MCKINNEY'S FULL REMARKS ON
BUSH IMPEACHMENT BILL
By Matthew Cardinale,
News Editor and National Correspondent (December 08, 2006)
US Rep. Cynthia McKinney
today became the first US Congresswoman to introduce Articles of Impeachment
against President Bush, as well as Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice.
Atlanta Progressive News has
obtained the following remarks prepared by the Congresswoman, and has learned
she was not allowed to read them on the US House Floor. The remarks are expected
to become part of the Congressional Record but will not be available on
thomas.loc.gov until next week.
The Congresswoman has
scheduled an interview with APN for tomorrow to discuss her legislation. Stay
tuned here for more.
The remarks are reprinted
here in full:
Mr. Speaker:
I come before this body
today as a proud American and as a servant of the American people, sworn to
uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Throughout my tenure, I've
always tried to speak the truth. It's that commitment that brings me here today.
We have a President who has
misgoverned and a Congress that has refused to hold him accountable. It is a
grave situation and I believe the stakes for our country are high.
No American is above the
law, and if we allow a President to violate, at the most basic and fundamental
level, the trust of the people and then continue to govern, without a process
for holding him accountable, what does that say about our commitment to the
truth? To the Constitution? To our democracy?
The trust of the American
people has been broken. And a process must be undertaken to repair this trust.
This process must begin with honesty and accountability.
Leading up to our invasion
of Iraq, the American people supported this Administration's actions because
they believed in our President. They believed he was acting in good faith. They
believed that American laws and American values would be respected. That in the
weightiness of everything being considered, two values were rock solid: trust
and truth.
From mushroom clouds to
African yellow cake to aluminum tubes, the American people and this Congress
were not presented the facts, but rather were presented a string of untruths, to
justify the invasion of Iraq.
President Bush, along with
Vice President Cheney and then-National Security Advisor Rice, portrayed to the
Congress and to the American people that Iraq represented an imminent threat,
culminating with President Bush's claim that Iraq was six months away from
developing a nuclear weapon. Having used false fear to buy consent, the
President then took our country to war.
This has grave consequences
for the health of our democracy, for our standing with our allies, and most of
all, for the lives of our men and women in the military and their families--who
have been asked to make sacrifices--including the ultimate sacrifice--to keep us
safe.
Just as we expect our
leaders to be truthful, we expect them to abide by the law and respect our
courts and judges. Here again, the President failed the American people.
When President Bush signed
an executive order authorizing unlawful spying on American citizens, he
circumvented the courts, the law, and he violated the separation of powers
provided by the Constitution. Once the program was revealed, he then tried to
hide the scope of his offense from the American people by making contradictory,
untrue statements.
President George W. Bush has
failed to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States;
he has failed to ensure that senior members of his administration do the same;
and he has betrayed the trust of the American people.
With a heavy heart and in
the deepest spirit of patriotism, I exercise my duty and responsibility to speak
truthfully about what is before us. To shy away from this responsibility would
be easier. But I have not been one to travel the easy road. I believe in this
country, and in the power of our democracy. I feel the steely conviction of one
who will not let the country I love descend into shame; for the fabric of our
democracy is at stake.
Some will call this a
partisan vendetta, others will say this is an unimportant distraction to the
plans of the incoming Congress. But this is not about political gamesmanship.
I am not willing to put any
political party before my principles.
This, instead, is about
beginning the long road back to regaining the high standards of truth and
democracy upon which our great country was founded.
Mr. Speaker:
Under the standards set by
the United States Constitution, President Bush, along with Vice President
Cheney, and Secretary of State Rice, should be subject to the process of
impeachment, and I have filed H. Res.1106 in the House of Representatives.
To my fellow Americans, as I
leave this Congress, it is in your hands to hold your representatives
accountable, and to show those with the courage to stand for what is right, that
they do not stand alone.
