In my commentary on August 29th, I wrote, “One Congressional Democrat, John Conyers of Michigan, announced his intention to impeach the President when Republicans lose control of both Houses of Congress.” I subsequently received a call from a member of Congressman Conyers’ staff who said I was wrong to state that the Congressman was calling for the impeachment of President Bush. He referred me to the Congressman’s House Resolution 635, introduced on Dec. 18, 2005, which contains the following language: “Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration’s intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.”
I served with John Conyers, Jr. in the House of Representatives for nine years, from 1969 through 1977. I respect him as an able and honorable member of Congress. I had no intention of misrepresenting his position on the issue of impeaching President Bush. I went back and read the statement he made at the time he introduced Resolution 635. He said, “It is time to take bolder measures in our pursuit of justice. This White House has responded to questions about its conduct with misleading statements, obfuscation and vicious attacks against their critics. We must take the next step towards restoring accountability in our federal government. To this end, I am calling upon Congress to create a select committee similar to the Ervin Committee, which investigated President Nixon’s Watergate crimes. This select committee would investigate the Administration and its intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, and retaliating against critics. This administration must be held accountable for its misdeeds.”
I researched the material in Wikipedia, the Internet encyclopedia. In part, Wikipedia’s entry on John Conyers states, “On June 16, 2005, Conyers assembled an unofficial meeting to receive evidence related to the Downing Street memo and to consider grounds for impeachment. Dozens of Members of Congress attended. Witnesses included Ambassador Wilson, constitutional attorney John Bonifaz and CIA analyst Ray McGovern. On December 20, 2005, the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff, at Conyers’ request, filed its 273-page report, The Constitution in Crisis; The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War. The report included copies of house resolutions to establish a bi-partisan Select Committee in the House -- H. Res. 635; to censure the President—H.Res. 636; and to censure the Vice President -- H.Res. 637.” Wikipedia reports further, “As of May 18, 2006, according to the Washington Post, Conyers’ current position regarding impeachment of the president is‘…rather than seeking impeachment, I have chosen to propose comprehensive oversight of these alleged abuses.’”
It appears from Conyers’ language that he has, at different times, proposed impeachment, censure and “comprehensive oversight of these alleged abuses.”
If in fact President Bush were guilty of the alleged abuses, he would deserve to be impeached. I believe John Conyers, by launching these attacks on the President while the country is at war, is doing a disservice to the country, but of course, he has the right to do that. The people of Michigan who regularly reelect him undoubtedly agree in large numbers. But they are wrong to wage a political war demeaning the President, who is waging a military war on terror on behalf of the United States and all of Western civilization.
Finally, I submitted this statement to Congressman Conyers’ staff person asking for his comment, and I received the following response: “Thanks for looking at this. I think the only factual point I would dispute is the Wikipedia statement that the June 16 hearing was held ‘to consider ground for impeachment.’ That was not the purpose of the hearing and is not accurate. As you know, Wikipedia is an open-source system that does not fact check. Anyway, thanks for your diligence on this point.”
Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch can be heard every Friday at 6 p.m. on Bloomberg Radio.
