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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 779 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 779

To establish prospective standards effective January 20, 2017 defining 
  impeachable ``high crimes and misdemeanors'' within the meaning of 
Article II, section 4 as applied to the President of the United States 
to provide fair warning and evenhandedness in the administration of the 
           impeachment power of the House of Representatives.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 11, 2014

 Mr. Bentivolio submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
To establish prospective standards effective January 20, 2017 defining 
  impeachable ``high crimes and misdemeanors'' within the meaning of 
Article II, section 4 as applied to the President of the United States 
to provide fair warning and evenhandedness in the administration of the 
           impeachment power of the House of Representatives.

Whereas Article II, section 4 of the Constitution provides that, ``The 
        President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, 
        shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, 
        Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors'';
Whereas Article I, section 2, clause 5 provides that, ``The House of 
        Representatives . . . shall have the sole power of impeachment'';
Whereas Benjamin Franklin at the constitutional convention described the 
        impeachment power as the alternative to the historical practice of 
        assassination to remove tyrants;
Whereas the constitutional convention rejected ``neglect of duty'' or 
        ``maladministration'' as impeachment standards in favor of ``high crimes 
        and misdemeanors'' because the former terms were too broad;
Whereas Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 65 explained that impeachable offenses 
        ``proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from 
        the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which 
        may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate 
        chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself'';
Whereas impeachable ``high crimes and misdemeanors'' has an objective meaning 
        based on the intent of the Constitution's framers and British 
        impeachment precedents;
Whereas then Congressman Gerald R. Ford erred in 1970 when he declared that, 
        ``An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of 
        Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history'';
Whereas the House of Representatives has voted articles of impeachment against 
        two Presidents, one Cabinet officer, one Senator, one Supreme Court 
        Justice, and eleven (11) Federal judges without providing a general 
        standard for defining an impeachable offense;
Whereas the law should warn before it strikes;
Whereas the absence of impeachment standards creates an appearance that 
        impeachment is a partisan exercise, which undermines its legitimacy and 
        deters its use;
Whereas the impeachment power of the House of Representatives is a cornerstone 
        safeguard against Presidential tyranny;
Whereas the past neglect of the House of Representatives to use the impeachment 
        power against Presidential usurpations and lawlessness has concentrated 
        alarming power in the executive branch, crippled liberty, undermined 
        transparency, and encouraged Presidents to further aggrandizements; and
Whereas it would be unfair and would carry an appearance of partisanship if 
        newly articulated impeachment standards were applied to the incumbent 
        President: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. DEFINITION OF PRESIDENTIAL IMPEACHABLE OFFENSES.

    The House of Representatives declares that the following 
Presidential actions shall constitute impeachable ``high crimes and 
misdemeanors'' within the meaning of Article II, section 4, which will 
cause the House to vote an article or articles of impeachment to send 
to the Senate for trial--
            (1) initiating war without express congressional 
        authorization;
            (2) killing American citizens in the United States or 
        abroad who are not then engaged in active hostilities against 
        the United States without due process (unless the citizen was 
        then under indictment for a felony and the killing was 
        necessary to prevent imminent serious physical danger to third 
        parties);
            (3) failing to superintend subordinates guilty of chronic 
        constitutional abuses;
            (4) expending money in violation of conditions imposed for 
        the expenditure of appropriated funds;
            (5) intentionally lying to Congress to obtain an 
        authorization for war;
            (6) failing to take care that the laws be faithfully 
        executed through signing statements or systematic policies of 
        non-enforcement;
            (7) substituting executive agreements for treaties;
            (8) intentionally lying under oath to a Federal judge or 
        grand jury;
            (9) misusing Federal agencies to advance a partisan 
        political agenda; and
            (10) refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena for 
        documents or testimony issued for a legitimate legislative 
        purpose.

SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Resolution shall take effect on January 20, 2017.
                                 <all>
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