Today I got a response from Congressman David Price of NC's 4th congressional District (Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh) about his stance on Impeachment. I am posting his letter in entirety below the fold.
Dear Mr. DiMarzio:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.Res. 635, which would establish a select committee in the House to investigate Bush Administration activities and recommend possible grounds for impeachment.
I share your concern about the policies of President Bush and understand calls for the House to initiate impeachment proceedings against him. I think it is very likely that the President exaggerated intelligence findings to strengthen his case for war in Iraq, that he and/or members of his administration authorized the use of torture, and that he violated federal law by authorizing wiretaps on the communications of U.S. citizens without obtaining the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court. I have voiced my opposition to these policies as forcefully as I know how, have supported corrective provisions such as the McCain amendment ! on torture, and have pushed for more extensive congressional oversight of presidential abuses of power.
In terms of the traditional legal and constitutional standards for impeachment, the closest call is probably the President's abuse of National Security Administration wiretaps. As you may know, the Bush Administration has claimed both a constitutional and a statutory authority to justify its actions. Most observers, including me, find the Administration's rationale remarkably weak. In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service recently produced an analysis of the issue in which it cast significant doubt on that rationale.
In late February, Rep. Zoe Lofgren and I coauthored a letter to President Bush that sixteen of our colleagues, including Rep. John Conyers of the Judiciary Committee, cosigned. Our letter urged the President to instruct Attorney General Gonzalez to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate the NSA wiretapping program. I was motivated to take this step after weeks of frustration stemming from the unwillingness of the House Republican majority to hold any hearings or provide any other oversight of the program. Under such circumstances, the appointment of a Special Counsel is the best way to establish the facts and allow Congress to determine the necessary next step.
Regardless of the merits of the case for impeachment, we should be pressing for vigilant congressional oversight of these and other Administration policies -- something that has been almost totally missing during these years of unified Republican control. Some Republican leaders are inclined to use the debate over impeachment, which does not currently have majority support, as a smokescreen to hide their failure to carry out oversight and provide checks and balances -- which no one can dispute, are Congress's duties. In April, the House Intelligence Committee finally began to hold oversight hearings related to the wiretapping program. It remains to be seen how persistent Committee members will be, and how forthcoming the Administration will be with full information.
I will continue pushing to hold President Bush accountable for abusing the constitutional and legal authority of the Presidency. Please continue to stay in touch on this and other issues of concern.