Holding the Administration Accountable By Senator Russ Feingold and Representative Maurice Hinchey New Hampshire Union Leader August 14, 2007 When Americans talk about the misconduct of the President and his administration, there is a common refrain: that this is one of the most dishonest and incompetent administrations in the history of our country. Time and again this administration has violated the trust of the American people misleading this country into attacking Iraq and then mismanaging the disastrous situation that followed and undermining the rule of law at home. The conduct of the President and his administration has been outrageous and it demands a response from Congress. If we stand by when one branch of government has broken faith with the American people so egregiously, we risk further undermining America's basic principles as well as Americans' confidence in their elected leaders. We owe it to the American people and to the historical record to act. Censure is an appropriate, measured way to hold the administration accountable. We have introduced resolutions in the House and Senate to censure the President and other administration officials. The first resolution would censure the President and vice president for leading the U.S. into Iraq under false pretenses and without adequate planning. Rather than relying on the intelligence community's assessments, the administration exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, overstated the case that he had WMD -- particularly nuclear weapons -- and falsely implied he had a relationship with al-Qaida and links to 9/11. That misconduct, coupled with inadequate planning and management, has resulted in a disastrous situation in Iraq that has weakened our national security and cost more than 3,600 American lives. The President and his administration must be held to account for misleading the nation into war and for the mismanagement and dissembling that followed. The second censure resolution addresses the administration's repeated assaults on the rule of law. The President and the attorney general have disregarded and violated statutes, treaties and the Constitution in their drive to consolidate more and more power in the executive branch. Among the abuses of the rule of law that the censure resolution will condemn are the administration's illegal warrantless wiretapping program, its interrogation policy and justifications for the use of torture, its extreme positions on the legal status of detainees that have been repeatedly rejected by the Supreme Court, and its refusal to recognize and cooperate with Congress' constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight. Congress must formally repudiate the administration's misconduct. But Congress also has to address the many other issues that demand action, including redeploying our troops from Iraq and protecting the rule of law. Congress can pass our censure resolutions without taking significant time away from these other matters. And, while an impeachment conviction needs the support of two-thirds of senators, a censure resolution could be passed by a simple majority (or 60 votes in the Senate to defeat a filibuster). Censuring the President and members of his administration holds them accountable now and creates a historical record of Congress' formal condemnation of their misconduct. Passing these censure resolutions would make clear, not only to the American people today, but also to future generations, how this President and this administration failed the country. History will judge this administration, but it will also judge this Congress. That is why both chambers should pass these censure resolutions. Congress can and should take formal action to condemn the President and members of the administration who are responsible for some of the worst wrongdoing, and worst abuses of power, in our nation's history.