To: Sen. Susan Collins (ME-1)

Senator Collins: Who’s Getting Killed by Drone Strikes?

Maine Senator Susan Collins should support legislation requiring the Administration to report on who is being killed by U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.

Why is this important?

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (commonly known as the Senate intelligence committee) has passed legislation that would require the Administration to publicly report how many civilians and how many “combatants” are being killed in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia by U.S. drone strikes. When the committee passed this legislation, Maine Senator Susan Collins voted no. In order for the Senate to pass this legislation, it’s crucial for Senator Collins to change her position.

The CIA has claimed that civilian casualties from U.S. drone strikes have been extremely rare. The record of independent reporting says otherwise. But because the CIA has never publicly stated on the record how many civilians it believes are being killed by U.S. drone strikes, the CIA has never been forced to defend its claims on the record. If the intelligence committee provision becomes law, the CIA would have to defend its claims about civilian deaths on the record, and we could have a meaningful democratic debate.

Urge Senator Collins to reverse her opposition to telling the public about civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes.