Liberal hero of the day: Russ Feingold

Sen. Russ Feingold, A Wisconsin Democrat and one of the more outspoken foes of the president's policies, announced he would bring a bill in the Senate that would censure President Bush over the domestic spying.

Senator proposing censure of president

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Saying that President Bush misled Americans about the legality of his domestic-eavesdropping program, Sen. Russ Feingold said Sunday he would introduce a resolution to censure him.

"The president has broken the law and, in some way, he must be held accountable," said the Wisconsin Democrat, a potential White House contender in 2008.

A censure resolution, which simply would scold the president, has been used just once in U.S. history, against Andrew Jackson in 1834.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., called the proposal "a crazy political move" that would weaken the U.S. during wartime.

The five-page resolution, to be introduced today, contends that Bush violated the law when he set up the eavesdropping program within the National Security Agency after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush claims that his authority as commander in chief, as well as a September 2001 congressional authorization to use force in the fight against terrorism, gave him the power to authorize the warrantless surveillance.

The White House had no immediate response Sunday.

The resolution says the president "repeatedly misled the public" before the disclosure of the NSA program last December when he indicated that the administration was relying on court orders to wiretap terrorism suspects inside the U.S.

"Congress has to reassert our system of government, and the cleanest and the most efficient way to do that is to censure the president," Feingold said.

The president's actions were "in the strike zone" in terms of being an impeachable offense, Feingold said, but he questioned whether impeaching Bush and removing him from office would be good for the country.

In the House, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan is pushing legislation that would call on the Republican-controlled Congress to determine whether there are grounds for impeachment.

Frist, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said he hoped al-Qaida and other enemies of the U.S. were not listening to the infighting. "The signal that it sends, that there is in any way a lack of support for our commander in chief who is leading us with a bold vision in a way that is making our homeland safer, is wrong," Frist said.

Feingold may be using this as a way to fire up the base in advance of the Democratic fundraising season and primaries, just two years away. At least he stands where he believes.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.