Holding Them Accountable
The Bush administration has taken historically unprecedented steps in its assertions of executive privilege and authority. For instance, the Vice President has fought over relatively modest requests to disclose information such as with whom he consulted when setting the Administration's energy policy. The Vice President's office, during a confrontation with the National Archives over executive branch records, even declared itself an entity outside of the executive branch with enhanced powers to resist the public's right to know about its actions.
These assertions of executive privilege have wide-ranging implications for both Congress' day-to-day oversight of the Bush administration and for efforts to hold the President and Vice President accountable.
That is why I introduced the Executive Branch Prosecutions Act. This legislation would suspend the statute of limitations for crimes committed while the president and vice president hold office. Federal law currently suspends the statute of limitations for crimes related to national security. That suspension should extend to any crime committed by the President or Vice President while in office.
President Bush has already shown his willingness to do what he can to avoid scrutiny of his actions even after he leaves office. A federal judge recently struck down part of his 2001 Executive Order giving former presidents and vice presidents the right to review executive orders before they are made public under the Freedom of Information Act. Confronted with this administration's unprecedented demand for secrecy, Congress must do all it can to inject some measure of accountability and transparency where possible. The Executive Branch Prosecutions Act goes a long way toward accomplishing that goal.
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As a Representative it is your DUTY to impeach these madmen PERIOD
Anything else is smoke and mirrors
I'm with impeachment here. The extension of the statue of limitations sounds nice, but as noted by Benji up there, it will never apply to BushCo. If Bush and Cheney's abuse of power is evident enough for this legislation, then it is evident enough to justify IMPEACHMENT! Kucinech may have funny ears, but he knows his duty to the Constitution. Support HR 333!
Good luck. This bill is dead before it hits the floor. First, the Republicans will not vote for it, the President will veto it, and the sychophantic Democrats like Feinstein, Hoyer, Schumer, Reid, and Pelosi will torpedo it. They're all in it together funded by the same special interests and covering each other's butts.
Yes, the many "crimes" committed by direct authorization, memos aiding & abetting, etc. should be addressed during the next administration. For inquiry, please see Paust, Beyond the Law.... (Cambridge Univ. Press 2007), available at www.cambri
JJP
One problem is that generally statutes cannot have retroactive effect due to the Constitution's ban on ex post facto laws. Any law like this that Congress passes will only apply to misdeeds committed after the law takes effect. If I were defending an ex-Prez. Bush and ex-VP Cheney that would only my first line of defense. If - and in my mind there is no doubt they have - Bush and Cheney have broken laws that justify criminal prosection, then they have broken laws that justify impeachment. Why would Congress even consider letting them continue to remain in office? I think Congress should use the remedies that are already at its disposal rather than try to pass statutes that probably won't withstand constitutional muster.
Zoe...Plea
We are trying HARD to get Pelosi to put impeachment "back on the table"! Conyers has already issued a statement that there is alot on the calendar..
You really want these criminals to pay? Then support H.Res333 - tell Pelosi to get a move on it, and make sure Conyers makes room on his calendar! There now; doesn't that feel better??
The Oath Does Not Allow You to Weigh the Cost
Those of you who are Democrats seem to have judged that you will pay a political price if you make too big a stink about the fact that this presidency is dismantling the Constitution and the rule of law. You may be right about that (though I doubt it).
But it doesn’t matter whether your fears are well-founded. Your oath does not say you’ll defend the Constitution only when it is politically expedient. The pledge is unqualified. Just as the honorable knight is prepared to die, if necessary to defend the king, so your oath obliges you to be ready to commit political suicide if that’s what the fulfillment of your sacred pledge requires.
http://www
You don't need any more "ingenious" legislation! You just need to DO YOUR JOB and FULFILL YOUR OATH!
Of course if "Bush and Friends" get away with what they have done, some evil ruler in the future could complete the plan of the plutarchs for national and world domination. I do not hold out much hope of "justice" since, the corrupt President Ford pardoned Nixon. Ford handend all future Presidents the ability to commit any crime, without the fear of being placed behind bars. The Bush's have made it a crime to question the policies of the President. All matter of torture can be used (as long as you don't call it torture) to test the loyalty of the governed. Just how are we different from anti-democratic, pro-despotic dictatorships?
Good idea, if it works. In reality, laws were broken (more than a few). In a country with a rule of law, then citizens should demand that all lawbreakers, including elected officials, be indicted where proof is forthcoming. No statute of limitations.
I see this issue as a very troubling one, one that will not go away until "We the people" change things.
The one thing which will cause this country to fail is not the use of facism. That's the result of what could occur if people just sit still and do nothing to prevent the megalomaniacs from being in control.
This country has a foundation that is second to none. The US Constitution is the greatest single document ever written by man. It is the only thing that has prevented totalitarianism in the past as well us sliding into a dictatorship.
If you don't want to see this socio-political experiment in democracy fail, then please stand up for the rights of everyone and the adherence to the rules of law as outlined and defined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Even if you are a ultra conservative, you need to respect these documents and all they stand for and uphold them to your best ability. For, without these ideals, these rules and laws, what Lincoln spoke of in the Gettysburg Address will have been for naught. Those words still ring true today in their higher meaning and every time I see that great monument to that man and stand there and read those chilling words, I know that we were fortunate to have him continue to remind us of what we are all about.
Let's remove the shame we've cloaked ourselves in since January of 2001. Let's make sure that we are equal in the eyes of God and country. Let's begin to correct the wrongs that have taken place and restore our country to its rightful place as a leader of what is good about the world and what can be achieved if you so desire. Let's be the example to which all will aspire. Let's begin this now by expressing our feelings to our political leaders to begin the change now. Let's see us hold Bush and his cronies responsible for their alleged crimes.
I don't care about later,I care about NOW.Impeac
Way to go , but we must not limit our efforts to hold this specific administration accountable but also to deter other maniacs who might attempt to hijack our country for the profit of their friends, relatives and johns.Supp
Good luck, Congresswoman Lofgren. No justice, no peace!
You don't need any new law to hold the President or "any other civil officer" accountable. The only law that you need is the U. S. Constitution.
I would remind you and your colleagues that said document is "the Supreme Law of the Land." It is not subject to the will of the President; instead, it creates his (or her) Office and defines its powers.
It does the same for the Branch that you inhabit. In fact it devotes more of its faded handwritten lines to your Branch than to any other.
Quit quibbling about laws that will never pass, when the root cause of the problem is that it's easier to blame the President's phantom assertion of phantom rights that he does not and has never had ... than to acknowledge the complicity, the aiding-and
The President is not a King. And so far, your institution is not a Congress.
great idea, who doesnt like the idea of bush and cheney being held accountable for what they have done. but realistically, it will be a cold day in hell before anything like that happens.
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