From ACTIV-L%UMCVMB.BITNET%UCHIMVS1@gargoyle.uchicago.edu Tue Jan 29 01:53:18 1991 Received: from gargoyle.uchicago.edu by cabot.dartmouth.edu (5.61a+YP/4.1) id AA05089; Tue, 29 Jan 91 01:53:14 -0500 Received: by gargoyle.uchicago.edu from zaphod.uchicago.edu (4.0/1.14) id AA09466; Tue, 29 Jan 91 00:53:48 CST Received: from uchimvs1.uchicago.edu by zaphod.uchicago.edu (5.59/4.7) id AA23069; Tue, 29 Jan 91 00:53:44 CST Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 00:53:44 CST From: ACTIV-L%UMCVMB.BITNET%UCHIMVS1@gargoyle.uchicago.edu Message-Id: <9101290653.AA23069@zaphod.uchicago.edu> Received: (from UICVM for via BSMTP) Received: (from MAILER@UICVM for MAILER@UCHIMVS1 via NJE) Apparently-To: Status: RO (M-RSCS1516-1516; 94 LINES); Tue, 29 Jan 91 00:53:15 CST Received: from UICVM.BITNET by UICVM (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 0136; Tue, 29 Jan 91 00:52:45 CST Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 00:44:32 CST Reply-To: Rich Winkel UMC Math Department Sender: Activists Mailing List From: Rich Winkel UMC Math Department Subject: text of impeachment speech To: Multiple recipients of list ACTIV-L /* Written 12:44 am Jan 27, 1991 by ttrudell in cdp:mideast.gulf */ ** News of the Persian Gulf 12:44 am Jan 27, 1991 ** ************************************************************************ The following text, from Henry B. Gonzalez' speech to the U.S. House introducing an impeachment resolution, was included in an article in the _The Austin Chronicle_, 1-25-91. ************************************************************************ "Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness, yet with great conviction that I introduce today a Resolution of Impeachment of President Bush . . . When I took the oath of office earlier this month, as I had numerous times before, I swore to uphold the Constitution. The President's oath was the same -- to uphold the Constitution of the United States. We did not pledge on oath of allegiance to the President, but to the Constitution, which is the highest law of the land. The Constitution provides for removal of the President when he has committed high crimes and misdemeanors, including violations of the principles of the Constitution. President Bush has violated these principles. "My resolution has five articles of impeachment. First, the president has violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution. Our soldiers in the Middle East are overwhelmingly poor white, black, and Mexican-American. They may be volunteers, technically, but their volunteerism is based on the coercion of a system that has denied viable economic opportunities to these classes of citizens. Under the Constitution, all classes of citizens are guaranteed equal protection and calling on the poor and minorities to fight a war for oil to preserve the lifestyles of the wealthy is a denial of the rights of these soldiers. "Article II states that the President has violated the Constitution, federal law and the United Nations Charter by bribing, intimidating and threatening others, including the members of the United Nations security Council, to support belligerent acts against Iraq . . .. "Article III states that the President has conspired to engage in a massive war against Iraq, employing methods of mass destruction that will result in the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom will be children . . . As killings occur, the principles laid down in the Nuremberg trial will be applicable. Their deaths will not only be a moral outrage, but they will constitute a violation of international law. "Article IV states that the President has committed the United States to acts of war without congressional consent and contrary to the United Nations Charter and international law. From August, 1990 through January 1991, the President embarked on a course of action that systematically eliminated every option for a peaceful resolution of the Persian Gulf crisis . . .. "Article V states that the President has conspired to commit crimes against the peace by leading the United States into aggressive war against Iraq in violation of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, the Nuremberg Charter, other international instruments and treaties, and the Constitution of the United States. Again, there is a violation of law by a President who, believing he is king, decides for the country -- unilaterally -- that war is the answer. "Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day for our country, and it will be an even sadder day once the fighting begins. President Bush must be stopped -- a divided Congress, reflecting a divided country, is no way to conduct a war. The preservation of lives is at stake, and the preservation of our country -- our democracy -- is at stake as well. I urge my colleagues to support this Resolution, and stand up to the President on behalf of the soldiers who will die, the civilians who will be massacred, and the Constitution that will be destroyed if this country goes to war in the Middle East." ************************************************************************ Representative Henry B. Gonzalez of Texas may be reached at: 202/229-6195 ************************************************************************