By Meagan IngersonThe Daily Northwestern
Area residents said that while they support U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., co-sponsoring a bill that calls for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney, the measure comes too late to affect policy.
Several Chicago and Evanston residents also said they doubted the bill would pass.
“They should have done it four years ago,” said Evanston resident Fred Burton.
“I do think it’s overdue,” said Timothy Ewing of Evanston although he added the measure has little chance of succeeding.
Schakowsky, who represents Evanston, agreed May 1 to co-sponsor the bill, which seeks to impeach Cheney for misleading the public about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The measure was originally proposed in April by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.
In a statement sent to The Daily, Schakowsky said Cheney misled the public by “intentionally manipulating intelligence in order to launch an elective war against Iraq.” Schakowsky linked the vice president’s actions with the more than 3,400 U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq since March 2003.
“I believe that it is crucial that the U.S. House of Representatives investigate the vice president’s actions to determine if he should be impeached for lying to the American people to justify the war in Iraq,” the statement read.
Chicago resident Eileen Schnepff said she supports the measure even though it comes so late in Cheney’s second term.
“Given the Congress and its makeup, I think it has a possibility of passing,” said Schnepff, who added the possibility was “probably slight.”
“I think it’s somewhat of a symbolic gesture,” she said.
Chicago resident Jeff Charles said he doubts the measure will succeed, although he supports it.
“My gut reaction is ‘yay,'” he said. “I just think that’s a bold step and most people are reticent to step into that sort of realm.”
Northwestern researcher Sandra Siepka said the measure was “a bit late.”
“I think it’s kind of pointless,” she said. “Their time could be spent doing something more productive instead of something destructive.”
Reach Meagan Ingerson at [email protected].
