The very first act of any new Member of Congress is taking the Oath of Office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Incredibly, of the 535 Members who took that oath in January 2007, only 22 have actually upheld their oath by co-sponsoring H.Res. 333, Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Cheney.

Mark Lawrence would like to join them. He's running for the open seat in ME-01 that is being vacated by Tom Allen (D), who is running for Senate against Susan Collins.

Lawrence is the elected District Attorney for Maine Prosecutorial District One which covers York County, home to one out of every seven Mainers.

A native of Kittery, Lawrence was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1988 becoming only the second Democrat elected from Kittery since the Civil War. In 1992, he won a seat in the Maine Senate from another overwhelmingly Republican district.

Elected Democratic leader after just one term, Lawrence helped Senate Democrats secure a majority in 1996. Lawrence was then twice unanimously selected by his colleagues to serve as Senate President.

Lawrence recently wrote an op ed on impeachment for the Portland Press Herald:

To fail to take action will pose a grave danger to our Constitution through Congress' implicit compliance with the president's assumption of any unconstitutional powers that will serve as a precedent for future presidents, Republicans or Democrats...

I disagree with those who suggest that there are more important priorities; who fear that impeachment proceedings would be perceived as either a distraction or as political retribution.

As public officials, we hold no higher imperative than to uphold the fundamental principles on which this nation was founded.

And as history teaches us, justice delayed is justice denied.

I couldn't agree more. To learn more about Mark, visit http://www.marklawrence.org