WHEREAS the citizens of the City of Santa Barbara and their local elected officials have the constitutional right to petition

WHEREAS the citizens of the City of Santa Barbara and their local elected officials have the constitutional right to petition the federal government on any matter of concern to the community; and

WHEREAS the Bush Administration has trillions of dollars unaccounted for, while $1.6 trillion are needed, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, to make the infrastructure of the United States safe, which could prevent levees, bridges, and dams from failing and could employ millions and, thereby, provide a huge and much-needed economic stimulus to the United States economy; and

WHEREAS the Bush Administration has diverted large amounts of Attention, Treasure, and Blood in endeavors unworthy of the Trust and Goodwill of the people of the United States, and specifically the citizens of Santa Barbara, by launching an ill-advised and unnecessary war against Iraq and by disregarding critical parts of the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS the Bush Administration repeatedly and consistently purported falsehoods that it knew -- or should have known, from their own intelligence reports -- were misleading and dubious, manipulating the nation into a false sense of insecurity and into what the Bush Administration has billed "The War on Terror"; and

WHEREAS this figurative and literal war has directly affected the people of the City of Santa Barbara, diverting funds that should have been allocated to private refund or to public benefit, subverting the resources and legislations dedicated to the protection and defense of our city and our people, and causing people to distrust and fear the federal government; and

WHEREAS the Iraq war and occupation to date has a short-term direct cost to Santa Barbara residents of more than $180 million -- sufficient to provide employment for more than 2,500 teachers and public safety officers, or to provide health care for nearly 75,000 people, or to provide over 320,000 homes with renewable energy -- and a long-term estimated cost to Santa Barbara residents of around $1 billion; and

WHEREAS around two-thirds of the world's people, including those of Iraq and of the United States, are opposed to the Iraq war and occupation, and the majority of Americans feel that impeachable offenses have been committed by the Bush Administration -- yet the federal government opposes the will of the people by refusing to end the Iraq war and occupation and by refusing to impeach George W. Bush or Richard B. Cheney; and

WHEREAS the creation of a private and unaccountable army, Blackwater et. al., which outnumbers our military in Iraq, is a clear and present danger to the sovereignty of the United States; and

WHEREAS our United States soldiers have served with honor and distinction in spite of the Bush Administration launching a war of aggression against Iraq -- not only a "supreme international crime" in the words of the Nuremberg Tribunal, but also a hideous catastrophe -- making refugees of 4,000,000 Iraqi civilians, wounding about 60,000 United States soldiers, and killing more than 4,000 United States soldiers and perhaps 1,000,000 Iraqi civilians; and

WHEREAS the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution, is being disregarded by the Bush Administration -- the 4th Amendment requiring due process for searches, the 5th Amendment requiring due process for imprisonments, the 6th Amendment requiring due process for trials, and the 8th Amendment prohibiting torture; and

WHEREAS the very core of the Constitution is being violated -- Article 1 precluding signing statements that put the law-writing powers of Congress in the hands of the President; Article 2 requiring the President to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution" and to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"; and Article 6 making the Constitution and all United States Laws and Treaties "the supreme Law of the Land" --;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that copies of this resolution shall be sent to all members of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, the California State Assembly, and the California State Senate -- who represent residents of the City of Santa Barbara -- with the request that those elected bodies also adopt resolutions to urge the immediate commencement of the Impeachment of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney in order to investigate charges of their high Crimes and Misdemeanors; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Santa Barbara City Council urges our Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, to clearly speak out in favor of the Impeachment of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney; and

FINALLY BE IT RESOLVED that the Santa Barbara City Council strongly urges our Representative, Lois Capps, to immediately cosign House Resolution 799/333 to help begin the constitutionally prescribed process of making the Executive Branch accountable: the process of Impeachment.