be worthy not just of censure but impeachment.

Dean served four months in prison for his role in Watergate, a political scandal that involved illegal wiretapping, burglary and abuse of power aimed at Nixon enemies. Administration officials were implicated in the ensuing cover-up.

Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, less than two weeks after the House Judiciary Committee began approving three articles of impeachment against him, charging obstruction of justice as well as abuse of power and withholding evidence.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said punishing the president, rather than making sure the FISA law has provisions to check Mr. Bush's power, is counterproductive. He also said the comparison to Watergate is "apples and oranges" because Nixon's actions were more about saving himself and his presidency than national security.

"Censure is destructive," Graham said. "Censure breaks us apart at a time when we need to be brought together."

The only president ever censured by the Senate was Andrew Jackson, in 1834, for removing the nation's money from a private bank in defiance of the Whig-controlled Senate.

The censure resolution has attracted only two co-sponsors, Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barbara Boxer of California. The Senate's other 41 Democrats have distanced themselves from the motion, with many saying they first want to see the results of a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation of the matter.

Privately, Democrats in the House and Senate have said that embracing a censure resolution before the facts are known would damage their credibility this election year.

For his part, Feingold has accused those Democrats who have not embraced his proposal of cowering.