On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., took his efforts to ensure authority over armed drones remains solely with the Department of Defense (DOD) to the national level as he showcased his Drone Reform Act (DRA) and claimed it was starting to pick up steam.
Yoho introduced the DRA last year to ensure the DOD and not the CIA had power over drones, though the bill went nowhere. Toward the end of last month, Yoho brought the bill back and insisted the DOD should be the only branch of the federal government able to launch drones.
The American Conservative magazine published an interview with Yoho on Thursday focusing on the DRA.
“For too long, this program has been carried out in complete secrecy,” Yoho told The American Conservative. “The administration doesn’t admit that the intelligence community is even involved in these strikes. On top of that, members of Congress don’t have any relevant information related to the strikes -- targets, dates, locations, casualties, etc. The total lack of transparency and oversight over this program is completely unacceptable for a democracy and a constitutional republic. This also harms our interests and personnel abroad, who face retaliation for strikes and are prevented from defending or clarifying them. Top military officials have been asking for transparency for just this reason.”
Last year, Yoho rallied a host of co-sponsors who covered the political spectrum, including 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. In the new bill, Yoho continued to get support from representatives of all stripes as he kept Amash, Conyers, Labrador, Lee, Massie and Mulvaney and reeled in U.S. Reps. John Delaney, D-Md., Alan Grayson, D-Fla., and Walter Jones, R-N.C., as original co-sponsors.
Talking to The American Conservative, Yoho claimed DRA was showing signs of momentum, including from some unlikely allies like President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
“I think this could really pick up some steam,” Yoho insisted. “There are a lot of interests and aspects to this issue. We’ve gotten support from military folks who say a drone program with no oversight only undermines our strategy abroad; even groups like Amnesty International and the ACLU who have focused on the legal and human rights aspects of these secret strikes; and of course constitutional conservatives who are weary of an ever-growing executive branch acting once again under a veil of secrecy. President Obama and Sen. McCain have both voiced support for putting armed drone authority solely in the hands of the DOD. So clearly this is something that is on people’s radars and really hits on a lot of bipartisan or nonpartisan issues depending on who you talk to.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
