Some of the reasons, according to Carl Sheeler, are the president's policies on Iraq and tax cuts.

01:00 AM EST on Thursday, February 2, 2006

BY SCOTT MacKAY
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Carl Sheeler, one of three announced candidates for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, urged yesterday that Rhode Island's congressional delegation join in efforts to impeach President Bush.

Sheeler said at a State House news conference that he supports the call for impeachment hearings against Mr. Bush that have been advanced by U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan.

"I say honor our troops and declare victory," Sheeler said. "Start withdrawing our troops from Iraq. Then we can invest in our American communities and improve our domestic security in Rhode Island and elsewhere."

Sheeler called the president a "partisan machine of fear and empty promises."

Sheeler said he decided to call for impeachment after attending more than 10 meetings around the state and "meeting and greeting and listening" to many Rhode Islanders.

"How do we explain the absence of WMD, lack of armor for our troops, the increase of terrorist acts and that Osama bin Laden is still on the loose," Sheeler said. "How can we tell our kids this president cut Rhode Island's funds for domestic security while he increases friction with Latin America and our other allies who buffer our nation's safety?

"How do we tell our kids this president hijacked our American Dream, by squandering billions of our hard-earned dollars, while wealthy corporate and special interests receive excessive tax cuts?" Sheeler said. "How do we tell our kids and grandkids they'll be paying an $8-trillion debt, much of it owed to China?"

The other candidates who have announced their candidaces for the U.S. Senate are Sheldon Whitehouse, the former state attorney general and U.S. Attorney, and Secretary of State Matthew Brown.

Sheeler said U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin, both of whom support Sheldon Whitehouse, should get behind the move to impeach Mr. Bush.

"I'm fighting to get our country back, our democracy back," Sheeler said. "I'm fighting for my family and yours too."

In related Senate Democratic campaign news, Brown announced yesterday that he has appointed Doris S. Arroyo-Blanchard, a leader in Rhode Island's Latino community, to be his campaign's community outreach director.

smackay@projo.com / (401) 277-7321