Kucinich's impeachment resolution is in the hands of the House Judiciary Committee- what can we citizens do?
Late yesterday, The New York Times reported that the effort to table H.R. 333, the resolution to impeach Vice President Cheney, failed largely because the Republicans decided they wanted the resolution to go to a House floor vote to “…[I]rritate Speaker Nancy Pelosi …who has said that the Democrats have no interest in impeaching Mr. Cheney or President Bush.
"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." [emphases mine]
Wait a minute! “Democrats have no interest in impeaching Mr. Cheney or President Bush”? Sending the resolution to the House Judiciary Committee is supposed to spare the “Democrats a potentially embarrassing distraction”?
The final sentence of the Times’ report: “And the bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee where it is likely to remain for the rest of the year.”
We need to remind the House Judiciary Committee members that it only took five months to impeach and acquit President Clinton. *
Here’s my plan: bombard the House Judiciary Committee members with calls, e-mails, faxes, and letters. Did you know you can have a letter hand-delivered to your representative for only $8.95? If he/she is on the Judiciary Committee, go to Congress.org Advocacy Express (scroll down to find it) and follow the directions (thanks to Barbara Temple for telling me about this).
Even if your representative isn’t on the House Judiciary Committee, you can contact the members here. Or you can send an e-mail to the entire committee here. Lean on the chair of the committee, Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (photo). I recall that he was for impeachment before he was against it.
*Impeach the President - The Case Against Bush and Cheney, Chapter 1, p. 15, Impeachment: The People’s Nuclear Option, by Judith Volkhart, Esq. Regarding the short time it took for Congress to handle Clinton’s impeachment, Volkhart added that it proves…”that with sufficient motivation our elected officials can move quickly on matters of impeachment.” [emphasis mine]
(photo of John Conyers from the Judiciary Committee website)
5 comments:
I can't believe they're calling this "petty" Eight years and going strong is not "petty".
As far as I'm concerned. Rooting out these demons is the top priority. We cannot hope to progress forward if we don't get rid of the lot of them.
Conyers should know better. He knows quite well that the 2004 vote was rigged. He and Pelosi are now complicit in this grand comspiracy against the American people and the world.
There is no place for them to gauge their actions based upon how much they feel this administration has duped the American public. The offenses are clear. Justice must be served.
We can indeed make lemonade from lemons but these particular lemons are rotten to the core. I won't drink THAT lemonade.
Gail,
I called the Judiciary Committee just a few minutes ago and called for Chairman Conyers to "Unleash the Hounds of Justice."
That is my mantra.
I also called the Stephanie Miller Show to say that now the Judiciary Committee was given the charge by the House of Representatives to look into those charges put forth by H.R. 333.
Yes, let's let the Judiciary Committee know that there is public support for upholding the Constitution and the rule of law.
If Congress cannot do this, then we will be dependent upon our European allies to take these war criminals to the Hague after they get out of office.
And we will have failed as a democracy on the world stage.
Linda
I forgot, here's the phone number for the House Judiciary Committee:
202-225-3951
Here's what happened when I called. Staffer asked how I could be helped. I said I could be helped by the Committee beginning impeachment proceedings against Dick Cheney. Staffer then starts to hang up. I say wait a minute. He stays on the line. I say you haven't asked my name, address, etc. He says Conyers will only respond to his Detroit constituents and that I can find the plans of the Committee on its website.
Staffer offers a bit of advice: contact my own representative, who, of course, is not in the Judiciary Committee.
The Committee needs to hear from Detroiters. Know any?
Janie
I had great success, even with Conyers's office, and with both Democrats and Republicans. Everyone was polite, most took zip codes, a few took full name and address.
In Rep. Guiterrez's (D) Illinois office they said the phones have been ringing like crazy all day and it is overwhelmingly in favor of impeachment!
Keep up the good work, folks, we've got 'em on the run.
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