Baldwin makes a call for impeachment hearings

MichaelMoore.com : Baldwin makes a call for impeachment hearings

July 25th, 2008 3:51 pm
Baldwin makes a call for impeachment hearings

By John Nichols / Capital Times

Declaring that "there is no task more important for this Congress than to seriously consider whether our nation's leaders have violated their oath of office," Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin on Friday morning told the House Judiciary Committee, "I now firmly believe that impeachment hearings are the appropriate and necessary next step."

The Madison Democrat's opening statement to the Judiciary Committee's "Hearing on Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations" was one of many pointed and at times passionate declarations delivered during an extraordinary session that saw both Democratic and Republican representatives engage in serious discussions about how best to address what committee chair John Conyers, D-Mich., referred to as "numerous credible allegations of serious misconduct by officials in the Bush administration."

Conyers said before the hearing began that "I believe it is imperative that we pursue a comprehensive review commensurate to this constitutionally dangerous combination of circumstances."

Though Republican critics, such as Iowa Congressman Steve King, suggested that Friday's session was effectively what King referred to as "an impeachment hearing," Conyers made it clear that the session was actually a broad examination of possible responses to what Conyers referred to as the threat of "an imperial presidency."

Baldwin and a number of other steady supporters of impeachment -- including Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat who has authored articles of impeachment against both President Bush and Vice President Cheney -- made it clear that they believed Friday's hearing marks the beginning of a process that would hold to account members of what U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., referred to as "probably the most impeachable administration in the history of America."

Here is Baldwin's full statement from Friday's hearing:

"Thank you, Chairman Conyers.

On January 20, 2009, the next president and vice president of the United States will stand before the American people and take an oath of office, swearing to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.' This commitment and obligation is so fundamental to our democracy that our nation's founders proscribed that oath in our Constitution. They also provided for the removal of the president and vice president for, among other things, 'high crimes and misdemeanors.'

Presidents and vice presidents do not take that oath in a vacuum. They are informed by the actions or inactions of past presidents and congresses, who establish precedents for the future.

Recently, journalist John Nichols, a constituent of mine, laid out an appropriate metaphor to illustrate this principle. 'Let's say that when George Washington chopped down the cherry tree that he used the wood to make a little box. And in that box the president puts his powers. We've taken things out. We've put things in over the years. On January 20th, 2009 ... this administration will hand off a toolbox with more powers than any president has ever had, more power than the founders could have imagined .... Who ever gets it, one of the things we know about power is that people don't give away the tools. They don't give them up. The only way that we take tools out of that box is if we sanction .... and say the next president cannot govern as these men have.'

What this Congress does or chooses not to do in furthering the investigation of the serious allegations against this administration -- and if just cause is found, to hold them accountable -- will impact the conduct of future presidents, perhaps for generations.

Mr. Chairman, there are those who would say that holding this hearing -- examining whether or not the president and vice president broke the law -- is frivolous. I not only reject this, I believe there is no task more important for this Congress than to seriously consider whether our nation's leaders have violated their oath of office. The American public expects no less. It is, after all, their Constitution. No president or Congress has the authority to override that document, whereby 'We the People' conferred upon the branches of government limited and defined power and provided for meaningful checks and balances.

Over the past several years, serious questions have been raised about the conduct of high-ranking administration officials in relation to some of the most basic elements of our democracy: respect for the rule of law, the principle of checks and balances, and the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights. In other words, the American people are in doubt as to whether administration officials have fulfilled their oaths of office to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution.

And their concerns are not insignificant. Americans want to know whether our nation's highest-ranking officials broke the law to justify the invasion of Iraq. Many in our nation and around the world wonder whether today the Bush White House is planning to illegally attack Iran. They wonder, too, whether their private conversations are being listened to by government officials unconcerned about the restraints placed upon them by the Constitution, whether our nation is holding individuals in secret prisons denying them even the right to appear before a judge, to be represented by an attorney, or to confront their accusers. They wonder whether this administration will forever change what it means to be an American.

As members of Congress, we, too, have constitutional obligations. It was my hope that this session, Congress could begin to repair the damage that has been done to our democracy, our Constitution and our standing in the world. Our nation's founders proscribed a system of checks and balances, providing for congressional oversight as a fundamental part of ensuring co-equal branches of government. I believe this gives us no choice but to demand executive branch accountability in any and all forms possible.

I spent much of last year believing that impeachment could be averted if Congress -- and particularly this committee -- exercised this constitutional right, in fact duty, to investigate this administration's misdeeds, address their tragic consequences and right the wrongs we uncovered. Mr. Chairman, under your leadership, we did hold a series of hearings and opened investigations on topics such as the U.S. attorney firings, the war in Iraq, the Valerie Plame scandal, and other important subjects of Executive Branch accountability.

Yet our efforts on behalf of the American people to hold the White House accountable for the numerous, credible allegations of abuse were blocked at each step. The list of congressional subpoenas with which administration officials refused to comply is long. Most recently, Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser, defied a congressional subpoena to testify on allegations of politicization at the Department of Justice. This administration has soundly rebuffed nearly every attempt to investigate and made true accountability impossible.

Accordingly, the American people have been forced to sit by while credible allegations of abuse of power mount:

We have seen this administration fabricate the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and allege, despite all evidence to the contrary, a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida. These lies dragged our country into a preemptive and unjustified war that has taken the lives of more than 4,000 U.S. troops, injured 30,000 more, and will cost our nation more than a trillion dollars.

We watched as this administration again undermined national security by manipulating and exaggerating evidence of Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities and openly threatened aggression against Iran, despite no evidence that Iran has the intention or capability of attacking the U.S.

We have looked on in horror as the administration suspended habeas corpus by claiming the power to declare any person an "enemy combatant," ignoring the Geneva Convention protections that the U.S. helped create.

We have seen torture and rendition of prisoners in violation of international law and stated American policy and values and destruction of the videotaped evidence of such torture, under the tenure of this administration.

We have seen this administration spy on Americans without a court order or oversight in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

We watched as U.S. attorneys pursued politically motivated prosecutions in violation of the law and perhaps at the direction of this White House.

We watched as administration officials outed Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent of the CIA and then intentionally obstructed justice by disseminating false information through the White House press office.

As we know, the framers of our Constitution called for impeachment only in the case of high crimes and misdemeanors. The standard is purposely set high because we should not impeach for personal or political gain -- only to uphold and safeguard our democracy. Sadly, in my judgment, at least two high-ranking administration officials have met that standard. Although the call to impeach is one I take neither easily nor lightly, I now firmly believe that impeachment hearings are the appropriate and necessary next step."