Congressman building support for Drone oversight
US Congressman is rallying in order to force US administration to justify drone attacks.
Congressman Kucinich (Democrat from Ohio), said in a statement released Friday, that he was building bipartisan support for legislation that would force the Administration to release its legal justification for drone strikes which target American citizens and others overseas.
Congressman Kucinich, who has opposed the use of combat drones overseas because they increase radicalization among the population of the countries where these were used. "These attacks are in violation of the U.S. constitution and kill innocent people and stain our nation’s moral consciousness", he said while announcing to introduce "H. Res. 819", a Resolution of Inquiry.
A Resolution of Inquiry is legislation that is used to compel specific documents from the Administration, and must be considered by the committee of jurisdiction, or on the House floor, within 14 legislative days. Congressman Kucinich introduced the legislation on November 28, 2012. Unless Congress adjourns before the 14 day deadline, the bill could come before the House this year.
"The bill would force the Administration to turn over the legal justification it uses for the strikes, including any memos from the Office of Legal Counsel, which have been widely reported on", the statement mentioned. Congressman Kucinich is also informing Congress members about the legislation and it has been cosponsored by Ron Paul (Republican from Texas), Rush Holt Jr. (Democrat from New Jersey), Justin Amash (Republican from Michigan), James P. McGovern (Democrat from Massachussets) and Barbara Lee (Democrat from California).
“Thus far, the Administration has refused to release the memo or any documents, despite multiple requests from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Intelligence operations that have virtually no transparency, accountability or oversight raise serious legal questions, particularly when such programs may constitute possible violations of international law or the Constitution of the United States,” regretted Kucinich.
“Regardless of your support of our drone program, Congress and the American people deserve to know which laws the United States is relying on to conduct this program, and how they are interpreted by the Executive Branch,” added Kucinich who also hosteda briefing on drone attacks at the Capital Hill last month.
Congressman Kucinich was also amongst the 26 Congress members who wrote a letter to President Obama in June this year urging him to furnish legal justifications of drone attacks and bring it under the oversight of the US Congress as per the American constitution.
- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC
