[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 171 (Tuesday, November 6, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H12776-H12778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)1 of rule IX, I 
rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privilege 
of the House.
  The form of the resolution is as follows:

       Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the 
     United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, 
     and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited 
     to the United States Senate:
       Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of 
     Representatives of the United States of America in the name 
     of itself and of the people of the United States of America, 
     against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United 
     States of America, in maintenance and support of its 
     impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.


                               Article I

       In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, 
     Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to 
     faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United 
     States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, 
     and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in 
     violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the 
     laws be faithfully executed, has 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, to wit:
       (1) Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice 
     President actively and systematically sought to deceive the 
     citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged 
     threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction:
       (A) `We know they have biological and chemical weapons.' 
     March 17, 2002, Press Conference by Vice President Dick 
     Cheney and His Highness Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown 
     Prince of Bahrain at Shaikh Hamad Palace.
       (B) `. . . and we know they are pursuing nuclear weapons.' 
     March 19, 2002, Press Briefing by Vice President Dick Cheney 
     and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem.
       (C) `And he is actively pursuing nuclear weapons at this 
     time . . .' March 24, 2002, CNN Late Edition interview with 
     Vice President Cheney.
       (D) `We know he's got chemicals and biological and we know 
     he's working on nuclear.' May 19, 2002, NBC Meet the Press 
     interview with Vice President Cheney.
       (E) `But we now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to 
     acquire nuclear weapons . . . Simply stated, there is no 
     doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass 
     destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to 
     use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.' 
     August 26, 2002, Speech of Vice President Cheney at VFW 103rd 
     National Convention.
       (F) `Based on intelligence that's becoming available, some 
     of it has been made public, more of it hopefully will be, 
     that he has indeed stepped up his capacity to produce and 
     deliver biological weapons, that he has reconstituted his 
     nuclear program to develop a nuclear weapon, that there are 
     efforts under way inside Iraq to significantly expand his 
     capability.' September 8, 2002, NBC Meet the Press interview 
     with Vice President Cheney.
       (G) `He is, in fact, actively and aggressively seeking to 
     acquire nuclear weapons.' September 8, 2002, NBC Meet the 
     Press interview with Vice President Cheney.
       (H) `And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear 
     weapons.' March 16, 2003, NBC Meet the Press interview with 
     Vice President Cheney.
       (2) Preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq the Vice 
     President was fully informed that no legitimate evidence 
     existed of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Vice 
     President pressured the intelligence community to change 
     their findings to enable the deception of the citizens and 
     Congress of the United States.
       (A) Vice President Cheney and his Chief of Staff, Lewis 
     Libby, made multiple trips to the CIA in 2002 to question 
     analysts studying Iraq's weapons programs and alleged links 
     to al Qaeda, creating an environment in which analysts felt 
     they were being pressured to make their assessments fit with 
     the Bush administration's policy objectives accounts.
       (B) Vice President Cheney sought out unverified and 
     ultimately inaccurate raw intelligence to prove his 
     preconceived beliefs. This strategy of cherry picking was 
     employed to influence the interpretation of the intelligence.
       (3) The Vice President's actions corrupted or attempted to 
     corrupt the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, an 
     intelligence document issued on October 1, 2002, and 
     carefully considered by Congress prior to the October 10, 
     2002, vote to authorize the use of force. The Vice 
     President's actions prevented the necessary reconciliation of 
     facts for the National Intelligence Estimate which resulted 
     in a high number of dissenting opinions from technical 
     experts in two Federal agencies.
       (A) The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and 
     Research dissenting view in the October 2002 National 
     Intelligence Estimate stated `Lacking persuasive evidence 
     that Baghdad has launched a coherent effort to reconstitute 
     it's nuclear weapons program INR is unwilling to speculate 
     that such an effort began soon after the departure of UN 
     inspectors or to project a timeline for the completion of 
     activities it does not now see happening. As a result INR is 
     unable to predict that Iraq could acquire a nuclear device or 
     weapon.'.
       (B) The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and 
     Research dissenting view in the October 2002 National 
     Intelligence Estimate also stated that `Finally, the claims 
     of Iraqi pursuit of natural uranium in Africa are, in INR's 
     assessment, highly dubious.'.
       (C) The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and 
     Research dissenting view in the October 2002 National 
     Intelligence Estimate references a Department of Energy 
     opinion by stating that `INR accepts the judgment of 
     technical experts at the US Department of Energy (DOE) who 
     have concluded that the tubes Iraq seeks to acquire are 
     poorly suited for use in gas centrifuges to be used for 
     uranium enrichment and finds unpersuasive the arguments 
     advanced by others to make the case that they are intended 
     for that purpose.'.
       The Vice President subverted the national security 
     interests of the United States by setting the stage for the 
     loss of more than 3800 United States service members; the 
     loss of more than 1 million innocent Iraqi citizens since the 
     United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 
     billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; 
     the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed 
     Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of 
     equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world 
     affairs; and the decades of likely blowback created by the 
     invasion of Iraq.
       In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted 
     in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and 
     subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of 
     the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the 
     people of the United States. Wherefore, Vice President 
     Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an 
     impeachable offense warranting removal from office.


