House Resolution 333 - Impeach Cheney

Kucinich to Force Impeachment Consideration Vote in US House
By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor, The Atlanta Progressive News
(November 04, 2007)

http://www.atlantapro...

(APN) ATLANTA ? US Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), also a US Presidential candidate for 2008, will force the issue of impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney on the floor of the US House of Representatives next week, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.

Kucinich will issue a privileged resolution on impeachment in the US House. "The privileged resolution has priority status for consideration on the House floor. Once introduced, the resolution has to be brought to the floor within two legislative days, although the House could act on it immediately. Kucinich is expected to bring it to the House floor on Tuesday, November 6," Kucinich?s Office stated in a press release obtained by Atlanta Progressive News.

Kucinich said he expects that another Member of Congress will rise to ask that Kucinich?s motion for Congress to consider impeachment be tabled, according to a video of his remarks two weeks ago at Sierre Madre Park, in San Gabriel Valley, California, posted on the website, YouTube.

Kucinich urged Americans to contact their Member of Congress and insist they vote no on the motion to table; this, he said, would be the same as voting yes to consider impeachment.

"The momentum is building for impeachment," Kucinich said in the press release. "Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice President's abuse of power."

"Despite this groundswell of opposition to the unconstitutional conduct of office, Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by insisting the power of the executive branch is supreme,? Kucinich said.

"Congress must hold the Vice President accountable. The American people need to let Members of Congress know how they feel about this. The Vice President continues to use his office to advocate for a continued occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance against Iran. If the Vice President is successful, his actions will ensure decades of disastrous consequences," Kucinich said.

Kucinich previously introduced a bill, H Res 333, to impeach Cheney over deceiving the American people regarding the alleged need to invade Iraq. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee and to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

However, Chairman John Conyers of the Judiciary Committee has vowed that impeachment would not be considered, despite the fact that Mr. Conyers had previously, in the last Congressional Session, sponsored a resolution, H Res 635, which would have created a Select Committee to review the possible grounds for impeaching President Bush.

It was largely viewed that Conyers abandoned the impeachment issue because he wanted to be Chair of the Judiciary Committee and US Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is now Speaker, had insisted impeachment was "off the table."

The bill currently has 22 total co-sponsors, including Kucinich, as well as US Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Robert Brady (D-PA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Sam Farr (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Henry Johnson (D-GA), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), James Moran (D-VA), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Diane Watson (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Albert Wynn (D-MD).

According to David Swanson, an impeachment activist, there are additional Members who have indicated they would support impeachment but did not sign on as co-sponsors.

As a point of reference, the 39 total co-sponsors of H Res 635 last Session were US Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Jackson, Jr., (D-IL), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Rep. John Olver (D-MA), Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN), Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Dianne Watson (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Rep. David Wu (D-OR).

Also, last Session a bill to impeach Bush had been introduced by US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA); however, it gained no co-sponsors.

Kucinich?s Office had not responded by press time to an email with questions about the privileged resolution sent from APN two days ago.


Revised syndication policy:

Our syndicaton policy was updated June 2007. For more information on how to syndicate Atlanta Progressive News content, please visit: http://www.atlantapro...

NOVEMBER 6, 2007, 6:16 PM
The New York Times

Kucinich Pushes Cheney Impeachment

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

It?s hard to know which effort has longer odds, the bid by Representative Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, to become president of the United States, or his bid to unseat Vice President Dick Cheney by trying to get him impeached.

Both efforts got a brief burst of publicity today when Mr. Kucinich brought his bill to impeach Mr. Cheney to the House floor and, with the surprise help of Republicans aiming to embarrass Democratic Congressional leaders, nearly succeeded in securing an hour of debate.

After a motion to table Mr. Kucinich?s bill failed, the majority leader, Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, stepped in with a motion to refer the bill back to the House Judiciary Committee. That motion succeeded, by a near party-line vote of 218-194, and spared the Democrats a potentially embarrassing distraction.

House Republicans initially opposed the effort to debate Mr. Kucinich?s impeachment measure and briefly there were 290 votes in favor of tabling it.

But then the Republicans sensed an opportunity to irritate Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California who has said the Democrats have no interest in impeaching Mr. Cheney or President Bush. The Republicans began changing their votes and by the time the clock ran out, the tally was 251 to 162 against tabling with 165 Republicans voting no.

Mr. Kucinich?s two campaigns are completely interconnected with his candidacy for president largely based on his opposition to the Iraq war and his contention that the Bush administration, led by Mr. Cheney, deceived the American people about Iraq?s possession of weapons of mass destruction.

In April, Mr. Kucinich introduced an 11-page resolution to impeach Mr. Cheney.

In it, he wrote: ?In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests.?

The White House issued a statement accusing Congressional Democrats of wasting an afternoon: ?The is why Americans shake their head in wonder about the priorities of this Congress.?

