Kucinich to Force Vote on Cheney Impeachment

By: Susan Jones, CNSNews.com Senior Editor

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, the liberal Democrat who's launched a presidential campaign, says he plans to force an up-or-down vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on an impeachment resolution against Vice President Dick Cheney.


Kucinich announced last week that he will offer a "privileged resolution" on Nov. 6 that would require House members, within two days, to vote on what to do with the impeachment measure.

He plans to discuss the matter in a conference call on Monday evening.

"The momentum is building for impeachment," Kucinich said in a Nov. 2 news release. "Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice President's abuse of power."

House Resolution 333 says Cheney should be impeached for "high crimes and misdemeanors," because he "purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests."

Kucinich insists that Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by insisting on the supremacy of the Executive Branch.

The resolution introducing articles of impeachment against the vice president has 21 cosponsors, all of them Democrats.

"Congress must hold the Vice President accountable," Kucinich said last week. He accused Cheney of using his office to advocate the "continued occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance against Iran."

For the record, at a San Francisco rally against climate change on Saturday, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan wore a T-shirt reading, "Arrest Cheney First," the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Sheehan is now running for the House seat of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).