Thursday, January 17. 2008
January 17, 2008
Dear Mr. xxxxxx,
Thank you for contacting me to express your views concerning impeachment of Bush Administration officials. I appreciate that you took the time to share your thoughts with me.
I have been outraged by the secrecy and partisanship that the Administration has employed in pursuit of its objectives and there are many areas where the Bush Administration and I disagree. As a former District Attorney, I am deeply troubled by questions such as the legality of the National Security Administration (NSA) warrantless surveillance program and the open-ended detention of enemy combatants without access to due process. I am in strong favor of vigorous and extensive investigations into the intelligence leading to our actions in Iraq, secrecy surrounding the Administration's energy policy, domestic surveillance, and other critical issues. However, I also believe that this Congress was elected to chart a new direction for America and that a lengthy, costly impeachment process would distract us from the goals of true reform and progress. We have the opportunity to reverse many of the disastrous policies implemented over the past six years and I am focused on working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to legislate positive change.
Please be assured that neither I, nor my Democratic colleagues, have any intention of allowing the outrage you feel over the President Bush's mismanagement of the war in Iraq to go unheeded. The President's repeated miscalculations have put us in an untenable situation, damaging our ability to deal with other emerging threats around the world, and threatening the stability of the Middle East. The time has come for this country to honor the bravery and sacrifice of our military men and women by moving forward with a responsible, tactical withdrawal out of Iraq. Most recently, on November 14th, the Democratic-led House passed the Orderly and Responsible Iraq Redeployment Appropriations Act with my strong support to bring this government closer to achieving this goal and the meeting the will of the American people. This legislation will change the direction of the President's failed Iraq policy by requiring the President to redeploy our troops while providing our soldiers in harm's way with the resources they need. The measure requires the redeployment of our troops to begin within 30 days of the bill's enactment with a goal of complete redeployment by December 15, 2008.
I also share your concerns about the legality and moral fairness of using certain interrogative techniques as we continue to fight the war on terror and I believe it is critical that we preserve fundamental liberties as we combat terrorism. In a post-9/11 world, I believe that we all want our military and law enforcement to have every tool they need to catch terrorists and bring them to justice. In an attempt to achieve these goals, I am a strong cosponsor of both the Restoring the Constitution Act (H.R. 1415) and the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act (H.R. 1416). H.R. 1415 reinstitutes the jurisdiction of federal courts over writs of habeas corpus filed by those designated by the President as "unlawful enemy combatants." H.R. 1416 goes further in ensuring that we do not unlawfully incarcerate individuals without the right to trial by reaffirming the importance of the Geneva Conventions. I believe that we cannot allow the President to reinterpret these internationally-recognized guidelines and place U.S. soldiers in danger internationally. Additionally, I have joined with my colleagues in cosponsoring the American Anti-Torture Act (H.R. 4114) to prohibit any person in the legal custody of the United States from being subject to any interrogation method not authorized by the U.S. Army Field Manual. The United States must be committed to high standards in detainee treatment to both serve as an example to other nations and, perhaps most importantly, to ensure the safety of our servicemen and women serving abroad.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. To receive updates on my work in New York and Washington, visit my website at http://arcuri.house.gov to sign up for my regular e-newsletter. Please don't hesitate to contact me again if I can be of help on this or any other matter.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Arcuri
Member of Congress
