Garcia, Papen support Bush impeachment resolution

Two of Doña Ana County’s senators have announced their support for a resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Senator Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, did so by voting on Sunday in favor of the resolution, which was approved by the Senate Public Affairs Committee on a vote of 4-2. Though she was absent from the meeting, Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana and another member of the committee, has signed on to the bill.

Two of the committee’s Republicans voted against the bill. The other members were absent. The bill now goes to the House Judiciary Committee before it can be debated by the full Senate.

Papen was absent for the vote seen by the public, having stepped out of the room for a few moments, but, since she was present for almost the entire debate on the bill, she was able to add her name to those who voted in favor of it.

Senate Joint Resolution 5, sponsored by Sens. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, and John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, would force the U.S. House of Representatives to debate the issue of whether to impeach Bush and Cheney. That’s because House rules allow state legislatures to initiate impeachment hearings.

The resolution accuses the president and vice president of intentionally misleading Congress about the war in Iraq, violating Americans’ civil liberties through illegal wiretapping and torturing prisoners of war. It’s one of several being considered by state legislatures around the nation.

Papen said her support of the resolution stems from disgust with poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other issues related to the federal government not meeting the needs of soldiers who return from war, in addition to what she called “sanctioned torture.” Papen said the bill tells the White House that such action is not acceptable.

“I think it sends a clear message,” said Papen, one of the Legislature’s more conservative Democrats.

Garcia said the resolution is necessary.

“Bush and Cheney intentionally misled us into a devastating war,” she said. “Senate Joint Resolution 5 is important because it is not just a symbolic gesture: It could actually enable the U.S. House of Representatives to set impeachment in motion.”

As to whether the resolution has any chance of being approved by the Senate, Garcia had this to say: “You never know.”