Kucinich testifies at divisive hearing on Bush administration

Republicans told the House Judiciary Committee that political disagreements, no matter how large, are not grounds for impeachment proceedings at a hearing discussing appropriate Congressional responses to Bush abuses of power. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said the hearing served no purpose other than anger management, stating that no evidence exists which supports grounds for impeachment and that the hearing’s lack of bipartisanship affected Congress’s already low credibility.

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) said the Bush White House is unprecedented in its distortion of executive privilege, noting Bush’s alleged falsification of pre-Iraq war intelligence and approval of certain interrogation techniques. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) stated that the committee was attempting to solve an institutional problem,acting in a deliberative manner, not an accusatory manner. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) earlier had called Bush “the worst President our country has ever seen.”

In his testimony before the committee, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said pre-war justifications provided to Congress were untrue and that Congress had relied on the White House’s false statements while authorizing the Iraq war. Kucinich also said that Iraq posed no security threat to the United States and, since Iraq lacked a weapons program, Saddam Hussein was unable to harm the United States or arm terrorists. Congress’s decision now, Kucinich said, is whether it should defend the Constitution and prevent abuses of power in the Executive and Judiciary Branches.

Rep Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) said the White House has been dominated by corruption and incompetence, stating that the Bush administration ignored numerous warnings prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. He said the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s decision to scale back troop levels in Afghanistan aided Osama bin Laden’s escape into the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan. Hinchey suggested that it would have been more difficult to justify an attack against Iraq if bin Laden had been apprehended by the US military. Recognizing that impeachment had been referenced by many, Hinchey said the Bush administration, through the ways it violated the law, is “probably the most impeachable administration in the history of America.”

Rice praises United States interactions with the Americas

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke today at the Council of the Americas meeting. As she looked back over the years of the Bush Administration, Rice spoke very highly of the United States and its actions with the other American nations on this hemisphere.

In 2001, the western hemisphere went through a social revolution and its cause was democracy, Rice said. New leaders have emerged in different countries, people are becoming activity in their democracies and they want their governments to create change for them in a positive way.

“Democracy is literally changing the face of politics in the Americas,” Rice said.

The United States has been changing as well. They have become better partners for this region, the United States’ and other states quest for social justice has been the defining feature of this past decade. The U.S. has put no price on it’s friendships but has accepted governments both right and left.

President Bush has made more trips to the Americas since 2001 than any other president. Through those visits the U.S. has developed connections between culture and commerce that have spanned and influenced all of society, Rice said.

“The democracies of the Americas are now interacting and working together as never before,” Rice said. “We are engaged in the global economy with increasing success.”

There has been a convergence of ideals and interests from social justice to an open economy, free trade, health and education for every member of society. Rice said the potential for this hemisphere is enormous and that the United States must remain engaged and really present in order to be a part of the hemisphere’s success.