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On Thursday 3 July 2008, after calling the contact number listed on the public website for the House Judiciary Committee and speaking with a staffer named Janis who advised that I could use the email submission procedure despite that I wasn't from a US state (a compulsory field according to the website) I sent the following email text to the House Judiciary Committee.
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I am an Australian interested in how (procedurally how) the house Judiciary committee will address the substance of important matters in HR1258 (Articles of Impeachment For President George W Bush) which the House of Representatives voted to refer it on June 11, 2008.
Specifically, I am interested to see that the substantive issues of Kucinich's articles VIII (invading Iraq, a sovereign nation, in violation of the UN Charter) and article XVIII (Torture: Secretly Authorising, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Iraq, and Other Places as a Matter of Official Policy) are actually to be addressed by the House Judiciary Committee.
As a foreigner I am not represented directly by any member of the House of Representatives but as a member of the human race I have an interest in ensuring that torture and aggressive invasion (which both US domestic and international law prohibit for excellent reason) do not become Presidential prerogatives through a want of care or caution.
I am aware that the House Judiciary Committee consists of 40 men and women that each have taken individual oaths and have individual consciences and voting records.
As a foreigner I would like to be able to email those 40 men and women my specific concerns and questions and so to have an audit trail preserved of any correspondence between us. As an observer of US politics, I am concerned that, at this late stage of the second term of the Presidency of George W Bush, the temptation not to address the substance of articles VIII and XVIII, might prove overwhelming.
I am sending this email via the House Judiciary Committee contact point on the public website and would like confirmation of receipt please. The website lists State as a required field but does not offer nation states as options only states within the United States. Similarly the zip codes handling.
I would like to know how this attempted contact with the House Judiciary Committee by me as a foreigner concerned with the serious matters of torture and aggressive invasion is to be formally processed. Will an audit trail be kept? I hope so.
I would like to know if this is an appropriate email address for me to send further questions to the House Judiciary Committee about how the House Judiciary Committee will deal with the matters of HR1258 that the House referred it.
Sincerely,
Brett Paatsch
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[My address, email and phone numbers were provided]
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