Bush Impeachment Review Now Has 37 Co-Sponsors
(APN) ATLANTA — As APN’s second print issue goes to press, H. Res 635 has a total of 37 sponsors and cosponsors. The bill, sponsored by US Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) would create a Select Committee to look into the grounds for impeaching President Bush over misleading the public on the need to go to war; retaliating against public officials who disagree with him; and encouraging torture.
The most recent co-sponsors are US Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Jesse Jackson, Jr., (D-IL), and Hilda Solis (D-CA).
Over 18% of US House Democrats now support the impeachment probe; over 8% of all US House Representatives now support the probe.
The best represented states on H. Res 635 are California (9), New York (6), Illinois (3), Massachusetts (3), Minnesota (3), Georgia (2), and Wisconsin (2).
The current 37 total co-sponsors are Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Jackson, Jr., (D-IL), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Rep. John Olver (D-MA), Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN), Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Rep. David Wu (D-OR).
“Congressional oversight is a responsibility that should be taken seriously. There are questions that need to be answered no matter where those answers lead,” Rep. Fattah said in a statement prepared for Atlanta Progressive News.
“For the House to impeach and the Senate to convict a President, the public must be fully informed and convinced by credible information that a President deserves impeachment. That means gathering the facts. Rep. Conyers’ bill calls for setting up a select committee to gather information to see if there is any basis for impeachment – i.e., a violation of the Constitution – or if impeachment should even be considered. With that understanding I support H. Res. 635,” Congressman Jackson said in a statement released to Atlanta Progressive News.
Rep. Solis’s Office has not returned calls seeking comment.
“The Bush administration must be held accountable for the failures in their Iraq War policy. Congress has a Constitutional obligation to determine whether this disastrous Iraq policy is the result of deceit and deception or simply reckless incompetence. Providing the Congress and American people with the opportunity to seek the truth regarding the facts and the fabrications that led our nation into the Iraq War is why I am supporting the Conyers’ resolution,” US Rep. Betty McCollum, another somewhat recent cosponsor who was unable to comment in the previous APN print issue, said in a statement prepared for APN.
An Atlanta Progressive News analysis has found that, interestingly, 30 of the 37 total co-sponsors are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. However, only 30 of the 62 members of the Caucus have signed on.
Atlanta Progressive News is calling out the other 32 self-described progressives who have not signed on. They are Reps. Becerra, Bordallo, Corrine Brown, Sherrod Brown, Carson, Cristenson, Cleaver, Cummings, DeFazio, DeLauro, Evans, Frank, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Tubbs Jones, Kaptur, Kilpatrick, Kucinich, Lantos, Markey, McGovern, Miller, Holmes-Norton, Pastor, Rush, Serrano, Slaughter, Thompson, Udall, Watson, Watt, and Waxman.
Full coverage of this bill is available at www.atlantaprogressivenews.com.
The most recent detailed analysis by APN was done in May 2006 and is available at http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0049.html.
“The Atlanta Progressive News has reported regularly on this bill,” US Rep. Conyers wrote in an article on his blog.
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Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor and National Correspondent for Atlanta Progressive News and may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com.
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