Two States Introduce Impeachment Resolutions

State Legislators in 2 States Introduce Impeachment Resolutions - More States Expected Soon
Web: http://www.impeachpac.org/resolutions

State legislators in Illinois and California have introduced resolutions (details below) to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

The Jefferson Manual of rules for the U.S. House of Representatives allows state legislatures to initiate impeachment proceedings by submitting charges to Congress.

In Vermont, Representative David Zuckerman plans to introduce a similar resolution this week. In Pennsylvania, State Senator Jim Ferlo is collecting signatures on petitions calling for Congress to launch an impeachment inquiry.

Eleven cities and towns have already passed resolutions calling for impeachment. At 9 a.m. on May 1, Ellen Tenney, a small business owner in Rockingham, VT, will lead a delegation presenting a number of these resolutions to House Speaker Dennis Hastert at his office, 235 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

In other signs that impeachment is becoming a national movement and cultural phenomenon:

• Congresswoman Maxine Waters will speak at a major forum on impeachment at the California Democratic Party Convention in Sacramento on April 29, along with leading Constitutional scholars, impeachment activists, and California Assemblyman Paul Koretz
• Zbigniew Brzezinski, the National Security Advisor to President Carter from 1977 to 1981 and a well-known hawk, wrote in the Los Angeles Times that an attack on Iran would be an impeachable offense
• The Los Angeles Times urged President Bush to fire Vice President Cheney
• Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, in Vanity Fair, called for a bipartisan investigation of Bush.
• 60 Minutes broke an explosive story that Saddam's Foreign Minister told the CIA that Iraq had no WMD's, which was conveyed to President Bush by George Tenet in the fall of 2002 - and then deliberately ignored because "the policy was set. The War in Iraq was coming."
• Neil Young will release a new album this week containing "Let's Impeach the President," which is creating tremendous buzz in the music world
• Red Hot Chili Peppers' bass player Flea called for Bush's impeachment on the band's website
• Ed Asner recorded a public service announcement for AfterDowningStreet.org urging Congress to investigate possible crimes
• Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen joined a long list of congressional candidates, scholars, and activists as a member of a Citizens Impeachment Commission: http://impeachpac.org/citizens

ILLINOIS:

Three members of the Illinois General Assembly have introduced a bill that urges the General Assembly to submit charges to the U. S. House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States, George W. Bush, for willfully violating his Oath of Office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and if found guilty urges his removal from office and disqualification to hold any other office in the United States. The text of the Illinois bill and information on its status are available here: http://tinyurl.com/nhs3r

The bill takes up the issues of illegal spying, torture, detentions without charge or trial, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, and the leaking of classified information. These are the sponsors:
Rep. Karen A. Yarbrough, phone (217) 782-8120 or (708) 615-1747; fax (708) 615-1745
Rep Sara Feigenholtz , phone (217) 782-8062 or (773) 296-4141; fax (217) 557-7203 or (773) 296-0993
Rep. Eddie Washington phone (217) 558-1012 or (847) 623-0060, fax (847) 623-6078

CALIFORNIA:

California Assemblyman Paul Koretz of Los Angeles (where the LA Times has now called for Cheney's resignation) has submitted amendments to Assembly Joint Resolution No. 39, calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney. The amendments reference Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature.

The resolution, in the words of Koretz's press release, "bases the call for impeachment upon the Bush Administration intentionally misleading the Congress and the American people regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify an unnecessary war that has cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives and casualties; exceeding constitutional authority to wage war by invading Iraq; exceeding constitutional authority by Federalizing the National Guard; conspiring to torture prisoners in violation of the 'Federal Torture Act' and indicating intent to continue such actions; spying on American citizens in violation of the 1978 Foreign Agency Surveillance Act; leaking and covering up the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, and holding American citizens without charge or trial."

Koretz submitted amendments gutting AJR No. 39, a resolution unrelated to impeachment, to the Assembly Rules Committee. The Rules Committee may take up the bill this week for referral, allowing him to formally introduce the amended resolution.

AJR 39 is a bill introduced in January by Koretz calling for a moratorium on depleted uranium:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/ajr_39_bill_20060104_introduced.html

"At both the state and national levels," Koretz said, "we will be paying for the Bush Administration's illegal actions and terrible lack of judgment and competence for decades—not only in the billions of dollars wasted on the war and welfare for the rich, but in the worldwide loss of respect for America and Americans. Bush and Cheney must be impeached and removed from office before they undertake even deadlier misdeeds, such as the use of nuclear weapons. There are no bounds to their willingness to ignore the Constitution and world opinion—we can't afford to wait for the next disaster and hope that we can survive it."

Contact Paul Michael Neuman in Koretz's District Office: phone (310) 285-5490.

NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND RESOURCES:

ImpeachPAC is working with Progressive Democrats of America and local activists to pass similar resolutions around the country, and has created a kit to assist local organizations in the task:

http://www.impeachpac.org/resolutions

"Impeachment activists just hit the trifecta," said ImpeachPAC President Bob Fertik. "From Vermont to Illinois to California, and everywhere in between, Americans want to hold Bush accountable for his well-documented crimes. It's time for Congress to represent the will of the American people and begin impeachment proceedings - before Bush tries to 'wag the elephant' by dropping nuclear bombs on Iran."

"Progressive Democrats of America is excited to see the impeachment movement moving forward at the city, state and national levels," said Tim Carpenter, director of PDA. "These recent state efforts are positive proof that a majority of Americas are ready to take action and impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Now it is time for Congress to step up."

Members of the Citizens Impeachment Commission are available for interviews:
http://impeachpac.org/citizens

Members of After Downing Street are available for interviews:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/speakers

BASIC STATISTICS

States that have introduced Impeachment Resolutions:
Illinois, California

Resolutions Urging Impeachment Passed By
Towns and Cities:11
State Democratic Parties: 5
Local Democratic Committees: 25
Full list: http://impeachpac.org/resolutions

Funds raised by ImpeachPAC: $63,316 from 1,656 donors
Candidates Endorsed by ImpeachPAC: 3
List: http://impeachpac.org/candidates

Congress Members sponsoring H Res 635: 34
List: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/635

Senators Supporting Censure: 3
List: http://www.democrats.com/senate-censure

Americans Favoring Impeachment: between 26 and 53%
Polls: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/polling

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