BEGIN IMPEACHMENT
HEARINGS ON RESOLUTION OF IMPEACHMENT OF VICE PRESIDENT
-- (House of Representatives - January 15, 2008)
--- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order
of the House, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Wexler) is
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WEXLER. Madam Speaker, on November 7, 2007, this
House voted to refer Congressman Kucinich's resolution
of impeachment of Vice President Cheney to the House
Judiciary Committee. As a member of the Judiciary
Committee, I now ask that we immediately begin
impeachment hearings.
The issues at hand are far too serious to ignore.
Dick Cheney faces credible allegations of abuse of power
that if proven may well constitute high crimes and
misdemeanors.
Did the Vice President manipulate intelligence to
push this Nation into war based on false pretense?
Did the Vice President unmask a covert CIA agent for
political purposes?
Did the Vice President order the illegal surveillance
of Americans and the illegal use of torture?
These questions must be answered.
Just recently, former White House Press Secretary
Scott McClellan revealed that the Vice President and his
staff purposely gave him false information to report to
the American people, a clear obstruction of justice.
This administration has undermined the checks and
balances of our government by brazenly ignoring
congressional subpoenas and recklessly claiming
executive privilege. Impeachment hearings are the only
way to force the Bush administration to answer questions
and tell the truth.
Congress must take the first step by enforcing the
subpoenas against Harriet Miers and the President's
Chief of Staff and hold them in contempt of Congress. In
this time, at this moment, Congress must stand for the
truth. If we fail to act, history may well judge us
complicit in the alleged crimes of Vice President
Cheney.
Madam Speaker, a growing chorus of Americans are
calling for accountability. The response from Congress
thus far has been silence and denial.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida
is reminded to refrain from personal references toward
the Vice President.
Mr. WEXLER. Madam Speaker, not long ago I launched a
Web site in support of my call for hearings. The people
responded en masse. After only 4 weeks, over 189,000
Americans have registered their support for hearings,
names I now hold in my hand. These frustrated and
patriotic Americans come from all 50 States and share
one common goal: accountability for the Bush-Cheney
administration and a rebirth of Congress as an equal
branch of government.
So many have been working on this cause before me.
Groups like Democrats.com, AfterDowningStreet.org,
CodePink, ImpeachBush.org, Impeach for Peace and others.
All told, there have been well over 1 million signatures
urging us to take action.
Tomorrow, I will deliver these names to my colleagues
on the Judiciary Committee with a letter to my friend
Chairman Conyers calling for hearings. I will ask my
colleagues to sign this letter. In addition, tomorrow,
and continuing every day for months, I will publish in
the Congressional Record several thousand names of
supporters who have signed up.
History demands that we take action, because the case
against Vice President Cheney is far stronger than the
illegalities surrounding Watergate. When compared to the
partisan and petty allegations made against President
Clinton by Ken Starr and the GOP Congress, the true
gravity of the case against the Vice President appears
in its devastating clarity. In fact, in the history of
our Nation, we have never encountered a moment where the
actions of a President or a Vice President have more
strongly demanded the use of the power of impeachment .
I have heard the arguments that it is too late, that
we have run out of time, and that we don't have the
votes. While today there may not be enough votes to
impeach , it is premature to think that such support
would not exist after hearings. Let us remember that it
wasn't until after hearings began that the Watergate
tapes emerged. Who knows what facts will comfort when
the full truth is told in this case?
Arguing that it is too late signals to future
administrations that in the waning months in office they
are immune from constitutional accountability. Hold
hearings which will put the evidence on the table, and
the evidence alone must determine the outcome.
