Texas Peace and Impeachment

AUSTIN IMPEACHMENT RESOLUTION: http://www.austinitesforimpeachment.org

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Rally to End the Occupation of Iraq
September 1, 2007 in Ft. Worth

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Texas Legislature Introduces Impeachment, Joining MO, CA, WA, IL, MN, VT, NM

Texas Legislature website

Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) website

State Rep. Lon Burnam files Impeachment Resolution
Yellow Rose Peace Bus

Texas State Representative Lon Burnam introduced HCR. No. 154:
Submitting charges to the United States House of Representatives constituting proof that the president of the United States has violated his oath of office.

On March 19, on the 4th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq , State Representative Lon Burnam filed a Concurrent Resolution requesting the U.S. Congress to impeach President George W. Bush. Burnam’s justification for impeachment includes the following language:

“…President Bush conspired with others to defraud the United States of America by intentionally misleading the Congress and the nation regarding an Iraqi threat to the American people to justify a war in direct defiance of the United Nations Security Council…”

“… Iraq posed no threat to the territory or people of the United States , yet the 2003 invasion of Iraq has resulted in the deaths of more than 3,200 American soldiers and a reported 59,000 Iraqi civilians…”

“…the United States has been embarrassed by revelations of torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and evidence suggests that President Bush has authorized the use of similar acts of torture in the interrogation of detainees in American facilities around the world…”

“…The Bush Administration's breaches of law are not limited to international affairs, having similarly violated the public trust by suppressing scientific information and altering government documents relating to the causes and effects of global warming with the intention of deceiving the American public…“

RESOLVED, That George W. Bush, if found guilty of the charges contained herein, should be removed from office and disqualified to hold any other office in the United States.

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Full text from Dallas Peace Center

Concurrent Resolution to Impeach President George W. Bush

By: ___________________ ___C.R. No. _____

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The elemental source for initiating congressional impeachment proceedings is found in The Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the United States House of Representatives; Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice authorizes federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state or territorial legislature as a matter of privilege; and

WHEREAS, Precedent for employing this authority is well-established and documented in Hinds' Precedents of the House of Representatives of the United States; one such entry relates to a 1903 joint resolution passed by the Florida state legislature requesting that the U.S. Congress impeach U.S. District Judge Charles Swayne that resulted in a senate trial; and

WHEREAS, Invoking this authority, the people of the state of Texas charge that President George W. Bush has violated the United States Constitution and other federal law and abused the power of his office to the extreme detriment of the country and the interests of its citizens, actions that constitute high crimes and misdemeanors; and

WHEREAS, President Bush conspired with others to defraud the United States of America by intentionally misleading the congress and the nation regarding an Iraqi threat to the American people to justify a war in direct defiance of the United Nations Security Council and in violation of Section 371, Title 18, United States Code; in so doing, President Bush and members of his administration: 1) overstated the offensive capabilities of Iraq, including that country's supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction, and manipulated and distorted intelligence relating to Iraq's weapons program during a plenary session of the United Nations and in direct contradiction to evidence gathered by international weapons inspectors; 2) manipulated public opinion by repeatedly and erroneously linking Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government with the terrorist organization responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001, al Qaeda; and 3) manipulated public opinion by stating in the State of the Union Address that Saddam Hussein had sought "significant quantities of uranium from Africa," despite confirmation from the Central Intelligence Agency and officials from foreign governments that the documents supporting these claims were forged; and

WHEREAS, The Bush Administration's decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was an unnecessarily reckless endeavor; while Saddam Hussein was a despotic leader who had used chemical weapons against Iran, as well as the Kurdish and Shia people, and required prudent and efficacious attention by the United States and the international community in order to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East, the invasion of Iraq, in fact, necessitated the removal of United Nations weapons inspectors who were on the ground in Iraq and uninhibited from performing their job of monitoring Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities; in fact, during the 11 years before the invasion, the United States enforced a no-fly zone over 60 percent of Iraq's airspace, significantly restricting the country's military movement and activity throughout its territory; and

