{"id":1272,"date":"2007-02-16T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-16T18:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/state-senate-panel-endorses-bush-impeachment\/"},"modified":"2007-02-16T12:15:00","modified_gmt":"2007-02-16T18:15:00","slug":"state-senate-panel-endorses-bush-impeachment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/state-senate-panel-endorses-bush-impeachment\/","title":{"rendered":"State Senate panel endorses Bush impeachment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney was approved by a New Mexico Senate committee this morning after some 200 people showed up to support the proposal. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Senate Joint Resolution 5<\/a>, sponsored by Sens. Gerald Ortiz y Pino<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, and John Grubesic<\/a>, D-Santa Fe, would force the U.S. House of Representatives to debate the issue of whether to impeach Bush and Cheney. That\u2019s because House rules allow state legislatures to initiate impeachment hearings.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s five Democrats voted in favor of the resolution. Its four Republican members did not attend the hearing. The resolution must be approved in two additional committees before the Senate will schedule a hearing.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Several of the committee\u2019s Democrats said they were disappointed that they wouldn\u2019t have the chance to debate the issue with Republican members and learn about both sides of the issue.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a choice that they have made to not join us today,\u201d said Sen. Linda Lopez<\/a>, D-Albuquerque and the committee\u2019s chair.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Ortiz y Pino said the resolution is more than symbolic because the House allows state legislators to initiate impeachment proceedings.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not wild-eyed stuff,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 We have to do something about this, or we become implicated. \u2026 Then we\u2019re part of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Grubesic agreed, but said even the bill\u2019s symbolism would give momentum to the impeachment movement.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI would respectfully argue that dumping tea into Boston<\/st1:placename> Harbor<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> was symbolic. Rosa Parks refusing to move was symbolic,\u201d he said. \u201cSymbols have power because of the people who are behind them. The life of this document comes from the voices you hear today, and in this nation, and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The resolution accuses the president and vice president of intentionally misleading Congress about the war in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>, violating Americans\u2019 civil liberties through illegal wiretapping and torturing prisoners of war. It\u2019s one of several being considered by state legislatures around the nation.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

An ambitious and emotional group of people packed the committee room and spoke in favor of the resolution. With the room full, many more stood in the hall outside awaiting the vote.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Former state Judge Anne Cass was one who spoke in support of the resolution.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the New Mexico Legislature hopes to maintain its moral authority\u2026 then the New Mexico Legislature must insist that there be a full and formal investigation,\u201d she said. \u201cThat there is compelling evidence that crimes have been committed is unquestionable.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Barbara Hatfield of Taos<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> agreed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t fear any Muslim. I don\u2019t fear any Arab,\u201d she said. \u201cI am afraid to death of the government of my own country.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Larry Lopez of Taos<\/st1:city>, whose son leaves to fight in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> on Monday, said the proposed resolution creates \u201ca lot of hope and a lot of anticipation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sen. Dede Feldman<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, said her vote in favor of the resolution was \u201ca step toward holding the president and vice president accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI take impeachment very seriously,\u201d she said. \u201cI lived through Watergate, and I saw what happened when we held a president accountable for wiretapping, and isn\u2019t that what we\u2019re talking about here?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sen. Cisco McSorley<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, agreed. He said when Saddam Hussein was executed, Bush said that the former Iraqi leader received more due process than he ever gave anyone else.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that was interesting, because we have a man, Mr. Padilla, who has sat in one of our jails without due process,\u201d McSorley said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney was approved by a New Mexico Senate committee this morning after some 200 people showed up to support the proposal. Senate Joint Resolution 5, sponsored by Sens. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, and John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, would force the U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}