WASHINGTON, DC -- In voting for all four Articles of Impeachment today, US Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said he did so because the charges are "serious and straight forward: lying, perjury, obstructions of justice and abuse of power."

Rep. Paul placed a statement in the Record during debate. In that statement, he said that while the process is flawed, no one should remain above the law.

"(M)any of our colleagues are not pleased with the investigative process; some believing it to have been overly aggressive and petty, while others are convinced it has been unnecessarily limited and misdirected. It certainly raises the question of whether or not the special prosecutor rather than the Congress itself should be doing this delicate work of oversight," wrote Rep. Paul. "The long delays and sharp criticism of the special prosecutor could have been prevented if Congress had not been dependent on the actions of an Attorney General's appointee."

For as serious as the charges listed in the Articles are, Rep. Paul wrote in his statement that more serious crimes should have been more thoroughly investigated.

"The process has helped make the President appear to be a victim of government prosecutorial overkill while ignoring the odious significance of the 1,000 FBI files placed for political reasons in the White House." Rep. Paul also cited mounting evidence of illegal campaign contributions given to the president's 1996 campaign by the communist Chinese government in exchange for secret military technology.

"There is a major irony in this impeachment proceeding. A lot has been said the last two months by members of the Judiciary Committee on both sides of the aisle regarding the Constitution and how it must be upheld. But if we are witnessing… a serious move toward obeying the constitutional restraints, I will anxiously look forward to the next session when 80 percent of our routine legislation will be voted down."

Rep. Paul said that he believes the public's perceived disgust with the process is most likely a reflection their disdain for "government's intrusion into our personal privacy," and not an endorsement of this administration.

"The President, this Administration and the Congress have been hypocritical for demanding privacy for themselves yet are the arch enemies of our privacy. Although other Administrations have abused the FBI and IRS, this Administration has systematically abused these powers like none other."

Rep. Paul also condemned the president for initiating military action against foreign nations to divert attention from his personal problems, first, in attacking a legitimate pharmaceutical plant in Sudan on the day Monica Lewinsky testified before a Grand Jury, and the second, last week when he attacked Iraq to delay impeachment.

"Those acts alone should be enough for a serious consideration of impeachment, but it's never mentioned -- mainly because leadership of both parties for decades have fully endorsed our jingoism and bellicosity directed toward other nations when they do not do our bidding."

Rep. Paul said that while he believes this President must be removed from office quickly, he is doubtful the Senate will do so.

"The fact that president Clinton will most likely escape removal from office I find less offensive than the Congress' and media's lack of interest in dealing with the serious charges of flagrant abuse of power, threatening political revenge, issuing unconstitutional Executive Orders, sacrificing US sovereignty to world government, bribery, and illegal acts of war, along with the routine flaunting of the constitutional restraints that were placed there to keep our federal government small and limited in scope."