WASHINGTON,
D.C. – Following the murder of an American missionary and her seven-month
old daughter over Peru, U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and
Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) called on President Bush to “immediately suspend
all contracts with private military firms and individuals for narcotics
control and law enforcement services in the Andean region.”
In
a letter to President Bush, the members added, “Given the fact that
we have so little control over the end use of information gathered, the
United States should cease all aerial intelligence sharing with countries
in the Andean region.”
They
continued, “[w]e demand the release of all pertinent materials, including
audio and video transmission, relating to this and other aerial intercepts
in the region funded by U.S. tax-payer dollars.” “We believe that
the billions of U.S. dollars we have committed to spending in the region
have been misdirected and that this recent tragedy underscores the importance
of reviewing our approach to the drug problem in the United States,”
they concluded.
Furthermore,
Schakowsky called for a joint hearing of the Government Reform Subcommittee
on Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental Relations
and the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources.
In letters to Subcommittee Chairmen Steve Horn (R-CA) and Mark Souder (R-IN),
Schakowsky wrote that in addition to drug policy, the broader policy of
U.S. government contracting for military services and intelligence gathering
falls clearly within the purview of the Government Efficiency, Financial
Management, and Intergovernmental Relations. Schakowsky is
the ranking member of that Subcommittee and has traveled in February to
Colombia. |