[NYTr] 41 Congress Members Publicly for Impeachment

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by David Swanson - Aug 3, 2007
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/25399

41 Congress Members Publicly for Impeachment

By David Swanson

Forty-one Congress Members now stand in one manner or another for
impeachment.

Seventeen have signed on as cosponsors of H. Res. 333, a bill proposing
articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. H Res 333
cosponsors include: Dennis Kucinich, Jan Schakowsky, Maxine Waters, Hank
Johnson, Keith Ellison, Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Lee, Albert Wynn, William
Lacy Clay, Yvette Clarke, Jim McDermott, Jim Moran, Bob Filner, Sam
Farr, Robert Brady, Tammy Baldwin, Donald Payne.

Twenty-five have signed onto H Res. 589, a bill proposing the
impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The cosponsors are
Jay Inslee, Xavier Becerra, Michael Arcuri, Ben Chandler, Dennis Moore,
Bruce Braley, Tom Udall, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, Hank Johnson,
Steve Cohen, Keith Ellison, David Wu, Yvette Clarke, Darlene Hooley,
Betty McCollum, Timothy Bishop, Barney Frank, Carolyn Maloney, Ed
Perlmutter, Tammy Baldwin, Shelley Berkley, Raul Grijalva, Ed Pastor,
Ellen Tauscher.

Only Johnson, Ellison, Clarke, and Baldwin have signed onto both bills.
(17 + 25 -4 = 38)

Congressmen Jesse Jackson Jr. and Maurice Hinchey have recently said
that they support the impeachment of Cheney and Bush, but have not yet
signed onto any bills. (38 + 2 = 40)

Other Congress Members have said privately that they favor impeachment
but not these bills, even that they would only support impeachment if it
included Bush. The lack of cross-over support between the two existing
bills is an indication of the importance of petty personal politics
within Congress, and the extent to which Congress Members will sign
onto a bill based on who the sponsor and cosponsors are and who asks
them, and whether anyone asks them, to sign on.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has opposed impeachment since May
2006, but this week said that if she were not the Speaker she would
probably be backing impeachment, and that impeachment of Gonzales is
clearly merited. (40 + 1 = 41)