Charles Skelton: “Today we should have our men and our women who stand in harm's way in the Persian Gulf in our thoughts and in our…”

“Today we should have our men and our women who stand in harm's way in the Persian Gulf in our thoughts and in our prayers rather than trying to politically decapitate their Commander in Chief. What is a few days? Why the rush to judgment? Our being here reflects a lack of respect for all in uniform as well as their families. If there were such an attempt by my party to remove President Bush during the Persian Gulf conflict, I would have opposed it with all of my being. We must look at the proceeding today and seek the guidance of our Constitution. We must do so without emotion, for the more emotion, the less reason. The framers of the United States Constitution knew that in an extreme case there will be a need to remove or overturn a popular election. They also knew that they must not make impeachment easy or routine. To maintain separation of powers, they set the bar of impeachment high and limited the grounds to impeachment. Initially, the framers made the great crimes of treason and bribery the only offenses worthy of impeachment. Later, at the Constitutional Convention, the standard was broadened to include 'other high crimes and misdemeanors.'”