Washington, DC – Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today sent a letter to Chairman Mast urgently requesting the committee hold a hearing on the Trump administration’s unauthorized military strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific, which were conducted without Congressional authorization and resulted in at least 37 deaths.
“The absence of any credible legal rationale for the administration’s armed campaign against drug cartels raises alarming questions about whether it intends to conduct similar extrajudicial strikes elsewhere in the world—or even within the United States. Equally troubling is the credibility of the intelligence underpinning these operations,” said Meeks.
“Ultimately, we may not agree on the value or even the legality of these strikes. But there should be no disagreement that the House Foreign Affairs Committee has a constitutional duty to conduct oversight on matters of war and peace in which the Executive is acting wittingly without congressional authorization. The administration’s unilateral, ongoing expansion of these strikes into a potentially broader regional war should concern every Member of Congress who wishes to reclaim Congress’ authority to prevent endless wars that lack clear objectives and needlessly endanger American lives.”
A PDF of the letter can be found here.
“The absence of any credible legal rationale for the administration’s armed campaign against drug cartels raises alarming questions about whether it intends to conduct similar extrajudicial strikes elsewhere in the world—or even within the United States. Equally troubling is the credibility of the intelligence underpinning these operations,” said Meeks.
“Ultimately, we may not agree on the value or even the legality of these strikes. But there should be no disagreement that the House Foreign Affairs Committee has a constitutional duty to conduct oversight on matters of war and peace in which the Executive is acting wittingly without congressional authorization. The administration’s unilateral, ongoing expansion of these strikes into a potentially broader regional war should concern every Member of Congress who wishes to reclaim Congress’ authority to prevent endless wars that lack clear objectives and needlessly endanger American lives.”
A PDF of the letter can be found here.