John Murtha suggests impeaching Bush

April 30, 2007

Washington, D.C. - John Murtha suggested on Sunday that impeachment is a means of forcing President Bush to accept the will of Democrats on Iraq.

Bush has vowed to veto a spending bill passed by Congress that includes a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq.

"We need to make this president understand: 'Mr. President, the public has spoken,'" the Michigan Democrat and decorated Vietnam veteran told CBS' "Face the Nation."

"There's three ways or four ways to influence a president. One is popular opinion, the election, third is impeachment and fourth... is the purse."

Asked if he is contemplating a move to impeach Bush, Murtha reiterated that it's one way "to influence a president."

Fellow Democrat Rep. Jane Harman of California played down that possibility. "I think he was listing it as one of the tools Congress has; he was in no way endorsing it."