Mark Udall: “I do not think the House should take up today the question of whether we will exercise our Constitutional authority to…”

“I do not think the House should take up today the question of whether we will exercise our Constitutional authority to impeach the Vice President and to ask the Senate to try him on charges that, if proved, would result in his removal from office. That does not mean I support the policies advocated by Vice President Cheney or that I think his official conduct has been above reproach. On the contrary, I think that he has helped create many of the most serious problems our country now faces and that he is continuing to advocate policies that would make those problems worse and bring further difficulties upon us. With President Bush, the vice president spearheaded the unfortunately successful effort to persuade Congress to authorize a rush to war in Iraq--which I opposed. He also was among those in the Bush Administration who refused to listen to the many well-informed people who argued that it was imperative that adequate measures be taken to prevent the disintegration of Iraq's social and governmental fabric that otherwise predictably would follow the equally predictable successful military action to remove the Saddam Hussein regime. And now he clearly is among those who seem to prefer again rushing to use military force--this time to respond to the potential danger of a nuclear-armed Iran--before other options have been exhausted.”