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Committee member says lethal strikes on suspected drug boats violate constitutional authority and undercut drug-fighting tools
Summary
A House Judiciary Committee member told a hearing that recent U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats — which he said killed at least 157 people — lack constitutional and legal justification, weaken prosecutions and have been paired with cuts to treatment and enforcement funding, and introduced former OCDETF official Thomas Padden as a witness.
A member of the House Judiciary Committee criticized the administration’s recent strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats as unlawful, counterproductive and harmful to U.S. law-enforcement efforts, saying during a committee hearing that the actions were taken without a declaration of war and have cost many lives.
"Since the summer, the administration has launched more than 40 strikes on alleged drug boats in international waters, mostly in the Caribbean, killing at least a 157 people," the committee member said, adding that such lethal action should not be undertaken without congressional authorization under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.
The committee member framed the strikes as…
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