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FELLOW SENATORS VOTE TO DENOUNCE DURENBERGER, 96-0 [1]

['Richard L. Berke', 'Special To The New York Times']

Date: 1990-07-26  

Although Mr. Durenberger had previously said the punishment was ''too onerous,'' today he did not dispute the Ethics Committee's recommendation that he be denounced.

The session offered an extraordinary window on the thoughts and pressures faced by senators. For more than three hours before the vote, members of both parties talked not only about Mr. Durenberger's transgressions, speculating that a troubled family life drove him to breaches of the Senate's rules, but also about their friendships with him.

A Drawn-Out Procedure

Many members also volunteered their thoughts on the sensitive atmosphere in Congress on ethics and about what some termed a cumbersome disciplinary process. The Durenberger case took a year and a half to wend its way to the Senate floor. After a long investigation, the Ethics Committee recommended the denunication last week.

In laying out the charges, Mr. Heflin explained the two most serious allegations against Mr. Durenberger. One was that he evaded limits on the amount of speaking fees members can receive from private groups by converting $100,000 worth into promotional fees for two books he wrote. The other was that he engaged in an elaborate financial scheme to lease a condominium he owned in Minneapolis so that he could collect $40,055 in travel reimbursements from the Senate.

Beyond the denunciation, the resolution passed by the Senate today ordered Mr. Durenberger to pay $95,000 to charities for taking more in speaking fees than Senate rules permitted. It also directed him to repay the Senate $29,050 plus interest for travel reimbursements he should not have accepted.

The resolution also asked the Senate's Republicans to consider their own action against Mr. Durenberger, like stripping him of his seniority. But Senator John H. Chafee of Rhode Island, chairman of the chamber's Republican Conference, said after the vote that the Senate's action was sufficient and that ''the Senate conference plans no action on this.''

Rebukes Have Equal Weight

It was the ninth time in history that a senator had been denounced, condemned or censured, said Donald A. Ritchie, the associate Senate historian. He said all three rebukes were considered of equal weight in the eyes of the Senate and were the harshest sanctions short of expulsion.

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/26/us/fellow-senators-vote-to-denounce-durenberger-96-0.html

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