◆ SpookStack

wo s f os) First. Have the Senator’s actions re- duced public confidence in elected offi- clals? Second. What is the point at which embarrassing behavior becomes unac- ceptable behavior with regard to the Senate's institutional integrity? ; Third. Should one mistake nullify ‘years of service? _ Fourth. Should years of service nul- lify one mistake? . ; Fifth. Can any other Senator imag- ine doing in a similar situation just what this Senator has done? . Sadly for the Senate and for Senator WILLIAMS, my answers to these ques- tions point only to expulsion. Bribery inverts and mocks the demo- cratic process turning it upon itself. Among other things, Senator Wi1- LIAMS has been found to have taken a bribe. ; Some of my colleagues have said to me that they believe censure would be a@ more appropriate remedy. But the issue here is not a minor one. It is at the core of democratic government— ~ the faith people extend to political in- stitutions. To protect that faith, the Senate has. created an Ethics Committee and has vested that committee with guardian responsibility for the standards of the Senate. A Senator should reject a rec- ommendation of the Ethics Committee only if that recommendation seems very substantially unsupported by the evidence before the committee and very clearly inconsistent with the standards of the committee and the Senate. Nothing in this case, Iam sad . to say, suggests such exceptions to me. I will vote for expulsion. -