In a rare hearing held by leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), members displayed interest in providing oversight to national security policies and heard testimony on drone operations abroad, drone technology, executive and congressional authority for “targeted killings,” how strikes go beyond what is permitted under international human rights law and dangerous precedents being set by the United States government’s drone policies and program.

Peace and Security Task Force Chair Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and CPC Co-Chairs Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) were present to hear video testimony from Baraa Shiban, a Yemeni advocate and drone strike investigator. The CPC also heard testimony from: Adam Baron, a Yemen-based journalist; Christopher Rogers, a lawyer and advocate at Open Society who has investigated strikes in Pakistan for 3+ years; Naureen Shah, a lawyer and lecturer at Columbia University; Sarah Knuckey, a lawyer at NYU and Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions; Zeke Johnsen, Director of Amnesty International USA’s Security with Human Rights Campaign; and Ron Dellums, former chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

The hearing was not broadcast by C-SPAN. A hearing on Benghazi aired earlier in the day but, apparently, a Progressive Caucus hearing on drones and warfare abroad was not worth finding a way to broadcast.

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