Impeachment Resolution Introduced in New Hampshire Legislature

SOURCE: AfterDowningStreet.org

New Hampshire State Representative Betty Hall has introduced a resolution in support of impeachment (HR 24). Scroll down for the full text of the resolution, as well as the text of Rep. Hall's statement.

Clicking the link below will take you to the contact page for the appropriate committee of the New Hampshire House, to whom you may convey
your messages supporting passage of this resolution.

House STATE-FEDERAL RELATIONS AND VETERANS AFFAIRS Committee:
Chairman: Kris Roberts Phone: 271-3317

WHEREAS, Section 603 of the Manual of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives provides for impeachments to be initiated on a motion based on charges transmitted from a state legislature, and

WHEREAS the right to vote, being the right that protects all other rights, and the right which ratified the Constitutions of our state and country, is a right that is collectively inalienable, in that elections may not be generally suspended or terminated; and,

WHEREAS under Paragraph 2 of the Declaration of Independence, our government is "instituted to secure these rights", including the right of elections, which are necessary to Liberty; and,

WHEREAS the Executive branch is responsible for enforcing the law and guaranteeing these rights; and,

WHEREAS, instead of ensuring that the people of New Hampshire have guaranteed to them mechanisms for reliably altering or abolishing their representatives, pursuant to Paragraph 2, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have engaged in a pattern and practice of threatening litigation against states and people who refuse to institute mechanisms of voting that require votes to be counted in trade secrecy and outside the observation and control of citizens; and,

WHEREAS, the invisibility and secret vote counting means that citizens no longer control their elections, and that members of the Executive branch and the Election Assistance Commission do control elections, together with any criminal who may seek to alter the trade secret software; and,

WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have committed high crimes and misdemeanors, as they have repeatedly and intentionally violated the United States Constitution and other laws of the United States, particularly the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Torture Convention, which, under Article VI of the Constitution is a treaty as part of the “supreme law of the land," and,

WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have acted to strip Americans of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention of citizens, without access to legal counsel, without charge, and without opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a U.S. citizen as an “enemy combatant", all in subversion of law; and,

WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Cheney have ordered and authorized the Attorney General to override judicial orders for the release of detainees under U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly INS) jurisdiction, even though the judicial officer, after full hearing, has determined that a detainee is held wrongfully by the Government; and,

WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have ordered at least thirty times the National Security Agency to intercept and otherwise record international telephone and other signals and communications by American citizens without warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, and designated certain U.S. citizens as “enemy combatants," all in violation of constitutional guarantees of due process; and,

WHEREAS President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have admitted that they willfully and repeatedly violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and boasted that they would continue to do so, each violation constituting a felony; and,

WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have violated the United Nations Charter and other treaties prohibiting aggressive war, by invading Iraq without just cause or provocation, and have misled the US Congress by deliberate or negligent falsehoods to obtain the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq resolution (Public Law 102-1); and,
Whereas, President George W. Bush has now admitted that his 20-Year "War on Terror" includes a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq and the Middle East, consisting of a lavish embassy and dozens of military bases; and,

Whereas, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney continue to authorize the use of depleted-uranium (DU) munitions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the use of which spreads radioactive contamination to non-targets, including innocent civilians, animals, food and water sources, and the use of which has been declared illegal by the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Rights; and,

Whereas, President George W. Bush has subverted the laws of our nation, in whole or in part, through the use of "signing statements" on more than 1200 occasions, unprecedented in U.S. history,

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GENERAL COURT submits that the actions and admissions of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney constitute ample grounds for their impeachment, and that the House of Representatives of the New Hampshire General Court has good cause for submitting charges to the U.S. House of Representatives under Section 603, as grounds for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney.

The House of Representatives of the New Hampshire General Court further submits that Articles of Impeachment should charge that President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have violated their constitutional oaths to execute faithfully the office of President and Vice-President to the best of their ability to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

In all of this, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice-President, subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the State of New Hampshire and of the United States.

WHEREFORE, President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any offices of honor, trust or profit under the United States.

Be it resolved further by the legislature of the State of New Hampshire, that our senators and representatives in the United States Congress be, and they are hereby, requested to cause to be instituted in the Congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney, to the end that they may be impeached and removed from such office.