                               Article II

       In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, 
     Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to 
     faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United 
     States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, 
     and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in 
     violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the 
     laws be faithfully executed, purposely manipulated the 
     intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of 
     the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq 
     and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the United States 
     Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging 
     to our national security interests, to wit:
       (1) Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice 
     President actively and systematically sought to deceive the 
     citizens and the Congress of the United States about an 
     alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda:

[[Page H12777]]

       (A) `His regime has had high-level contacts with Al Qaeda 
     going back a decade and has provided training to Al Qaeda 
     terrorists.' December 2, 2002, Speech of Vice President 
     Cheney at the Air National Guard Senior Leadership 
     Conference.
       (B) `His regime aids and protects terrorists, including 
     members of Al Qaeda. He could decide secretly to provide 
     weapons of mass destruction to terrorists for use against 
     us.' January 30, 2003, Speech of Vice President Cheney to 
     30th Political Action Conference in Arlington, Virginia.
       (C) `We know he's out trying once again to produce nuclear 
     weapons and we know that he has a long-standing relationship 
     with various terrorist groups, including the Al Qaeda 
     organization.' March 16, 2003, NBC Meet the Press interview 
     with Vice President Cheney.
       (D) `We learned more and more that there was a relationship 
     between Iraq and Al Qaeda that stretched back through most of 
     the decade of the '90s, that it involved training, for 
     example, on biological weapons and chemical weapons . . .' 
     September 14, 2003, NBC Meet the Press interview with Vice 
     President Cheney.
       (E) `Al Qaeda had a base of operation there up in 
     Northeastern Iraq where they ran a large poisons factory for 
     attacks against Europeans and U.S. forces.' October 3, 2003, 
     Speech of Vice President Cheney at Bush-Cheney '04 Fundraiser 
     in Iowa.
       (F) `He also had an established relationship with Al Qaeda 
     providing training to Al Qaeda members in areas of poisons, 
     gases, and conventional bombs.' October 10, 2003, Speech of 
     Vice President Cheney to the Heritage Foundation.
       (G) `Al Qaeda and the Iraqi intelligence services have 
     worked together on a number of occasions.' January 9, 2004, 
     Rocky Mountain News interview with Vice President Cheney.
       (H) `I think there's overwhelming evidence that there was a 
     connection between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government.' 
     January 22, 2004, NPR: Morning Edition interview with Vice 
     President Cheney.
       (I) `First of all, on the question of--of whether or not 
     there was any kind of relationship, there clearly was a 
     relationship. It's been testified to; the evidence is 
     overwhelming.' June 17, 2004, CNBC: Capital Report interview 
     with Vice President Cheney.
       (2) Preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq the Vice 
     President was fully informed that no credible evidence 
     existed of a working relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, 
     a fact articulated in several official documents, including:
       (A) A classified Presidential Daily Briefing ten days after 
     the September 11, 2001, attacks indicating that the United 
     States intelligence community had no evidence linking Saddam 
     Hussein to the September 11th attacks and that there was 
     `scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant 
     collaborative ties with Al Qaeda'.
       (B) Defense Intelligence Terrorism Summary No. 044-02, 
     issued in February 2002 by the United States Defense 
     Intelligence Agency, which challenged the credibility of 
     information gleaned from captured al Qaeda leader al-Libi. 
     The DIA report also cast significant doubt on the possibility 
     of a Saddam Hussein-al-Qaeda conspiracy: `Saddam's regime is 
     intensely secular and is wary of Islamic revolutionary 
     movements. Moreover, Baghdad is unlikely to provide 
     assistance to a group it cannot control.'.
       (C) A January 2003 British intelligence classified report 
     on Iraq that concluded that `there are no current links 
     between the Iraqi regime and the al-Qaeda network'.
       The Vice President subverted the national security 
     interests of the United States by setting the stage for the 
     loss of more than 3,800 United States service members; the 
     loss of more than 1 million innocent Iraqi citizens since the 
     United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 
     billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; 
     the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed 
     Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of 
     equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world 
     affairs; and the decades of likely blowback created by the 
     invasion of Iraq.
       In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted 
     in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and 
     subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of 
     the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the 
     people of the United States. Wherefore, Vice President 
     Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an 
     impeachable offense warranting removal from office.


