William F. Smith: “I am pleased to support H. Res. 15, which I cosponsored with Chairman Conyers. This resolution provides continued…”

“I am pleased to support H. Res. 15, which I cosponsored with Chairman Conyers. This resolution provides continued authorization for an inquiry into whether U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous should be impeached. The Constitution reserves the exclusive power of impeachment to the House of Representatives and the exclusive power to try all impeachments in the Senate. Any "civil officer" of the United States, including Federal judges, shall be removed from office if impeached and convicted of "treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors." Only 13 Federal judges have been impeached during the past 219 years of our constitutional history. The House has exercised this prerogative sparingly in deference to judicial independence, one of the cornerstones of our republic. Chairman Conyers and I concluded last year that there is sufficient reason to initiate an impeachment inquiry regarding Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., who was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 1994. The basis for this resolution was largely developed by a Special Committee of the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit. The findings of the Fifth Circuit were endorsed by the U.S. Judicial Conference, which notified the House of Representatives on June 18, 2008, of its determination that impeachment proceedings may be warranted. The materials submitted to the Judiciary Committee by the Judicial Conference are expansive and thorough.”