Congress: Mandate Transparency in the Drone Strike Program

The Obama Administration has announced that it will make the drone strike ("targeted killing") program more transparent, including by publishing an annual report on casualties from U.S. drone strikes.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, praised the announcement and said Congress should pass legislation to make sure the policy lasts beyond the Obama administration. "A public, annual report on the number of combatants and noncombatants killed will provide an important measure of transparency regarding targeted, lethal strikes," Schiff said. "Despite our best efforts to ensure to a near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured, sometimes strikes do result in civilian casualties - and it is important that we acknowledge those accidents and learn from them." [1]

The ACLU has also called for reforms to be enacted before the next President takes office: "as this election season has underscored, powers this far-reaching should not rest solely on the character of the president and his advisers. In a democracy, the ability to use lethal force must be subject to clear and narrow limits, and the public must be able to evaluate whether those limits are being respected." [2]

Urge Congress to enact the President's promised transparency reforms of the drone strike program into law by signing our petition.

References:
1. http://thehill.com/policy/defense/272049-white-house-to-disclose-casualty-figures-for-us-drone-strikes
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/opinion/limit-the-next-presidents-power-to-wage-drone-warfare.html