U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, says President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney deserve to be impeached for what they've done to the nation. But he voted against an impeachment resolution because it's not a fight worth pursuing with just seven months left in Bush's term.

"Bush and Cheney should not only be impeached, they ought to be jailed for what they did to this nation," Hastings said. "I feel there are high crimes and misdemeanors committed by the president of the United States."

Even though he thinks removal is warranted, Hastings said it would be a mistake.

"It would tear this country apart, despite my ideological feelings about what has transpired," he said. "This nation is in a gut-wrenching death grip, ideologically. To split it no matter what Cheney and Bush have done would leave us probably beyond repair in our lifetimes."

Last week, the House voted to send an impeachment resolution, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and supported by U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, to a committee.

Nothing will happen and the resolution will die there, Hastings said. U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton - who, like Wexler, represents part of Broward County - was more cautious in his assessment of Bush.

"There's a lot of frustration about President Bush, obviously," he said. "Whether there are impeachable offenses that were committed by the president and vice president, I don't know."

He said the nation doesn't need to get bogged down in an impeachment debate.

"The country, right now, needs to move forward," he said. "At this moment we need to focus on how we solve problems."

Wexler said in a written statement that the Iraq war "entered into following an unprecedented campaign of lies and manipulated intelligence," is the main justification for impeachment hearings."

Hastings and Klein made their comments during separate interviews with reporters and editorial writers at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Hastings has some experience with impeachment. In 1983, he was acquitted of conspiracy to solicit a $150,000 bribe while a federal judge; six years later, Congress took up the issue, concluded he lied in his trial, and impeached him after 10 years on the bench.