November 16, 2007 (LPAC)--Michigan Rep. John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has stated that the impeachment resolution against Vice President Dick Cheney is "under active consideration." He wouldn't specify any timetable for action on the resolution before his committee, however, given that this is, in his words, "the most sensitive matter before the nation."

According to Scoop Independent News, Conyers made these remarks following a November 14 discussion organized by the Congressional Out of Iraq caucus, headed by California Rep. Maxine Waters. Participants on the panel included former Sen. George McGovern, journalist Bob Woodward, and authors Ron Suskind and Michael Isikoff. All were asked by Rep. Stephen Cohen if, "politics aside," they thought impeachment were warranted.

The only one of the panelists who responded was Sen. McGovern who said, "misleading Congress to get into the war is impeachable... the grounds for impeachment are stronger than the ones we had against Nixon." But he added that he didn't think "the mood of the country would carry it very far." Isikoff declined to answer, and Woodward punted, saying that a reporter's job is to present facts "in a neutral way." Suskind didn't have a chance to respond.

Indicative of the kind of pressure he is under from constituents, and how hot the impeachment issue really is in the country, Conyers pointedly challenged the four panelists: "Why is it all but one of you chose not even to speak to the issue? Every member here is being besieged by people demanding an impeachment action be begun." This, he said, "is the subject that governs what happens in 2008. This is the subject that people are coming to us asking, `if they don't apply now, when will they ever apply?'"--referring to impeachment provisions.