Pay the piper, says Prox

"If people have violated the law, there is no reason they should not be prosecuted and pay the penalty of the law," U.S. Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) tells contributing writer David Tenenbaum. A staunch opponent of immunity for Lt. Col. Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter in exchange for their testimony in the Iran-Contra scandal, Proxmire notes that he is also opposed to denying North and Poindexter their Fifth Amendment rights and forcing them to testify. "Though it's common to ask military officers to forget their constitutional rights, I feel uncomfortable about dealing with anyone that way," he explains. Proxmire adds that he is opposed to funding the Contras, and dismisses the alleged regional threat posed by Nicaragua's Sandinista government. "It's just phony to argue that we have to protect Central America, let alone the U.S., from Nicaragua," Proxmire says. Proxmire would be re-elected in 1982 but did not seek a sixth term, instead retiring in 1988. He died in December 2005. North and Poindexter would both be convicted of multiple felonies stemming from the Iran-Contra affair, but the convictions were later overturned.