BY JOHN M. BRODER
The New York Times
WASHINGTON - A careworn President Clinton once more expressed regret for the actions that have brought him to the brink of impeachment and, for the first time in public, invited Congress to censure him. But on Capitol Hill, the Republican leadership rejected pleas for a vote on a resolution of presidential censure, insisting that he must face a floor vote on articles of impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Clinton walked slowly from the Oval Office to the Rose Garden at 4:11 p.m. Friday to acknowledge his shame and to state his willingness to accept the rebuke and censure of Congress for his "errors of word and deed."
His face lined with apparent anguish, the president spoke for four minutes, apologizing for the torment to which he has subjected his family and the nation.
"Mere words cannot fully express the profound remorse I feel for what our country is going through, and for what members of both parties in Congress are now forced to deal with," Mr. Clinton said. "These past months have been a tortuous process of coming to terms with what I did. I understand that accountability demands consequences, and I'm prepared to accept them.
"Painful though the condemnation of the Congress would be, it would pale in comparison to the consequences of the pain I have caused my family. There is no greater agony," he said.
He refused to respond to questions shouted by reporters after he finished and strode silently back through the West Wing colonnade to his office.
He had spoken as the Judiciary Committee prepared to vote on the first article of impeachment. Many panel members had left the hearing room to watch his remarks on televisions in staff offices, but they returned quickly to vote.
Mr. Clinton's words were designed to address calls from members of both parties in Congress that he forthrightly confess his sins and apologize in unambiguous language.
But rather than admit to the essence of the charges against him - perjury, obstruction of justice, abuse of power - Mr. Clinton left the explanation for his actions to his lawyers, who spent two days before the Judiciary Committee this week making his case. "Others are presenting my defense on the facts, the law and the Constitution," Mr. Clinton said. "Nothing I can say now can add to that."
He continued: "What I want the American people to know, what I want the Congress to know, is that I am profoundly sorry for all I have done wrong in words and deeds. I never should have misled the country, the Congress, my friends or my family. Quite simply, I gave in to my shame."
But Mr. Clinton's remarks, largely a new formulation of earlier regrets, fell short of what many in Congress were demanding and failed to sway any minds, judging by their comments after he spoke. He may even have hurt his case with some members who wanted an unqualified confession.
Rep. Bob Franks, a moderate Republican from New Jersey, said before the president spoke that he was waiting to hear what the president would say before deciding how to vote on impeachment. Mr. Franks, who is not a member of the Judiciary Committee, said after Mr. Clinton spoke that he was disappointed the president had not admitted breaking the law.
"What was needed from the president today was an admission, not contrition," Mr. Franks said in a statement. "The House Judiciary Committee has laid out a compelling case that the president committed perjury. Unless the president comes forward soon and admits his guilt, I am prepared to vote for articles of impeachment charging him with perjury."
Mr. Clinton weighed for several days whether to talk to Congress and the public about the impeachment votes, deciding only Friday afternoon he would speak. He rejected suggestions from some underlings that he go further in confessing misconduct.
His lawyers have consistently refused to admit the president lied under oath or broke other laws, fearing it would make him liable to criminal prosecution after he leaves office.
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