Mr. Hoyer, however, sought to turn the tables and accuse Congressional Republicans of playing politics with a serious issue. ?I am surprised that Republicans would treat an issue as important as the potential impeachment of a Vice President of the United States as a petty political game,? he said in a statement. ?It is beneath the dignity of this institution.?

Mr. Kucinich attempted on Monday night to hold a nationwide conference call with supporters about his effort to impeach Mr. Cheney. But his campaign said too many people tried to call in, crashing the system. The call is to be rescheduled. And the bill has now been referred to the Judiciary Committee where it is likely to remain for the rest of the year.

Dennis Kucinich: Standing Tall in the House as Cheney Impeachment Bill Advances

Wednesday, 11/07/2007 - 1:17pm.
Dave Lindorff
http://www.buzzflash....

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination that the mainstream media like to ignore or belittle, stands head and shoulders above the moral midgets and shriveled sophists in that contest, especially after he successfully forced the full House to vote to send his bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney to a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

Kucinich, whose Cheney impeachment bill, despite having 22 co-sponsors, has been stalled for over six months thanks to the unconscionable machinations of the Democratic Congressional leadership and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, should now get at least a genuine debate in the House Judiciary Committee. With enough pressure from constituents, his bill might even go into hearings.

At first, it appeared that the Democratic leadership in the House was going to simply slap down Kucinich's attempt to move the bill -- technically a member's privilege motion for a full vote of the House. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House majority leader and thus the number two member of the House leadership (and an insufferable hack), offered a motion to table H Res. 799, the impeachment bill. But Republicans, sensing an opportunity to embarrass the Democrats, began voting as a block against the tabling motion. In the end, caught completely off guard, even Democrats who had dutifully backed the shameless leadership in voting for the tabling motion, began switching their votes and opposing it. The final vote was 242 (164 Republicans and 78 Democrats) against tabling, and 170 (28 Republicans and 142 Democrats) for tabling.

A subsequent vote to send the Kucinich Cheney impeachment bill to the Judiciary Committee passed 218-194, with three Republicans voting with 215 Democrats in favor of the measure.

Republicans clearly don't want impeachment hearings, but have recognized something that the Democratic leadership, lame and tactically deficient as it is, does not, namely that particularly among Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning voters, impeachment is enormously popular. According to polls, some three in four Democrats, and a majority of all Americans, favor impeaching the vice president (a majority of Americans also favor impeaching President Bush). As long as the Democratic Party leaders keep blocking impeachment, they lose support and anger voters among this group. Clearly Republicans saw a chance today to further alienate those voters by forcing the Congressional Democratic leadership, which has stalled Kucinich's bill for over six months since it was filed last April 24, to more actively and visibly block it.

But Democratic leaders have an alternative. They can recognize the growing disaster of Pelosi's "impeachment is off the table" position -- which has contributed significantly to Congress' record-low poll ratings (now well below Bush's) -- and can turn around and get those impeachment hearings going.

If they were to do this, with just a year to go until the presidential election, they would electrify progressive voters and independent-minded voters, who are frightened and disgusted by what this administration has been doing to the country and to the Constitution.

I was just at a polling station in my Republican-leaning area (Montgomery County, PA), and when a Republican activist standing outside the polling center saw my "Impeach Bush and Cheney" T-shirt, he said, "It would be great for Republicans too, if they could dump both those guys."

Clearly, the public, even including many Republicans, wants Congress to act.

Rep. Kucinich, who has been a consistent and bold opponent of the Iraq War from the start, and who was quick to expose and condemn administration moves towards a new war with Iran, deserves enormous credit for his lonely drive in the House to impeach the vice president. Maybe this bold move in Congress to push past the obstacles that the Democratic leadership has thrown up in his path will wake up primary voters to the fact that you cannot judge a candidate by his height.

If voters in the Democratic primaries make their decisions based upon actions, principles, and courage, instead of on what the corporate media tells them, and if the impeachment movement will rally to back him, Kucinich should win by a landslide.

*

DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky, is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006 and now available in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net.

DEMOCRATS.COM



Put Impeachment ON The Table of the House Judiciary Committee

This week Dennis Kucinich led an heroic effort to put the impeachment of Dick Cheney ON the table by requesting a floor vote on H.Res. 333. As expected, BushDemocrat Steny Hoyer moved to table the bill. And then all hell broke loose as 165 Republicans voted with Kucinich and 85 brave Democrats to force a debate on impeachment over the objections of Nancy Pelosi. To block that debate, Hoyer moved to send H.Res. 333 back to the Judiciary Committee, and this motion passed. Watch David Swanson explain the events to Paul Jay of The Real News .

