By Mike Soraghan
TheHill.com
June 11, 2008
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Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said he’s not going to let his effort to impeach President Bush die a quiet death in committee.
He said Wednesday that he’ll bring his resolution back in 30 days if the Judiciary Committee, to which it was referred Wednesday, doesn’t act on it.
“This one’s coming back from the dead in 30 days,” Kucinich said after the referral vote Wednesday. “In 30 days, I’ll be joined by many more” members, he said.
Asked who those members were, he replied, “You’ll see.”
Democratic House leaders have been fending off impeachment efforts from Kucinich and left-wing activists since taking office more than a year ago. Republicans suffered politically from the impeachment of President Clinton, and Democratic leaders say they don’t want to be bogged down in messy impeachment proceedings.
Kucinich also has a resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, which has been bottled up in committee since May 2007. The measure had 27 co-sponsors.
Kucinich’s 35-article impeachment of Bush has no co-sponsors, though several members were said to be planning to sign on Wednesday.
Kucinich himself made the motion to send it to the committee, saying his detailed allegations should be weighed in a hearing.
“Thirty days is a reasonable amount of time, not 30 minutes” of debate on the floor, he said. Attempts to get comment from committee officials on whether there will be a hearing were unsuccessful.
The vote on referral occurred without debate Wednesday. All Democrats voted to refer the bill, but Republicans split.
Most voted no, in an effort to highlight the ability of the “loony left,” in the words of a Republican aide, to force a debate and distract the House from pressing issues like gas prices and funding for the Iraq war. Democratic aides called the attempt to force a debate “a political stunt.”
But House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) had originally recommended a yes vote on referral, and some Republicans still voted yes, saying they wanted it gone.
“I believe the impeachment resolution is beyond ludicrous. Even the five minutes we spent on it were a waste of time,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas). “I wanted it off the floor and dealt with.”
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