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Progressive News & Views (since 1982)
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>From Francis A. Boyle <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (voice)
217-244-1478 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(personal comments only)
Congressional Record, Jan. 16, 1991, at H520-21.
RESOLUTION OF IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House,
the gentleman from Texas [Mr. GONZALEZ] is recognized for 60 minutes.
Mr. GONZALEZ, Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness, and yet
with equally great, if not greater, conviction, that I introduce today a
resolution of impeachment of President Bush. It is known as House
Resolution 34, and I will provide this resolution as introduced to be
appended at the end of my remarks today.
At a time when our Nation is deeply divided over the question
of war, we find ourselves on the brink of a world war of such magnitude
that our minds cannot fully comprehend the destruction that is about to be
leveled. The position we are in is a direct result of the actions of one
man and the reactions of another. The Iraqi people are as opposed to war
as are the American people. The difference is that the Iraqi people have
no choice but to support their country's leader, but the American people
not only have the right to oppose and speak out in disagreement with the
President, but they have the responsibility to do so if our democracy is
to be preserved. Today I exercise this constitutional right and
responsibility to speak out in opposition to war in the Middle East and in
support of removal of our Nation's Chief Executive.
When I took the oath of office earlier this month, as I had
numerous times before, I swore to uphold the Constitution. The
President's oath was the same, to uphold the Constitution of the United
States. We did not pledge an oath of allegiance to the President but to
the Constitution, which is the highest law of the land. The Constitution
provides for removal of the President when he has committed high crimes
and misdemeanors, including violations of the principles of the
Constitution. President Bush has violated these principles.
My resolution has five articles of impeachment. First, the
President has violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
Our soldiers in the Middle East are overwhelmingly poor white, black, and
Mexican-American or Hispanic-American. They may be volunteers
technically, but their voluntarism is based on the coercion of a system
that has denied viable opportunities to these classes of our citizens.
Under the Constitution, all classes of citizens are guaranteed equal
protection, and calling on the poor and the minorities to fight a war for
oil to preserve the lifestyles of the wealthy is a denial of the rights of
these soldiers.
Let me add that since 1981 we have suffered the Reagan-Bush
and now the Bush war against the poor, and to add insult to injury, we now
are asking the poor to fight while here, as a result of this fight, even
the meager programs that the Congress had seen fit to preserve as a
national policy will suffer because the money for those programs will be
diverted to the cause of this unnecessary war.
Article II of this resolution states that the President has
violated the Constitution, Federal law, and the U.N. Charter by bribing,
intimidating, and threatening others, including the members of the U.N.
Security Council, to support belligerent acts against Iraq. It is clear
that the President paid off members of the U.N. Security Council in return
for their votes in support of war against Iraq or to abstain from voting
contrariwise. The debt of Egypt was, for example, forgiven--$7 billion,
without congressional approval. That, I think, casts doubtful validity on
that Presidential action. The reason for the cancellation of that debt is
so that we can then provide an equally enormous amount of armament for
Egypt which it cannot obtain because of the debt outstanding. A $140
million loan to China was agreed to. The Soviet Union was promised over
$7 billion in aid. This is a sum totally unreported in our country but
very well discussed in foreign country presses such as Germany and others.
Colombia was promised assistance to its armed forces. Zaire was promised
military assistance and partial forgiveness of its debt. Saudi Arabia was
promised $12 billion in arms, and more than that. Actually in October,
the President let them have $2.2 billion, and there was a commitment for
$21 billion more, but because of the outcry in Congress and the Israeli
opposition, that is being postponed. But there is still a commitment for
$22 billion. I am sure this month will see the initial efforts to bring
about compliance with that commitment.
Yemen was threatened with the termination of support, and the
United States finally paid off $187 million of its debt to the United
Nations after the vote President Bush sought was made.
This is all so ironic. When our President ran for the U.S.
Senate in the 1960's, he told the people of Texas that if he would be
elected to the Senate, he would lead the fight to remove the United States
from the United Nations if what he called Red China at that time was
admitted. Fate and power almighty have a very, very mysterious way of
working together. Who was to believe during that year in that race in
Texas that years later this same man, now the President, would be the man
the President would appoint to represent us in the United Nations and
welcome Red China as a member of the United Nations.
The vote was bought, and it will be paid for with the lives of
our poor elements who are going to shoulder the fight.
Article III states that the President has conspired to engage
in a massive war against Iraq, employing methods of mass destruction that
will result in the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom
will be children. No civilian lives have yet been lost that we know of,
but when we start using the weapons of massive destruction that are in
place for this war, there is no doubt that thousands of innocent civilians
will lose their lives. As killings occur, the principles laid down in the
Nuremberg trials will be applicable. Their deaths will not only be a
moral outrage, they will constitute violations of international law.
Article IV states that the President has committed the United
States to acts of war without congressional consent and contrary to the
U.N. Charter and international law. From August 1990 through January 1991
the President embarked on a course of action that systematically
eliminated every option for peaceful resolution of the Persian Gulf
crisis. Once the President approached Congress for a declaration of war,
500,000 American soldiers lives were in jeopardy, rendering any
substantive debate by Congress meaningless. It is also ironic that what
we have ended up with now is that the President has exchanged about 200 to
250 so-called hostages, Americans, all of them employees of oil companies
in Kuwait or Iraq, and in exchange we now have close to 500,000 American
soldiers as hostages. Hostages to the whims, the caprices, and the
decisions and judgments made by other leaders, over which this President
and our country has no control, all the way from Shamir of Israel to the
immigrants in the Saudi sands.