Kucinich is urging Judiciary Chairman John Conyers to start hearings immediately because Cheney is desperately manipulating the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran to justify a U.S. attack, just as he did with the pre-war NIE on Iraq. But Judiciary Democrats are deeply divided on impeachment, with Robert Wexler (FL-19) calling for immediate impeachment hearings, while fellow Palm Beacher Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20), who is close to Speaker Pelosi, told Ed Schultz she adamantly opposes hearings.

So what do we do next to move impeachment forward?

1. Email all of the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee:
http://www.democrats....
and call them:
http://www.democrats....

2. If you live in the district of a House Judiciary Committee member, call their office and tell them you're a constituent and you want immediate hearings on H.Res. 333. Then join your Congressional District Impeachment Committee http://democrats.com/...
and organize a HonkToImpeach rally http://www.democrats....
in front of your Representative's district office. Then keep up the pressure on your Representative every way you can, including letters to the editor, op-eds, calls to local talk shows, protests at local media offices, and pointed questions at every community forum attended by your Representative.

3. If your Congress Member is not on Judiciary, ask them to cosponsor H Res 333:
http://www.democrats....

4. Ask pollsters to poll the public on impeachment, especially of Cheney: http://www.democrats....
and promote impeachment through media activism:
http://afterdowningst...

5. Watch for updates and notice of a national conference call with Rep. Dennis Kucinich at http://impeachcheney....



Take Iraq Funds OFF The Table

George Bush insists Congress give him $200 billion more to continue the disastrous occupation of Iraq into 2009, and promises to veto any bill that requires him to bring our troops home. That means he will reject Speaker Pelosi's new plan to provide $50 billion more with a "goal" to bring most troops to come home in 2008.

George Bush is defying the will of the American people, who elected a Democratic Congress in 2006 to end the occupation, not to fund it. The latest CNN poll (11/8/07) shows an overwhelming 68%-31% majority now opposed to the Iraq occupation.

Since Bush will veto any legislation to end the occupation, Congress has no power except to "Just Say No" to any more funds. Speaker Pelosi can do exactly what she did on impeachment - take Iraq funds OFF the table and refuse to hold a vote on any additional Iraq funding.

If Democrats "Just Say No," Bush will try to blame Democrats for leaving soldiers on the battlefield without bullets. Of course that's absurd - even without another penny, it would be George Bush's obligation as Commander-in-Chief to use existing funds to bring our troops home in a safe and orderly fashion. And if he needs any additional funds, Congress will provide them in a heartbeat.

But if Democrats "Just Say No" and Bush steals funds from other programs to keep our troops in Iraq indefinitely, or delays their withdrawal and leaves them exposed to unnecessary harm, it would be the obligation of Congress to impeach him immediately.

So tell Congress: No More Funds for Iraq
http://www.democrats....

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Harry Reid Confirms Mukasey in "Midnight Massacre"

At midnight on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid betrayed the Constitution and the American people by holding a quick vote to confirm Michael Mukasey despite his refusal to admit waterboarding is torture. And thanks to excellent reporting by Greg Sargent of Talking Points Memo , we now know why.

The vote was 53-40, with six Democrats joining every single Republican - Evan Bayh, Tom Carper, Dianne Feinstein, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, and Chuck Schumer. (Schumer ignored urgent calls and emails from thousands of his constituents, and his staff refused to meet with activists outside his office .) The four Senate Democrats running for President, who were all opposed, were out campaigning - but Reid refused to delay the vote to give them time to return . If he had, there could have been 44 votes for a filibuster to block Mukasey's confirmation.

Reid rushed the vote because he cut a deal with Republicans to avoid delays on the $459 Defense Appropriations bill (not including Iraq funds), so Bush couldn't attack Democrats during the upcoming battle over Iraq funds. In effect, Reid sold the Constitution to the neocons for a talking point.

There is only one way to send a message of outrage that Schumer and Reid will hear, and that is by refusing to contribute to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC), which Reid controls and Schumer chairs.

Join the Democratic Donor Strike Against DSCC and DCCC
http://www.democrats....

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Blog Your Rep - and Get Paid!

Would you like your Congressperson to be represent his/her constituents, rather than the corporate special interests in Washington DC? Well now you can blog about your Congressperson and get paid for it.

The Sunlight Foundation is offering "mini-grants" of $1,000 to $5,000 to fund original ideas, tools, Web sites and bloggers. The work of any recipient should be focused on creating a better, more democratic and dynamic relationship between members of Congress and the citizens they represent. We encourage applications from existing small local nonprofits and Web sites, from offshoots of national groups, from individuals and from informal groups of citizens.

Applications for mini-grants will be judged on how closely they fit with Sunlight's mission of using technology to enable citizens to learn more about Congress and its activities in order to reduce corruption and ensure greater transparency in government.

More here:
http://www.sunlightfo...

With the book that is coming out by Scott McCullen in April we may need to replace the words "impeach" the president and vice president to "arrest" the lying bas-----.