December 15 th, 2008
The Illinois House or Representatives met for only one day in special session instead of the two days that were scheduled. The House did unanimously pass House Resolution 1650 which will begin the investigation into the possible impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich.
According to the resolution, the committee will be made up of twenty-one members of the House of Representatives. The Committee was purposely structured so that the Democratic majority has 13 committee members and the Republicans will only have 9 members. Other powers of the committee are to require attendance and compel testimony of witnesses regarding formal charges to be brought against the governor. This power includes the power of the subpoena. The Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, must sign off on all subpoenas.
I have accepted an appointment to this select committee and will do my very best to fulfill my Constitutional duties as a member of the House Special Investigative Committee on Impeachment. I am hopeful that there will be swift action regarding the very serious duties that are the responsibility of this committee. I can assure you that I take this responsibility very seriously.
Obviously, this committee has a lot of work to do. The eyes of the Nation are on us and it is my sincere hope that this committee works in a bi-partisan manner to get to the truth regarding corruption and other charges made against the governor and act accordingly. One task of the committee is to file a final report with the full House of Representatives and make a recommendation regarding impeachment of the governor. It is important that we work under rules of due process and that individual rights are not violated. I think that can be done while moving swiftly. For the sake of the people of the State of Illinois, I pray that things do move quickly. We have many vital state commitments that must be met and we must move forward.
During debate on this resolution, I pointed out that while I certainly support the concept and the work of the committee, I think that any committee established to take up such a vital issue as impeachment of the governor should not have the appearance of a partisan advantage. For whatever reason, the majority party decided that they would indeed hold that advantage and that they would allow one person, the Speaker of the House, to have what amounts to sole subpoena power. Everyone voted yes on the resolution, but there are many members who are concerned about the fact that members serve under the same lopsided House rules which allow one person to have this kind of power. Once again, I can assure you that our voices will be heard regarding the governor’s conduct even if there are attempts to stop subpoenas or stall these proceedings.
As of the writing of this article, the committee has held one brief organizational meeting and is scheduled to meet for the rest of the week. So far, there have been statements by committee members and we will discuss final rules and get started hearing testimony at the second committee hearing. The governor has indicated that he will fight these charges and has requested through his attorney that all of his legal fees be paid by the State of Illinois. His attorney is likely to appear before the committee on his behalf sometime this week.
On one final note, the special session was originally scheduled in order for the House to act on whether or not there should be a special election to replace the Illinois U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama. Although legislation was introduced by both parties in order to allow for this special election to take place, the majority party did not allow a vote on a special elections bill. So, we left Springfield without passing legislation that would have removed the power from the governor to appoint the replacement. At this time, based on that lack of action, there is no legislative movement to take that power from a governor who is currently out on bail.
As the work of the committee unfolds, and to the extent that I can make statements regarding our progress, I will keep you informed. Please keep in touch with your comments too. I have read the thousands of e-mails that you have all sent and can tell you that even if I have not personally responded to you, I have read each and every e-mail. I have also received the hundreds of phone messages that you have left, I apologize for not being able to return all of those calls during this very busy time. Please, keep the e-mails and messages coming. You can reach me via an e-mail at: reddyunit1@aol.com or you can phone me at 618-563-4128 or 217-558-1040.