Ted Yoho Looks to Get Drones Out of CIA Hands

U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., introduced the Drone Reform Act (DRA) on Friday, teaming up with prominent members of the liberty movement and leading Democrats to back the bill ensuring all authority on armed drones stays with the Department of Defense (DOD).

The CIAs main mission is intelligence collection and analysis, Yoho said. It should not be in the business of military strikes. This legislation will bring our armed drone fleet under the jurisdiction of the DOD, where it should be. If our national security requires drone strikes abroad, then one agency should be held accountable to the American people.

Even our top military officials have been pressing for permission to publicly defend U.S. drone strikes against criticism at home and abroad and against the spread of misinformation from terrorist groups, Yoho added. This bill will allow our military personnel to testify before Congress and release details of all strikes. The DRA will make it clear that no other federal agency or department, or any personnel, shall have authority to operate or fire an armed drone except for DOD.

Yoho has a host of co-sponsors in U.S. Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Rush Holt, D-N.J., Paul Broun, R-Ga., John Conyers, D-Mich., Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., and Raul Labrador, R-Idaho.