/
/ 1320
Article 5 states that the President has conspired to commit
crimes against the peace by leading the United States into aggressive war
against Iraq, in violation of article 24 of the U.N. Charter, the
Nuremberg Charter, other international instruments and treaties, and the
Constitution of the United States.
Again, there is a violation of law by a President, who,
believing and acting as if he is king, decides for the country,
unilaterally, that war is the answer.
Madam Speaker, it is a sad day for our country, and it will be
an even sadder day once the fighting starts. President Bush must be
stopped. A divided Congress reflecting the divided country is no way to
conduct a war. The preservation of lives is at stake, and the
preservation of our country, indeed, our democracy, is at stake as well.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. All I ask is
a hearing, as I have before, before the proper committee of proper
jurisdiction, and that is it. I will argue the case there. The rest is
up to the Members' judgment.
Madam Speaker, I urge interest and support of this resolution,
and to stand up to the President on behalf of the soldiers who will die,
the civilians who will be massacred, and the Constitution that will be
destroyed if this country goes to war in the Middle East.
102nd Congress H.Res.86
1st Session
____/s/ Henry B.
Gonzalez____
Impeaching George Herbert Walker Bush, President of the United States, of
high crimes and misdemeanors.
_______________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
February 21, 1991 (originally
January 16, 1991)
Mr. GONZALEZ submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Judiciary.
________________________________________________
A
RESOLUTION
Impeaching George Herbert Walker Bush, President of the United States, of
high crimes and misdemeanors.
Impeaching George Herbert Walker Bush, President of the United States, of
high crimes and misdemeanors.
Resolved, That George Herbert Walker Bush, President of the
United States is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the
following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of
Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and
of all of the people of the United States of America, against George
Herbert Walker Bush, President of the United States of America, in
maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and
misdemeanors.
ARTICLE I
In the conduct of the office of President of the United
States, George Herbert Walker Bush, in violation of his constitutional
oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States
and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional
duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has violated the
equal protection clause of the Constitution. U.S. soldiers in the Middle
East are overwhelmingly poor white, black, and Mexican-American, and their
military service is based on the coercion of an system that has denied
viable economic opportunities to these classes of citizens. Under the
Constitution, all classes of citizens are guaranteed equal protection, and
calling on the poor and minorities to fight a war for oil to preserve the
lifestyles of the wealthy is a denial of the rights of these soldiers.
In all of this George Herbert Walker Bush has acted in a manner contrary
to his trust as President and 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 United States.
Wherefore George Herbert Walker Bush, by such conduct,
warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
ARTICLE II
In the conduct of the office of President of the United
States, George Herbert Walker bush, in violation of his constitutional
oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States
and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional
duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has violated the
U.S. Constitution, federal law and the United Nations Charter by bribing,
intimidating and threatening others, including the members of the United
Nations Security Council, to support belligerent acts against Iraq. In
all of this George Herbert Walker Bush has acted in a manner contrary to
his trust as President and 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 United States.
Wherefore George Herbert Walker Bush, by such conduct,
warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
ARTICLE III
In the conduct of the office of President of the United
States, George Herbert Walker Bush, in violation of his constitutional
oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States
and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional
duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has prepared,
planned, and conspired to engage in a massive war against Iraq employing
methods of mass destruction that will result in the killing of tens of
thousands of civilians, many of whom will be children. This planning
includes the placement and potential use of nuclear weapons, and the use
of such indiscriminate weapons and massive killings by serial bombardment,
or otherwise, of civilians violates the Hague Conventions of 1907 and
1923, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Protocol I thereto, the Nuremberg
Charter, the Genocide Convention and the United Nations Declaration of
Human Rights. In all of this George Herbert Walker Bush has acted in a
manner contrary to his trust as President and 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 United States.
Wherefore George Herbert Walker Bush, by such conduct,
warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
ARTICLE IV
In the conduct of the office of President of the United
States, George Herbert Walker Bush, in violation of his constitutional
oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States
and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional
duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the
United States to acts of war without congressional consent and contrary to
the United Nations Charter and international law. From August, 1990,
through January, 1991, the President embarked on a course of action that
systematically eliminated every option for peaceful resolution of the
Persian Gulf crisis. Once the President approached Congress for a
declaration of war, 500,000 American soldiers' lives were in jeopardy -
rendering any substantive debate by Congress meaningless. The President
has not received a declaration of war by Congress, and in contravention of
the written word, the spirit, and the intent of the U.S. Constitution has
declared that he will go to war regardless of the views of Congress and
the American people. In failing to seek a declaration of war, and in
declaring his intent to violate the Constitution in disregarding the acts
of Congress - including the War Powers Resolution - George Herbert Walker
Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and
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
United States.
Wherefore George Herbert Walker Bush, by such conduct,
warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
ARTICLE V
In the conduct of the office of President of the United
States, George Herbert Walker Bush, in violation of his constitutional
oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States
and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional
duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has planned,
prepared, and conspired to commit crimes against the peace by leading the
United States into aggressive war against Iraq in violation of Article
2(4) of the United Nations Charter, the Nuremberg Charter, other
international instruments and treaties, and the Constitution of the United
States. In all of this George Herbert Walker Bush has acted in a manner
contrary to his trust as President and 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 United States.
Wherefore George Herbert Walker Bush, by such conduct,
warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office. Francis A. Boyle
-----
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