Bush Should Be Censured by U.S. Congress on Iraq, Senator Says
By Justin Blum
July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic Senator Russell Feingold is reviving his effort to have the U.S. Congress censure President George W. Bush, a move that his party's leader in the Senate doesn't support.
Feingold, of Wisconsin, said today he is preparing two resolutions to censure Bush and other administration officials over their handing of the Iraq war and domestic eavesdropping.
``We need to do something serious in terms of accountability,'' Feingold said on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' program. ``This administration has assaulted the Constitution.''
Censure would amount to a formal criticism of the administration and wouldn't force any policy chances. Feingold, a frequent critic of the administration and the Iraq war, last year failed to win support for a censure of Bush's wiretapping program that allows the government to monitor telephone calls and e-mail from within the U.S. to suspected terrorists overseas without a court order.
An administration spokesman dismissed Feingold's effort.
``We realize that Senator Feingold does not care much for the president's policies, but we would welcome the opportunity to work with him and anyone else in the Senate majority on important legislation'' on subjects such as military funding, energy, health care and taxes, White House spokesman Trey Bohn said an e-mailed response.
Harry Reid, the Senate's Democratic majority leader, said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' that lawmakers have more pressing priorities than censuring Bush.
Public View
Bush's approval ratings show the public already regards him as ``the worst president we've ever had,'' Reid, of Nevada, said. ``I don't think we need a censure resolution in the Senate to prove that.''
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, said Democrats, including Feingold, are wasting time.
``The fundamental problem that the Democrats have is they aren't passing any legislation,'' McConnell said on ``Late Edition'' on CNN. ``They aren't doing anything to make the country better.''
Feingold's first censure resolution would criticize Bush for ``overstating the case'' that Saddam Hussein, the former dictator who was hanged by the new Iraqi government, had weapons of mass destruction, according to a statement on the senator's Web site.
The measure also would criticize Bush for ``falsely implying'' a relationship between Hussein and the terrorist group al-Qaeda and of having ``links'' to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the statement said. It would also say Bush failed ``to plan for civil conflict and humanitarian problems that the intelligence community predicted,'' the statement said.
The second censure resolution would condemn the administration for ``misconduct'' that includes allowing the National Security Agency to conduct the wiretapping program and ``refusing to recognize legitimate congressional oversight'' of the firing of U.S. attorneys, Feingold's statement said.
While Bush has argued that the surveillance program is legal, he agreed in January to let a secret federal court oversee the spying.
To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.net .
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