Be it resolved further, that the Secretary of State of the State of New Hampshire be, and is hereby, instructed to certify to each Senator and Representative in the Congress of the United States, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, under the great seal of the State of New Hampshire, a copy of this resolution and its adoption by the legislature of the State of New Hampshire. The copies shall be marked with the word "Petition" at the top of the document and contain the original authorizing signature of the Secretary of State.
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HR 0024 Docket
1/2/2008 H Introduced 1/2/2008 and Referred to State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
2/6/2008 H Public Hearing: 2/19/2008 1:00 PM LOB 305-307
2/12/2008 H Executive Session: 2/20/2008 10:00 AM LOB 303

Title: Petitioning Congress to commence impeachment procedures

Why now? Why NOW? That’s the question I have been asked constantly since I made the request for late introduction of a Resolution to Petition the U.S. House of Representatives to Commence Impeachment Procedures. I based this request to our Rules Committee on House Rules which specifically provide for late introduction after the deadline if approved by the House Rules Committee or a 2/3 vote of the House. The Rules Committee in its wisdom voted (and I understand their reasoning) not to allow the introduction and I am before you today asking this House in its wisdom to allow the introduction of this resolution. The resolution I will propose if this motion passes has been drafted by me and is based on the resolution introduced by Representative Perry at the Democratic State Convention in June of 2006. It passed overwhelmingly even though the Resolutions Committee of the Convention in their wisdom did NOT recommend it.

Impeachment Resolutions have been introduced in this House before. I was a member of this House when President Nixon was facing the impeachment and Franklin mayor and House colleague, Eugene Danielle introduced an impeachment resolution. It was one of the first to be introduced in the country and Danielle gave an impassioned speech. I wish I was the orator he was.

I have talked with at least three members of this House today who were members then and they remember that speech. It was a very rousing speech and at the end of the speech we had a standing vote. Some remember 11 courageous people stood up and voted for the resolution. I was very moved but I failed to stand up. At least one member today who was a member then stood up. I have always been ashamed that I did not stand. I believe we HAVE TO STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, NOT WHAT IS WINNABLE. This is why I believe so strongly NOW is the time to stand up. At least ten other legislatures are reportedly considering the urgency of acting now. I believe there is a compelling need to start the ball rolling NOW. Waiting for the regular process which has been urged by many I respect will put the schedule behind by six months. The people are angry—they want action now. They are angry with Congress as well. The polls affirm this conclusion. They are angry because we are not moving fast enough to stop the Iraq war. Because the war puts our finest young soldiers in harms way, many of our grassroots people have concluded that Congress and the Military, and our Chief Executives have failed in all the arenas listed in the Resolution to Petition Congress. They are afraid that our Chief Executives are still leading us down the path of shock and awe, lies, and deadly assault. Our wonderful troops are being unfairly strained already. How can we sustain a broadening of the conflict to another country? Iran is an absolutely pressing concern, today, tomorrow, the next day. Can we really afford the same mistakes in Iran?

Everything I understand by reading the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution sets forth principles by which we the people must act when a situation develops such as we face at this momentous moment. We have a failure of leadership. I mean ALL leadership. Both parties and the three branches of government bear responsibility. Each citizen bears the responsibility also. If citizens fail to act we are just as doomed as the Germans were when Hitler was allowed to come to power. They let it happen. I know because I was there.

When all else fails, the Constitution provides for impeachment and removal from office. Republicans thought that point of failure happened and impeached President Clinton, and my party thought that happened and both parties forced the resignation of President Nixon when it become obvious he would be impeached. Frankly, I would prefer resignations rather than impeachments as a result of this resolution. No one wants to go through the gut wrenching of impeachment and trial. I want new leadership immediately. Resignations would be the fastest and best. Nobody thought Nixon would resign, but he did.

I think even worse could happen were impeachment not introduced because that could set a precedent for future generations and future presidents. Would you want any one of the Democratic Presidential hopefuls to have the power to do what President Bush and Vice President Cheney have done? Would you want any one of them to commit any of the impeachable offenses listed below, and not be held accountable? Would I want any one of your hopefuls to carry on the offenses into the next term? Even if you yourself don’t think the offenses are impeachable, aren’t they serious enough to find out through investigation and testimony?

I think we need to have this discourse once again to purge our system when it goes as far awry as I think it has. I think the sooner the discourse starts, the sooner we can start saving lives. Even if it were to start Wednesday, there is no assurance where it will go, and if it doesn’t start until September, there will still be no assurances. But history teaches us that the American people will not ignore our Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

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federal law - [109th Congress House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 108-241] -
If a state legislature makes the request, Congress must respond. New Hampshire Representative Betty Hall's resolution, if passed, would put impeachment on the table in the US House of Representatives:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_house...

<Inception of impeachment proceedings in the House.>>In the House there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion: by charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate (II, 1303; III, 2342, 2400, 2469; VI, 525, 526, 528, 535, 536); by charges preferred by a memorial, which is usually referred to a committee for examination (III, 2364, 2491, 2494, 2496, 2499, 2515; VI, 543); by a resolution dropped in the hopper by a Member and referred to a committee (Apr. 15, 1970, p. 11941; Oct. 23, 1973, p. 34873); by a message from the President (III, 2294, 2319; VI, 498); by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State (III, 2469) or territory (III, 2487) or from a grand jury (III, 2488); or from facts developed and reported. . .