Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said Tuesday that if the resolution calling for President Bush’s impeachment was in his chambers that it would move faster than the current bill languishing in the House.
Shumlin said he has long been a supporter of beginning impeachment proceedings against Bush, whom he said misled the United States into war.
“It’s no secret,” he said. “I’ve always been in favor of this.”
He added that if the measure did pass the Vermont House, where it has been tied up since its introduction with a committee that apparently does not support the legislation, it would immediately be brought up in the Senate for hearings.
Earlier this month, about 39 Vermont communities voted to impeach Bush and Vice President Cheney during town meeting. Nearly as many towns also called for an end to the Iraq war.
House Speaker Gaye Symington, D-Jericho, has said she shares the concerns that many Vermonters have about the Bush administration, but believes the legislature has little time to take up national issues.
-Dan Barlow