Senator Feingold Responds

One thing that's nice about Feingold is that he responds to his constituents such as my letter I wrote him about the impeachment of the President. I'll let his letter speak for itself. Unfortunately, Russ has decided not to be a leader on this matter even though he knows it's right which makes his middle-of-the-road position even sadder.


Dear Mr. Basche,

Thank you for contacting me regarding my recent introduction of
two censure resolutions condemning the President, Vice President
and Attorney General for misconduct relating to the war in Iraq
and for repeated assaults on the rule of law. I appreciate hearing
from you.

One resolution, cosponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA),
censures the President and Attorney General for undermining the
rule of law with respect to the following: (1) the illegal NSA
warrantless wiretapping program, (2) extreme policies on torture,
the Geneva Conventions, and detainees at Guantanamo Bay, (3)
the refusal to recognize legitimate congressional oversight into the
improper firings of U.S. Attorneys, (4) misleading the American
public about the Patriot Act, and (5) the issuance of signing
statements suggesting the President does not believe he has to
follow the laws Congress passes.

The other resolution, cosponsored by Senator Harkin and Senator
Barbara Boxer (D-CA), censures the President and Vice President
for misconduct relating to the war in Iraq. This misconduct
includes the following: (1) overstating the case that Saddam
Hussein had WMD, particularly nuclear weapons, and falsely
implying he had a relationship with al Qaeda and links to 9/11, (2)
failing to plan for the civil conflict and humanitarian problems that
the intelligence community predicted, (3) over-stretching the
Army, Marine Corps and Guard with prolonged deployments, and
(4) seeking to justify our military involvement in Iraq by distorting
the situation on the ground there.

I have attached for your review a copy of each of the resolutions. I
hope you find this information useful.

Introducing these resolutions of censure is an appropriate and
necessary step that allows Congress to rebuke an administration
that is responsible for such egregious misconduct. When future
generations look back at the actions of this administration, they
need to see that a co-equal branch of government stood up and held
to account those who violated the principles on which this nation
was founded. I am pleased to be working with Representative
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), who has introduced companion
legislation in the House with 19 cosponsors.

I appreciate your support for impeachment, and I respect the anger
many Americans feel at the outrageous actions of this
administration. I believe that the President and Vice President may
well have committed impeachable offenses, but with so many
important issues facing this country and so much work to be done,
I am concerned about the great deal of time impeachment would
take. Because censure does not require multiple impeachments in
the House and trials in the Senate, or the support of two-thirds of
Senators, it is far less cumbersome than impeachment. However,
if the House of Representatives does decide to move forward with
impeachment, I will take seriously my role as a sworn impartial
juror in any impeachment trial.

Thank you again for contacting me. I look forward to hearing
from you again.


Sincerely,

Russell D. Feingold
United States Senator

If you wish to contact me again, please visit
http://feingold.senate.gov/contact.html.

censure- Iraq.pdf


censure- Rule of Law.pdf