One Lawmaker's Day On The Hill
Arriving at work on Capitol Hill the other day, New Jersey freshman Congressman Steven Rothman was anxious about what was ahead of him: Several bound volumes of allegations, CBS News Correspondent Phil Jones reports.
Rothman was preparing for his first look at 2,000 pages of additional documents from independent counsel Kenneth Starr that have not been made public. Rothman, a Democrat, is on the House Judiciary Committee that will decide whether Starr's evidence on the president's relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky warrants an impeachment inquiry.
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It's a challenge for Rothman to keep focused on other issues. Jones spent the day with the congressman. At one hearing, Rothman was worried about Iraq, Saddam Hussein, and whether the Clinton administration is doing enough to restrain the Mideast leader.
At lunch, he met with an editor from the largest newspaper in his district. Rothman is trying to get a sense of the public's attitude back home.
Emerging from a meeting, he and House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt discussed fighting Republicans on the issue of Social Security. As much as both parties grapple over day-to-day issues, the debate over President Clinton's leadership has also become a staple debate on Capitol Hill.
"You know, I'm taking one battle at a time," Rothman says.
Rothman was a long-haired kid in college when he followed the Nixon-Watergate scandal. Now, 25 years later, he has one vote to cast on the future of a president of his own party.
"You know you do the crime, you do the time, so to speak. Let's find out whether the president's actions merit punishment," he says.
Finally, as Rothman made the walk to the building where the additional evidence is stored, he was thinking about more than the president's future.
"I tell my children it's important to tell the truth, and there should be consequences, perhaps, when you don't tell the truth."