WASHINGTON -- Rep. Daniel Crane, R-Ill., tearfully apologized to his colleagues Wednesday for his sexual relationsNip with a teenage page, then voted in favor of the motion that censured him.
The three-term congressman delivered his speech to the House before it voted 289-136 to upgrade his punishment from the reprimand recommended by the House ethics committee and voted 421-3 to censure him.
Crane was censured for having an affair with a female House page in 1980, which he had admitted.
Crane, 47, initially was recorded as voting 'present' during the 15-minute period for using electronic voting machines but changed to support the censure of himself. His brother, Rep. Phil Crane, R-Ill., voted present.
With tears streaming down his face, Crane read a one-page, typed statement to the House.
'Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most difficult moments in my life and it has been an unparalleled ordeal for my family,' he said.
Pointing out he has apologized to his family and friends, he said, 'I have not yet apologized to my colleagues in this body for the shame I have brought down on this institution.'
'Before any action is taken, and regardless of the action this body takes, I want the members to know that I am sorry and that I apologize to one and all,' he said.
After the House voted to censure both him and Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass., for sexual misconduct, Crane appeared in front of the House to hear the censure resolution read by Speaker Thomas O'Neill.
He stood quietly, hands clasped before him, looking straight ahead into the House chamber as O'Neill pronounced the censure. Afterward, he strode back to his fourth row seat and sat down, appearing somewhat relieved.
Before the vote, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., asked the House to settle for a reprimand.
'He isn't embarassed -- he's humiliated, disgraced,' Hyde said. 'It will be with him, his family, as long as they will live. Imagine Dan Crane, as his children grow up and ask 'What happened? I heard about it at school.''
Crane's appearance on the House floor was one of his few in the week since the committee announced its findings and urged that he and Studds be reprimanded.
He left WLINington to fly to his Danville, Ill., home to be with his wife and six children the day the report was released. He made a brief statement to reporters last Saturday, apologizing to his constituents.
Crane represents Illinois' 19th House district of 20 predominantly rural counties in southeast Illinois and includes the University of Illinois.
Crane, a dentist, is the ranking Republican on the House post office and civil service subcommittee that is investigating how President Reagan's top aides obtained debate briefing papers from President Carter's unsuccessful 1980 campaign.
Crane faces no loss of privilege or standing as a result of his censure. He and Studds are the 22nd and 23 House members in history to be so condemned.
