Republicans and Independents for Impeaching Bush and Cheney

Nine Republicans have broken ranks to vote to send Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s article of impeachment HR 1345 to the House Judiciary Committee, where Chairman John Conyers will hold hearings.  10 Republicans abstained from voting, while 6 Democrats abstained.

The Republicans are (Yea 238 - Nay 180):

Congressman Kevin Brady (TX)
Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (MD)
Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC)
Representative Don Manzullo (IL)
U.S. Congressman Tim Murphy(PA)
Congressman Ron Paul (TX)
Congressman Dave Reichert (WA)
Congressman Christopher Shays (CT)
Representative Mike Turner (OH)

One of the Republicans, Walter Jones, represents Camp LeJeune in North Carolina, one of the largest Marine bases in the country, and one which has borne heavily the sacrifice of the Iraq War.

The impeachment article focuses narrowly on administration claims that Saddam possessed WMD in the run-up to the Iraq war, and that there was a connection between Hussein and 9/11. Kucinich’s article relies partly on the famous Downing Street Memo, the transcript of a gathering of the British Prime Minister’s senior ministers on July 23, 2002. The DSM includes such passages as:

“C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” - Downing Street Memo.

The facts were being fixed around the policy. Facts. Fixed. In other words, they lied.

Now over 4,100 fine young men and women are dead. The Judiciary Committee will have the opportunity to adopt the article of impeachment to send back to the House for a full House vote. Let the congressmen take a stand, and put themselves on the record for history, the cabal which buried its constitutional duty for party or politics or out of sheer weak-kneed cowardice, which is a stench next to the fiber of the Americans we lost, and those who still dart across alleys laced with machine gun fire somewhere in Iraq, in answer to the call of their country. How wrong that these courageous are not the ones making the decisions for our country.

People from around the country, of all parties, will be working all week to make this happen. If you would like to join them, please to go to the National Impeachment Network http://nationalimpeachment.org/

C-SPAN coverage of House resolution
http://rtsp//video1.c-span.org/15days/e071508_impeach2.rm

Kucinich on Impeachment Hearings
http://nationalimpeachment.org/?p=12

Official Conyers press release
http://judiciary.house.gov/news/071708.html

Congressional Quarterly Report on HR 1345
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002917906

Reuters - Hearing set on “imperial Bush presidency”
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1733930020080717

HR 1345 text:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34684

Downing Street Memo text:
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/memos.html

Popular Country-Western Impeach song, Tom Chelston
http://ralphlopezworld.com/brick-05-impeach.mp3

For more information: National Impeachment Network
http://nationalimpeachment.org/