1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose the administration’s lethal maritime strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific and to press for immediate Congressional oversight. The latest reported strike killed five people and left one survivor after U.S. forces destroyed two boats in the eastern Pacific. AP reports that this campaign has killed at least 168 people since last fall. It also reports that Southern Command did not publicly provide conclusive evidence that the two latest boats carried drugs. LETHAL MARITIME STRIKES ARE NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT Stopping vessels, boarding them, seizing contraband, arresting suspects, and prosecuting crimes are law-enforcement actions. Destroying small boats with military force is not. Congress should not allow lethal force at sea to become routine on the basis of secret evidence, unclear legal standards, and too little meaningful accountability. That failure to provide a clear public justification is one reason these strikes have drawn serious legal warnings. LEGAL WARNINGS INDICATE POSSIBLE UNLAWFUL KILLINGS Legal experts including Michael Schmitt and Ryan Goodman argue that the United States is not in an armed conflict with drug traffickers and that maritime counterdrug law does not authorize lethal force except in self-defense. They warn that these strikes may involve unlawful killings, may raise issues under U.S. criminal law, and could raise war-crimes concerns if treated as armed conflict. These are not abstract concerns. They go directly to whether U.S. policy is consistent with the rule of law and whether legal limits on the use of force are being ignored. CONGRESS MUST REASSERT ITS CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY The Constitution gives Congress - not the President - the power to declare war. Congress has a duty to ensure that lethal force is used only under clear legal authority, with transparent standards and meaningful oversight. Allowing repeated strikes without explicit Congressional authorization risks establishing a dangerous precedent: that the executive branch can conduct lethal operations in the shadows without meaningful accountability. CONGRESS SHOULD ACT NOW Congress should: (1) hold immediate oversight hearings on the legal authority, rules of engagement, and targeting standards used in these strikes. (2) require prompt disclosure of the factual and legal basis for each strike. (3) require a public accounting of those killed, injured, or left stranded. (4) enact binding limits on further lethal maritime strikes without explicit Congressional authorization. If Congress fails to act, it will help normalize secretive killings at sea, weaken the rule of law, and surrender part of its own constitutional role. Congress must intervene now before this precedent becomes entrenched. Thank you.