                              Article III

       In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, 
     Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to 
     faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United 
     States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, 
     and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in 
     violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the 
     laws be faithfully executed, has openly threatened aggression 
     against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the 
     United States, and done so with the United States proven 
     capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining the 
     national security of the United States, to wit:
       (1) Despite no evidence that Iran has the intention or the 
     capability of attacking the United States and despite the 
     turmoil created by United States invasion of Iraq, the Vice 
     President has openly threatened aggression against Iran as 
     evidenced by the following:
       (A) `For our part, the United States is keeping all options 
     on the table in addressing the irresponsible conduct of the 
     regime. And we join other nations in sending that regime a 
     clear message: We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear 
     weapon.' March 7, 2006, Speech of Vice President Cheney to 
     American Israel Public Affairs Committee 2006 Policy 
     Conference.
       (B) `But we've also made it clear that all options are on 
     the table.' January 24, 2007, CNN Situation Room interview 
     with Vice President Cheney.
       (C) `When we--as the President did, for example, recently--
     deploy another aircraft carrier task force to the Gulf, that 
     sends a very strong signal to everybody in the region that 
     the United States is here to stay, that we clearly have 
     significant capabilities, and that we are working with 
     friends and allies as well as the international organizations 
     to deal with the Iranian threat.' January 29, 2007, Newsweek 
     interview with Vice President Cheney.
       (D) `But I've also made the point and the President has 
     made the point that all options are still on the table.' 
     February 24, 2007, Vice President Cheney at Press Briefing 
     with Australian Prime Minister in Sydney, Australia.
       (2) The Vice President, who repeatedly and falsely claimed 
     to have had specific, detailed knowledge of Iraq's alleged 
     weapons of mass destruction capabilities, is no doubt fully 
     aware of evidence that demonstrates Iran poses no real threat 
     to the United States as evidenced by the following:
       (A) `I know that what we see in Iran right now is not the 
     industrial capacity you can [use to develop a] bomb.' Mohamed 
     ElBaradei, Director General of International Atomic Energy 
     Agency, February 19, 2007.
       (B) Iran indicated its `full readiness and willingness to 
     negotiate on the modality for the resolution of the 
     outstanding issues with the IAEA, subject to the assurances 
     for dealing with the issues in the framework of the Agency, 
     without the interference of the United Nations Security 
     Council'. IAEA Board Report, February 22, 2007.
       (C) `. . . so whatever they have, what we have seen today, 
     is not the kind of capacity that would enable them to make 
     bombs.' Mohamed El Baradei, Director General of International 
     Atomic Energy Agency, February 19, 2007.
       (3) The Vice President is fully aware of the actions taken 
     by the United States towards Iran that are further 
     destabilizing the world as evidenced by the following:
       (A) The United States has refused to engage in meaningful 
     diplomatic relations with Iran since 2002, rebuffing both 
     bilateral and multilateral offers to dialogue.
       (B) The United States is currently engaged in a military 
     buildup in the Middle East that includes the increased 
     presence of the United States Navy in the waters near Iran, 
     significant United States Armed Forces in two nations 
     neighboring to Iran, and the installation of anti-missile 
     technology in the region.
       (C) News accounts have indicated that military planners 
     have considered the B61-11, a tactical nuclear weapon, as one 
     of the options to strike underground bunkers in Iran.
       (D) The United States has been linked to anti-Iranian 
     organizations that are attempting to destabilize the Iranian 
     government, in particular the Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK), even 
     though the state department has branded it a terrorist 
     organization.
       (E) News accounts indicate that United States troops have 
     been ordered into Iran to collect data and establish contact 
     with anti-government groups.
       (4) In the last three years the Vice President has 
     repeatedly threatened Iran. However, the Vice President is 
     legally bound by the U.S. Constitution's adherence to 
     international law that prohibits threats of use of force.
       (A) Article VI of the United States Constitution states, 
     `This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which 
     shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or 
     which shall be made, under the Authority of the United 
     States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.' Any provision 
     of an international treaty ratified by the United States 
     becomes the law of the United States.
       (B) The United States is a signatory to the United Nations 
     Charter, a treaty among the nations of the world. Article II, 
     Section 4 of the United Nations Charter states, `All Members 
     shall refrain in their international relations from the 
     threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or 
     political independence of any state, or in any other manner 
     inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.' The 
     threat of force is illegal.
       (C) Article 51 lays out the only exception, `Nothing in the 
     present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual 
     or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against 
     a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council 
     has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace 
     and security.' Iran has not attacked the United States; 
     therefore any threat against Iran by the United States is 
     illegal.
       The Vice President's deception upon the citizens and 
     Congress of the United States that enabled the failed United 
     States invasion of Iraq forcibly altered the rules of 
     diplomacy such that the Vice President's recent belligerent 
     actions towards Iran are destabilizing and counterproductive 
     to the national security of the United States.
       In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted 
     in a manner contrary to

[[Page H12778]]

     his trust as Vice President, and subversive of constitutional 
     government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice 
     and the manifest injury of the people of the United States. 
     Wherefore Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrants 
     impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

                              {time}  1400

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Serrano). Under rule IX, a resolution 
offered from the floor by a Member other than the majority leader or 
the minority leader as a question of the privileges of the House has 
immediate precedence only at a time designated by the Chair within 2 
legislative days after the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentleman from Ohio will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.

                          ____________________