Miss Bennet’s
Christmas
Good cheer for a
romantic comedy
See Opinionated
Judge, page 5
Zoo Lights
Bigger Than
Ever
A winter
wonderland of
1.5 million lights
See Metro, page 6
Established in 1970
PO QR code
Volume XLVIII • Number 48
‘City
of
Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • December 11, 2019
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Trump
Charged with
Abuse and
Obstruction
Two impeachment
articles move to a vote
(AP) — House Democrats announced
two articles of impeachment Tuesday
against President Donald Trump —
abuse of power and obstruction of Con-
gress — pushing toward historic votes
over charges he threatened the integrity
of the U.S. election system and endan-
gered national security in his dealings
with Ukraine.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, flanked by the
chairmen of the impeachment inquiry
committees, declared at the U.S. Capitol
that they were upholding their solemn
oath to defend the Constitution. Voting is
expected in a matter of days in the Judi-
ciary Committee and by Christmas in the
full House.
In outlining the charges, Democrats
said they had no choice but to act because
Trump has shown a pattern of behavior
that, if left unchecked, poses risks to the
democratic process ahead of the 2020
election.
″ Our president holds the ultimate pub-
lic trust. When he betrays that trust and
puts himself before country, he endan-
gers the Constitution; he endangers our
democracy; he endangers our national se-
curity,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.,
the Judiciary chairman, announcing
the charges before a portrait of George
Washington. “Our next election is at risk.
... That is why we must act now.”
Nadler said, “No one, not even the
president, is above the law.″
Chairman Adam Schiff of the Intelli-
gence Committee said, “We stand here
today because the president’s abuse of
power leaves us with no choice.”
Trump swiftly responded to the im-
peachment articles by again decrying
C ontinued on p age 4
photo by b everly C orbell /t he p ortland o bserver
Rev. LeRoy Haynes of northeast Portland’s Allen Temple CME Church shares his thoughts among a group of religious leaders
from all over Portland who gathered on Monday to announce and show support for a new effort at reducing gun violence in
Oregon, a new voters initiative petition to ban the sale of semi-automatic guns and large capacity ammunition magazines.
Kicked off at Augustana Lutheran Church, also in northeast Portland, the new Lift Every Voice campaign will gather signatures
in hopes of making the ballot for next year’s November presidential election.
Gun Control Petition Recharged
New effort to ban
assault-style guns
and large ammo
by b everly C orbell
t he p ortland o bserver
A local nondenominational group of
religious leaders announced on Monday
they are starting a new petition drive to get
a gun control initiative on the November
ballot. The petition will call for restrictions
on the sale of certain semi-automatic guns
and large capacity ammunition magazines.
A similar effort failed last year because
legal maneuvers by opponents to gun con-
trol left insufficient time to gather signa-
tures.
Supporters behind the new Lift Every
Voice Oregon Interfaith Movement peti-
tion met at Augustana Lutheran Church, a
diverse congregation in northeast Portland,
where about 50 people heard religious
leaders from many different faiths call for
action to contain gun violence in Oregon
and across America.
Rev. W.J. Mark Knutson, senior pastor
at Augustana Lutheran, said he doesn’t
expect the new petition to be derailed this
time, saying that he and others have been
working nonstop for more than a year to
overcome obstacles, including in the Ore-
gon Legislature.
“We have trained over 1,000 people to
get the petition signed,” he said. “We met
every two weeks and took two bills to the
House, but neither was acted on. But we
did not stop. We worked with other groups
in the state, students in particular.”
The petition has been submitted to the
Oregon Secretary of State, Knutson said,
and once it is accepted, volunteers all over
the state are ready to start collecting sig-
natures.
Knutson spoke about the escalation of
fear that deadly violence has on society,
from the Cold War drills of yesteryear pre-
C ontinued on p age 12