[Peace-discuss] Illinois & impeachment

[C. G. Estabrook]

[We should get in touch with our state legislators and insist
that the General Assembly pass this, and quickly.  --CGE]


  April 22, 2006
  Bush Impeachment - The Illinois State Legislature 
  is Preparing to Drop a Bombshell 	
  Utilizing a little known rule of the US House 
  to bring Impeachment charges
  by Steven Leser
  http://www.opednews.com

The Illinois General Assembly is about to rock the nation.
Members of state legislatures are normally not considered as
having the ability to decide issues with a massive impact to
the nation as a whole. Representative Karen A. Yarbrough of
Illinois' 7th District is about to shatter that perception
forever. Representative Yarbrough stumbled on a little known
and never utlitized rule of the US House of Representatives,
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. From there, Illinois House Joint
Resolution 125 (hereafter to be referred to as HJR0125) was born.

Detailing five specific charges against President Bush
including one that is specified to be a felony, the complete
text of HJR0125 is copied below at the end of this article.
One of the interesting points is that one of the items, the
one specified as a felony, that the NSA was directed by the
President to spy on American citizens without warrant, is not
in dispute. That fact should prove an interesting dilemma for
a Republican controlled US House that clearly is not only
loathe to initiate impeachment proceedings, but does not even
want to thoroughly investigate any of the five items brought
up by the Illinois Assembly as high crimes and/or
misdemeanors. Should HJR0125 be passed by the Illinois General
Assembly, the US House will be forced by House Rules to take
up the issue of impeachment as a privileged bill, meaning it
will take precedence over other House business.

The Illinois General Assembly joins a growing chorus of voices
calling for censure or impeachment of President Bush including
Democratic state committees in Vermont, Wisconsin, New Mexico,
Nevada and North Carolina as well as the residents themselves
of seven towns in Vermont, seventy Vermont state legislators
and Congressman John Conyers. The call for impeachment is
starting to grow well beyond what could be considered a fringe
movement. An ABC News/Washington Post Poll Conducted April 6-9
showed that 33% of Americans currently support Impeaching
President Bush, coincidentally, only a similar amount
supported impeaching Nixon at the start of the Watergate
investigation. If and when Illinois HJR0125 hits the capitol
and the individual charges are publicly investigated, that
number is likely to grow rapidly. Combined with the very real
likelihood that Rove is about to be indicted in the LeakGate
investigation, and Bush is in real trouble beyond his
plummeting poll numbers. His cronies in the Republican
dominated congress will probably save him from the
embarassment of an impeachment conviction, for now, but his
Presidency will be all but finished.

Developing News; California Becomes Second State to Introduce
Bush Impeachment

------------------------------------------

HJ0125 LRB094 20306 RLC 58347 r


1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION


2 WHEREAS, Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of the Rules of
3 the United States House of Representatives allows federal
4 impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of
5 a state legislature; and

6 WHEREAS, President Bush has publicly admitted to ordering
7 the National Security Agency to violate provisions of the 1978
8 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a felony, specifically
9 authorizing the Agency to spy on American citizens without
10 warrant; and

11 WHEREAS, Evidence suggests that President Bush authorized
12 violation of the Torture Convention of the Geneva Conventions,
13 a treaty regarded a supreme law by the United States
14 Constitution; and

15 WHEREAS, The Bush Administration has held American
16 citizens and citizens of other nations as prisoners of war
17 without charge or trial; and

18 WHEREAS, Evidence suggests that the Bush Administration
19 has manipulated intelligence for the purpose of initiating a
20 war against the sovereign nation of Iraq, resulting in the
21 deaths of large numbers of Iraqi civilians and causing the
22 United States to incur loss of life, diminished security and
23 billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses; and

24 WHEREAS, The Bush Administration leaked classified
25 national secrets to further a political agenda, exposing an
26 unknown number of covert U. S. intelligence agents to potential
27 harm and retribution while simultaneously refusing to
28 investigate the matter; and

29 WHEREAS, The Republican-controlled Congress has declined
1 to fully investigate these charges to date; therefore, be it

2 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
4 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the General Assembly of the
5 State of Illinois has good cause to submit charges to the U. S.
6 House of Representatives under Section 603 that the President
7 of the United States has willfully violated his Oath of Office
8 to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
9 States; and be it further

10 RESOLVED, That George W. Bush, if found guilty of the
11 charges contained herein, should be removed from office and
12 disqualified to hold any other office in the United States.

...

Steven Leser is a freelance journalist specializing in
Politics, Science & Health, and Entertainment topics. He has
held positions within the Democratic Party including District
Chair and Public Relations Chair within county organizations.
His coverage of the Ohio Presidential Recount in 2004 was
distinguished by actual interviews with Carlo Loparo,
spokesperson for the Ohio Secretary of State, along with
Supervisors of Elections of several Ohio counties. Similar
efforts on other topics to get first hand information from
sources separate Mr. Leser from many of his contemporaries.