[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 31, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E32]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ON REMOVAL OF NAME AS COSPONSOR OF HOUSE RESOLUTIONS 635, 636, AND 637

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 31, 2006

  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, during the December 
recess I was surprised to read in a newspaper article that I was listed 
as a cosponsor of House Resolutions 635, 636 and 637 since I had not 
cosponsored any of these measures. I discovered that due to 
administrative errors, my name was mistakenly added to these bills by 
the Judiciary Committee staff. I never was a cosponsor of any of them 
but the only way to correct the committee's error under the rules of 
the House is to ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as a 
cosponsor even though I never asked to be added to these pieces of 
legislation. I could not correct these errors until the House 
reconvened, which is why I am taking this action today.
  I have been involved in two impeachment proceedings against American 
Presidents. The first was in 1974, during the impeachment inquiry 
related to President Nixon when I served on the staff of a member of 
the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Don Edwards. The second was 
in 1998, as a Member of the Judiciary Committee during the impeachment 
of President Clinton.
  Impeachment of a President is provided for in the Constitution only 
in cases of bribery, treason or ``high crimes and misdemeanors.'' The 
latter phrase had a very specific meaning to the drafters of our 
Constitution and was meant to include misbehavior by a President that 
threatened the very nature of our government. President Nixon resigned 
before the Congress could vote on his impeachment, but the impeachment 
articles adopted by a bipartisan majority of the Judiciary Committee 
included behavior that was so lawless that it could threaten the very 
nature of the American government.
  The partisan 1998 impeachment was based on personal misbehavior by 
the President and was, in my judgment, a misuse of the impeachment 
provisions in the Constitution. Use of impeachment for any reason that 
does not meet the standard set in the Constitution must be avoided by 
the Congress.
  Serious questions have been raised about President Bush's actions in 
approving warrantless wiretaps by the NSA, as well as questions about 
both the Vice President's and the President's information that was 
provided to the Congress as the basis for the decision to initiate war 
in Iraq. These important questions need to be answered, and Congress 
should then consider the answers in a careful, deliberate and 
thoughtful manner. It is important that this process be done in a 
dispassionate way that avoids partisanship. This thorough analysis 
should, in my judgment, be undertaken before anything such as these 
resolutions are considered.

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