WHEREAS, Indeed, Iraq posed no threat to the territory or people of the United States, yet the 2003 invasion of Iraq has resulted in the deaths of more than 3,200 American soldiers and a reported 59,000 Iraqi civilians, over 23,000 wounded American soldiers, and severely diminished American military readiness; the fiscal cost of the war will reach $500 billion by the end of 2007; and

WHEREAS, In addition, to meet the needed manpower to execute the invasion, President Bush has federalized and deployed members of the Texas National Guard overseas, thereby subverting the power granted to congress under Section 8, Article 1, United States Constitution, to call "forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions"; regrettably, the illegal deployment of the Texas National Guard deprives the state of its primary mechanism for defense and emergency response, needlessly jeopardizing the safety of Texans; and

WHEREAS, Under the guise of the war on terror, the Bush Administration has held American citizens and citizens of other sovereign nations without charge or trial; despite these secretive detentions, the United States has been embarrassed by revelations of torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and evidence suggests that President Bush has authorized the use of similar acts of torture in the interrogation of detainees in American facilities around the world; and

WHEREAS, These detentions are clear violations of international and federal law; as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, the United States is bound to provisions of Article 13 requiring that "Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated . . ." and Article 17 stating that "no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever"; and

WHEREAS, Furthermore, the War Crimes Act of 1996 provides that a person who acts in breach of the Geneva Conventions has committed a war crime and is subject to punishment under federal law; similarly, Article VI of the United States Constitution provides that ". . . all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land . . . ."; and

WHEREAS, The Bush Administration's defiance of the Geneva Conventions has potentially threatened the lives and well-being of American soldiers captured as prisoners of war in future conflicts; likewise, the Bush Administration's defiance of international law has tarnished the United States' reputation as a country founded on principles of human rights and diminished America's integrity and influence in the international community; and

WHEREAS, In an effort to further manipulate public opinion relating to the justification for the Iraq war, the Bush Administration leaked classified information, knowingly revealing the identities of covert U.S. intelligence agents and exposing them to potential harm and retribution; and

WHEREAS, The Bush Administration's breaches of law are not limited to international affairs, having similarly violated the public trust by suppressing scientific information and altering government documents relating to the causes and effects of global warming with the intention of deceiving the American public; and

WHEREAS, President Bush's illegal actions have also undermined the balance of power between the branches of government; in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, President Bush has publicly admitted to ordering the National Security Agency to contravene provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, specifically authorizing the agency to spy on American citizens without securing a search warrant; and

WHEREAS, President Bush has also subverted congressional authority with regard to domestic policy by filing hundreds of signing statements that declare the administration's official legal interpretation of legislation passed by congress; in more than 750 instances, the president has asserted an authority to ignore numerous sections of the bills he has signed into law, including legislation relating to military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that congress be told about immigration services problems, "whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research; and

WHEREAS, Moreover, President Bush has overtly undermined the authority of congress; the Bush Administration has undermined specific provisions of the Clean Air Act by changing Environmental Protection Agency rules to allow older power plants, refineries, and factories to upgrade their facilities without installing newer, more advanced pollution control technologies, thereby increasing the amount of pollution and threatening the health of all Americans; and

WHEREAS, In order to secure passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Modernization, and Improvement Act of 2003, the Bush Administration knowingly misled congress regarding the cost of the bill by providing a $400 billion cost estimate to lawmakers while government documents revealed the true cost was calculated by administration officials to exceed $500 billion; be it

RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas submit the charges contained herein to the United States House of Representatives under the authority of Section 603 of The Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the United States House of Representatives; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the charges contained herein constitute proof that the president of the United States has wilfully violated his oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That George W. Bush, if found guilty of the charges contained herein, should be removed from office and disqualified to hold any other office in the United States.