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Last Updated: Jul 13, 2008 - 7:26:41 AM |
“How many more hearings do we need to have to prove this administration
has violated the Constitution, taken the law into its own hands, and
condoned torture?” asked Kucinich, D-Ohio, author of some three dozen
articles of impeachment.
“These articles of impeachment are about accountability,” Kucinich said
in an interview. “I think our country is at risk. We’re setting a
terrible precedent for future administrations if we choose to turn a
blind eye to the crimes committed by this administration.
“We need to send a message to the next President that if he conducts
himself in a similar capacity it would be met with a response from the
Congress that you are going to be held to account. … There is a point
at which you reduce Congress to a debating society.”
Last month, Kucinich stunned colleagues when he introduced an
impeachment resolution on the House floor and then spent nearly five
hours reading the 35 articles, alleging that President Bush was guilty
of a wide range of crimes.
The articles of impeachment were introduced a few days after the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence released a long-awaited report on
prewar Iraq intelligence that concluded Bush and Vice President Dick
Cheney knowingly misled the public and Congress about Iraq's links to
al-Qaeda and the threat the country posed to the United States.
The House sidetracked Kucinich’s resolution by voting – 251-166 – to
send it to the House Judiciary Committee. At the time, Kucinich said he
expected Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to hold hearings
within a 30-day deadline Kucinich had imposed, but Conyers chose not to
act.
On Thursday, Kucinich said he had whittled down the 35 articles of
impeachment to a single article, alleging Bush “deceived” Congress into
believing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in order to get
lawmakers to back a U.S.-led invasion of the country.
The one article was introduced by Kucinich on the House floor as a
privileged resolution, which requires lawmakers to act on the measure
within two legislative days.
‘Good Faith’
At a news conference, Kucinich said he understands “that many members
of Congress voted in good faith to authorize the use of force against
Iraq, and I understand that many in the media supported that action.
“When the President of the United States makes representations on
matters of life and death, we all want to believe him and give him the
benefit of the doubt. Trust is the glue which holds the fabric of our
nation together. …
“We all know the consequences of the war, the loss of lives and injury
to our troops, the deaths of innocent Iraqis, the cost to the American
taxpayers. There has been another consequence: Great damage to our
Constitution through an unnecessary, illegal war and the destruction of
the superior role of Congress in the life of this nation.”
Kucinich said "Congress must, in the name of the American people, use
the one remedy which the Founders provided for an Executive who gravely
abused his power: Impeachment.”
In 2006, then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment
“off the table,” in part, to avoid alarming centrist voters. Now, House
Speaker Pelosi is keeping the issue “off the table” as Democrats eye
the possibility of larger majorities in November’s elections.
"Speaker Pelosi will continue to lead legislative efforts to find a new
direction in Iraq but believes that impeachment would create a divisive
battle, be a distraction from Congress's efforts to chart a new course
for America's working families and would ultimately fail," Pelosi's
spokesman, Nadeam Elshami, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer last month.
On Thursday, Pelosi shifted her stance somewhat by indicating that
there is a strong possibility that the House Judiciary Committee may
hold hearings on impeachment, but indicated that it’s still unlikely
that the full House would take action on impeachment.
"This is a Judiciary Committee matter, and I believe we will see some
attention being paid to it by the Judiciary Committee," Pelosi told
reporters. "Not necessarily taking up the articles of impeachment
because that would have to be approved on the floor, but to have some
hearings on the subject."
Conyers's office did not return calls Thursday afternoon. In the past,
the Michigan congressman said he did not support Democratic efforts to
impeach President Bush. Last year, a resolution introduced by Kucinich
to impeach Vice President Cheney died in Conyers's committee.
Iran Threats
Some leading Democrats have indicated they would back impeachment
proceedings but only if President Bush authorized a military strike
against Iran without first consulting Congress, according to a May 8
letter sent to President Bush by Conyers.
"Late last year, Senator Joseph Biden stated unequivocally that ‘the
President has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does,
as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach’ the
President.
"We agree with Senator Biden, and it is our view that if you do not
obtain the constitutionally required congressional authorization before
launching preemptive military strikes against Iran or any other nation,
impeachment proceedings should be pursued,” Conyers's letter said.
Kucinich said Conyers’s way of ensuring the administration does not
launch a preemptive attack against Iran is illogical.
“The way to make sure [the Bush administration] doesn't attack Iran is
to move forward with impeachment now,” Kucinich said in the interview.
“We have an obligation to move forward now. We can't have this
administration put us in a second war based on a similar approach.”
President Bush “misled the American people. He led us to believe Iraq
posed an imminent threat. We cannot wait until they do something with
Iran,” Kucinich said.
Kucinich said if Pelosi attempts to derail his efforts or if Conyers
fails to hold hearings he would keep on introducing new articles of
impeachment.
“I have informed the leadership of the House should they fail to hold
hearings I would come back to the Congress in 30 days with even more
articles,” Kucinch said.
“I may have to do this one or two more times before I get their
attention and Congress starts to take this seriously. After I
introduced this, there was discussion among the media that this is dead.
“Well, I hope they believe in life after death because I am coming back
with this. Under a privileged resolution I can bring it up again and
again and again. We cannot keep silent. We cannot allow the country to
be lost to lies.”
Source:Ocnus.net 2008
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