AFTER THE REPORT, TAKE ACTION

Majority Whip Tom DeLay's suggestion that the U.S. House stay in session until it acts on Kenneth Starr's forthcoming report on President Clinton is a good one.

Not until Congress does what it may about Starr's findings will the matter finally be put to rest. Any congressional action, of course, would be based on the special prosecutor's long-awaited report, and Congress should decide whether Clinton's actions warrant impeachment before it goes home for the midterm elections.

DeLay, R-Texas, expressed the sentiments of most Americans who have had to suffer through the barrage of news coverage on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, beginning with Clinton's denials in January of ever having had relations with Lewinsky to his admission last month that he did.

As DeLay put it, it "ought to be attended to rather than let it drag on and on and on. In the national interest, that might make sense.

If the evidence exists, Congress should initiate impeachment proceedings. If it doesn't, Congress could help put the entire affair to rest with assurances that the American people finally have seen the real Bill Clinton.