Reps. Edwards and Cummings: Support the "Come Clean on Drones Killing" Bill!

Rep. Donna Edwards
"Rep. Donna Edwards stands in front of an F-16C Fighting
Falcon prior to her flight aboard the jet with the 121st
Fighter Squadron, 113th Wing, Joint Base Andrews, Md.,
June 29, 2011. This was the congresswoman’s first
time aboard a fighter jet, a life-long desire she held
since she was a young daughter of an Air Force veteran."
(U.S. Air Force photo/Tech Sgt. Craig Clapper/Released)

Maryland has two representatives in Congress who are members of the progressive caucus: Donna Edwards (MD-4) and Elijah Cummings (MD-7).

Rep. Edwards long ago took a stand against the Obama administration's pattern of drone assassinations. She joined the May 10, 2012, letter demanding answers from the Administration about the drone killing program. That letter stated in part,

The implications of the use of drones for our national security are profound. They are faceless ambassadors that cause civilian deaths, and are frequently the only direct contact with Americans that the targeted communities have. They can generate powerful and enduring anti-American sentiment.

(See "26 Reps: Ensure Transparency and Accountability In The U.S. Combat Drone Program" in Just Foreign Policy)

Rep. Edwards' willingness to take a stand on this issue is especially significance in light of coming from an Air Force family!

Now a bill is pending in Congress -- the The Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act (HR 4372) -- also known as the "Come Clean on Drone Killing" Act. At this writing, quite a few of Reps. Edwards' and Cummings' fellow progressive caucus members have become co-sponsors for the bill. So where are Reps. Edwards and Cummings?

Rep. Edwards' constituents need to contact her and urge her to co-sponsor the bill today.

Rep. Elijah Cummings

Rep. Cummings' constituents need to contact him and urge him to co-sponsor the bill today.

Additional resources to help:

Identify your member of Congress

Example letter to a member of Congress in support of HR 4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act (the "come clean on drone killings" act)


Related posts

First Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) called the U.S. on the carpet for dodging the call from the international community to come clean about its drone killings. Then Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) submitted a bill calling for drone transparency. So ... are we finally going to get the truth?

(See REAL Progressives Demand that the U.S. Come Clean on Drone Killings)



"The NSA plays an important role in the drone program, providing intelligence to the agencies in charge of executing the attacks; information that is not necessarily correct." The coordinates provided by the NSA for a May 3rd drone attack must have been particularly inaccurate, unless the agency intended for the fatal drone strike to target the civilians gathered just outside its doorstep.

(See "Faulty NSA Intel May be to Blame for Killing of Dozens of Peaceful Civilians in Maryland by drone strike")

A 2013 U.N. report makes it clear that the U.S. has to report fully on all its drone attacks.

(See 2014: The Year of Transparency (for U.S. Drone Use)?)