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Stateside With Rosalea Barker

New Hampshire Impeachment Resolution: Interview with Betty Hall

The ship of state is drifting and it’s getting hard to steer
It’s a complicated issue but the direction’s pretty clear
And each of us is who we need to get to there from here
In these times
Noel Paul Stookey, “In These Times”

As someone who once helped a group of people push a stranded scow back out into the Pacific Ocean, I know personally what people can achieve when the tide is right. In this brief email interview with Betty Hall, she says:

I find every voter I talk to has a tipping point when they say either to themselves or to the public “Why weren't these guys impeached long ago”... We all need to know the truth before we can fix it. Congress has not been able to get the truth without impeachment. I believe an impeachment-driven investigation must begin so we can start get at the real truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

::Interview with Betty Hall::

SCOOP:
What has been and will be the process of getting HR24 passed and delivered to Congress? For example, does the NH Senate have to pass a similar resolution?

HALL:
I was able to introduce it into the legislature as any bill or resolution can be introduced by a legislator. It is then sent to committee, has a public hearing and the committee votes it's recommendation and then it goes to the floor of the legislature for an up or down vote in the New Hampshire legislature. No bill can be killed in committee.

SCOOP:
What prompted you to sponsor HR24?

HALL:
I have served in the New Hampshire House for 14 terms (28 years), not all consecutive. I was in the House when a resolution similar to the one I have introduced was introduced in I believe the 1973 session to impeach Nixon. I didn't vote for it then and I have regretted it ever since. I feel that this administration is worse than Watergate and this time I must stand up because I didn't at that time when I should have. Impeachment is a tool to get the truth, hold our leaders accountable and restore our Constitution.

SCOOP:
What kind of support are you getting within NH and around the country?

HALL:
I find every voter I talk to has a tipping point when they say either to themselves or to the public “Why weren't these guys impeached long ago”. I read that 80 percent of this country believes we are going in the wrong direction. It seems like more and more encounter this tipping point every day.

How much more damage can be done right now and how can we sweep this under the rug any longer? Most people would like to see the present incumbents replaced but even when they do it won't automatically turn the ship of state around. We all need to know the truth before we can fix it.

Congress has not been able to get the truth without impeachment. I believe an impeachment-driven investigation must begin so we can start get at the real truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

More and more people are speaking out and standing up. I have had over five hundred letters from New Hampshire and several thousand from around the country—all of them spontaneous and beautifully written, expressing heartfelt concern—and many, many hits on my website.

Why didn't I do this long ago?

::April 14 Rally Details::
Details for the April 14 rally and concert in Concord, NH, are available here. At time of writing, rally organizer Stuart Hutchinson of says that speakers and performers are:

Rep. Betty Hall, Daniel Ellsberg, Phil Burk, Robert Bowman, Ramsey Clark, Doris Granny D Haddock, John Nirenberg, John Nichols, with surprises and music by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary, REBECCA McCALL, who will premiere her new song, IMPEACHMENT, and the sensational band RUSTBUCKET!

For more details on the Rally Concert for 24 to Impeach, CLICK— Box Office Phone 1.603.225.1111 — Rally Concert tix are only $14 each! To buy tickets CLICK IMPEACH TIX!

::Background to the New Hampshire Legislature::

From the State Government Overview at:
http://www.nh.gov/nhinfo/stgovt.html
The Legislative Branch is also known as the General Court of New Hampshire. It consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are 400 Representatives and 24 Senators, making the General Court the second largest legislature in the United States following the U.S. Congress. It is said that only the U.S. congress and the English and Indian Parliaments are larger.

New Hampshire takes pride in its Citizen Legislature, so called because members to the General Court are not professional politicians, but come from a variety of occupations. Professions of members include the self-employed, retired, homemakers, students, and lawyers. For their time and effort they are paid $200 per term plus mileage costs. Because of their added duties, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President receive $250 per term.

(In my interview, I also asked Hall what the Citizen Legislature means in real terms.)

HALL:
It made it possible for me to run for office. I could knock on every door in my district, ride my bike and get acquainted. I did not have to raise a lot of money. And I had fun!!!

Makeup of the New Hampshire State Legislature from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_General_Court
On December 6, 2006, the General Court convened its 160th session and certified the results from the State General Election. The election gave Democrats majority control of both chambers for the first time since 1874, 14-10 in the Senate and 239-161 in the house.

The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 103 districts across the state created from divisions of the state's counties each making up about 3,000 residents for every one legislator. If the same level of representation were present in Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives would have approximately 99,000 members according to current population estimates.

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rosalea.barker@gmail.com

--PEACE—

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