Four US Reps for Cheney Impeachment
by Matthew Cardinale
This
article originally appeared in Atlanta
Progressive News.
BAR Editor's Note: Al Wynn, one of the lawmakers now
favoring impeachment of VP Cheney for Iraq-related high crimes and
misdemeanors, was one of only four members of the Congressional Black Caucus to
approve giving George Bush Iraq War Powers, in October, 2002.
US Rep.
Albert Russell Wynn (D-MD) has become the fourth total co-sponsor of US Rep.
Dennis Kucinich's (D-OH) bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. In
addition to Kucinich, the other two Members of Congress who have signed on to House Resolution 333
are Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL) and William "Lacy" Clay (D-MO).
Impeachment
activist Tracie Stern of World Can't Wait, Atlanta said the new co-sponsorships
are exciting, but at the same time, the case for impeachment is so clear that
these Members of Congress are actually just doing their duty.
Those
Members who do not co-sponsor H Res 333 are enabling the Bush Adminstration,
Stern said, adding, "People need to step on to the stage of history."
US Rep. Wynn (D-MD) is a champion of civil rights issues,
but unlike Clay, Kucinich, and Schakowsky, he is not a Member of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). This suggests the bill is gaining
appreciation beyond the traditional impeachment constituency of the CPC.
"Mr. Cheney deliberately manipulated the intelligence
process to deceive the Congress of the United States and the American people."
For
example, the majority of cosponsors of H. Res 635, Rep. Conyers' bill in the last
Congressional Session to create a Select
Committee to look into possible grounds for impeaching President Bush, were
from the CPC, and about half of CPC Members supported Conyers' bill last
Session. With Kucinich's bill, most of the CPC leadership have yet to sign on.
Kucinich
did not endorse the Conyers bill.
Rep. Wynn
had also not been a cosponsor of Conyers' H Res 635, which suggests Members of
Congress are learning about the apparent crimes committed by the Bush
Administration, including a conspiracy to defraud Congress and the American
people over the need to invade Iraq. This case of fraud has been documented in
books like US v. Bush
by former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega.
"At
the urging of my constituents in Missouri's 1st Congressional District, and
from Americans across the country, I cosponsored Congressman Kucinich's
resolution regarding the impeachment of the Vice President because I believe
that Mr. Cheney deliberately manipulated the intelligence process to deceive
the Congress of the United States and the American people. That deception has
resulted in a tragic, unnecessary war that has already cost the lives of over
3,300 brave Americans and has cost the taxpayers over $400 billion. The
arrogant abuse of power and the complete disregard for the truth needs to
stop," US Rep. Clay said in a statement prepared for Atlanta Progressive
News.
Missing in
action was Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) who told WAOK radio in December 2005 he would
sign a bill of impeachment of President Bush should it come across his desk
(crimes committed by Bush would equally apply to Cheney in this case). Lewis
failed to cosponsor former Rep. Cynthia McKinney's (D-GA) bill filed at the end
of the last Session, which would have impeached Bush.
Other MIAs
include Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who recently said she thought impeaching
Cheney was a good idea, as reported by AfterDowningStreet.org; and Rep.
Keith Ellison (D-MN), who supported impeachment in the Minnesota legislature
and campaigned for US Congress on the issue. This list goes on.
The new cosponsorships of Kucinich's bill are significant
for a number of reasons. First, it shows there is more than one Member of
Congress willing to entertain real accountability for the Bush Administration,
despite the insistence of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that impeachment is
off the table.
"Most Democrats currently aren't rushing to impeach
Bush."
Also, this
bill calls for Articles of Impeachment for Cheney, unlike the Conyers bill that
focused on President Bush and created an investigative committee to look into
possible impeachment rather than providing for actual impeachment.
Since the
time of Conyers' H Res 635, Democrats have taken control of both the US House
and Senate. However, most Democrats currently aren't rushing to impeach Bush.
Bush has
vetoed historic legislation to attach funding for the Occupation with a
deadline for withdrawal. Thus, it is now even more clear that traditional
oversight mechanisms will not be effective.
An aide to
House Judiciary Committee chairman Conyers told APN there are no plans to have
hearings on impeachment of Cheney or anyone else at this time. "It's not at
this time on the Committee's immediate agenda," Conyers's spokesperson
said. "Once it's referred it has to be on the Committee's agenda for the
Committee to take it up. In order to move a bill you have to have hearings
scheduled on it."
When asked
if Conyers had taken impeachment "off the table" based on present
information, or was abandoning impeachment as a constitutional mechanism no
matter what information comes forward, the spokesperson replied, "All we
can speak to is the present time," adding it would be unwise to speculate
about the future. "I don't think it's prejudging."
The 39
co-sponsors of H Res. 635 were Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin
(D-WI), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Lois Capps (D-CA), William "Lacy" Clay (D-MO),
John Conyers (D-MI), Danny Davis (D-IL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA),
Bob Filner (D-CA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Mike Honda (D-CA), Jesse Jackson,
Jr., (D-IL), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Barbara Lee (D-CA), ohn Lewis (D-GA),
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Cynthia
McKinney (D-GA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), James Oberstar
(D-MN), John Olver (D-MA), Major Owens (D-NY), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Charles
Rangel (D-NY), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Martin Sabo (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT),
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), John
Tierney (D-MA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Dianne Watson
(D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and David Wu (D-OR).
It was
largely assumed that Rep. Conyers did not re-file his bill out of respect to
Pelosi, and his desire to be appointed Chair of the Judiciary Committee.
Several Members of Congress have said they followed Conyers' lead in choosing
not to introduce similar bills of their own.
Matthew Cardinale is News Editor of Atlanta
Progressive News and may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com.
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