House Accepts Lee Amendment Requiring Report on Efforts to Overthrow Democratic Governments
(Washington, DC) – Today, the House approved a measure introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) that would require the White House to submit classified reports on any efforts to overthrow democratically elected governments.
“I offer this amendment to support and protect our efforts to support democratic movements and to help ensure our actions are consistent with our values,” said Lee. “Actions that undermine democracies also undermine our credibility in the world and therefore our ability to be viewed as serious and legitimate agent of democracy.”
Lee’s amendment to the Intelligence Authorization bill would require the President to submit a report to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees describing any authorization granted over the last ten years to engage in intelligence activities related to the overthrow of a democratically elected government. It was designed to increase transparency and access to information, yet maintain the classified nature of the information as it provides for review by members in a classified setting. The amendment was accepted on a voice vote.
Lee, who is the most senior Democratic woman on the House International Relations Committee and Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Haiti Task Force, introduced legislation in the last two Congresses to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the role of the Bush administration’s role in the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February of 2004.
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