If you still think
Able Danger is a right wing ploy, check out some of the 245 signatures on
this letter from Congressman Curt Weldon, asking Donald Rumsfeld to let the witnesses from this pre-9/11 military intelligence unit testify in public hearings before Congress:
John Murtha, John P. (D-PA)
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
Nita M. Lowey (D-NY)
Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Edward Markey (D-MA)
Jane Harman (D-CA)
Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
John Lewis (D-GA)
Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
100 Democrats, 144 Republicans, plus Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont have signed. The full text of the letter and list of signatures are included below.
Here is the letter and list of signatures
from Weldon's site. I think that 101 instead of 100 is a typo:
MORE THAN HALF OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WANTS OPEN HEARINGS ON ABLE DANGER
The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld
Secretary
Department of Defense
Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:
We the undersigned are formally requesting that you allow former participants in the intelligence program known as ABLE DANGER to testify in an open hearing before the United States Congress. Until this point, congressional efforts to investigate ABLE DANGER have been obstructed by Department of Defense insistence that certain individuals with knowledge of ABLE DANGER be prevented from freely and frankly testifying in an open hearing. We realize that you do not question Congress's authority to maintain effective oversight of executive branch agencies, including your department. It is our understanding that your objection instead derives from concern that classified information could be improperly exposed in an open hearing. We of course would never support any activity that might compromise sensitive information involving national security. However, we firmly believe that testimony from the appropriate individuals in an open hearing on ABLE DANGER would not only fail to jeopardize national security, but would in fact enhance it over the long term. This is due to our abiding belief that America can only better prepare itself against future attacks if it understands the full scope of its past failures to do so.
On September 21, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary conducted a hearing on ABLE DANGER which Bill Dugan, Acting Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight, certified did not reveal any classified information. Congressman Curt Weldon's testimony at that hearing was largely based on the information that has been given to him by ABLE DANGER participants barred from open testimony by DOD. Their testimony would therefore closely mirror that of Congressman Weldon, who did not reveal classified information. Therefore we are at a loss as to how the testimony of ABLE DANGER participants would jeopardize classified information. Much of what they would present has already been revealed. Further refusal to allow ABLE DANGER participants to testify in an open congressional hearing can only lead us to conclude that the Department of Defense is uncomfortable with the prospect of Members of Congress questioning these individuals about the circumstances surrounding ABLE DANGER. This would suggest not a concern for national security, but rather an attempt to prevent potentially embarrassing facts from coming to light. Such a consideration would of course be an unacceptable justification for the refusal of a congressional request.
Sincerely,
Republican (144)
- Curt Weldon (R-PA)
- David L. Hobson, (R-OH)
- Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
- Joel Hefley (R-CO)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Davis (R-VA)
- Michael G. Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
- Charles W. Dent (R-PA)
- Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- Phil English (R-PA)
- Michael McCaul (R-TX)
- Sam Johnson (R-TX)
- Christopher Shays (R-CT)
- Walter B. Jones (R-NC)
- Charles H. Taylor (R-NC)
- John L. Mica (R-FL)
- John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
- Jeff Miller (R-FL)
- Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD)
- Nathan Deal (R-GA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC)
- Donald A. Manzullo (R-IL)
- Charles W. Boustany, Jr. (R-LA)
- Ralph M. Hall (R-TX)
- John E. Peterson (R-PA)
- Ron Paul (R-TX)
- Jerry Weller (R-IL)
- Michael N. Castle (R-DE)
- Geoff Davis (R-KY)
- J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
- Cliff Stearns (R-FL)
- Fred Upton (R-MI)
- Rob Simmons (R-CT)
- Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
- Henry Bonilla (R-TX)
- Virgil H. Goode, Jr. (R-VA)
- Howard Coble (R-NC)
- Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
- Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)
- Dan Burton (R-IN)
- Joseph R.Pitts (R-PA)
- Jim Gerlach (R-PA)
- Trent Franks (R-AZ)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Ellen Gallegly (R-CA)
- Don Sherwood (R-PA)
- Zach Wamp (R-TN)
- Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)
- Chris Smith (R-NJ)
- Frank Wolf (R-VA)
- Chris Chocola (R-IN)
- Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
- Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
- Mark Kirk (R-IL)
- Ron Lewis (R-KY)
- Rob Aderholt (R-AL)
- Randy J. Forbes (R-VA)
- Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA)
- John Boozman (R-AR)
- Frank A. LoBiondo (R-NJ)
- John E. Sweeney (R-NY)
- Michael R. Turner (R-OH)
- Dennis R. Rehberg (R-MT-At Large)
- Tom Osborne (R-NE)
- Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
- Pete Sessions (R-TX)
- John Linder (R-GA)
- Todd W. Akin (R-MO)
- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
- Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
- Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
- Robin Hayes (R-NC)
- John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN)
- Bob Inglis (R-SC)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Lee Terry (R-NE)
- Dave Weldon (R-FL)
- Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT)
- Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
- Melissa Hart (R-PA)
- John Sullivan (R-OK)
- Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
- Adam H. Putnam (R-FL)
- Don Young (R-AK-At Large)
- Peter King (R-NY)
- Daniel E. Lungren (R-CA)
- Michael T. McCaul (R-TX)
- Katherine Harris (R-FL)
- John Hostettler (R-IN)
- Paul E. Gillmor (R-OH)
- Roy Blunt (R-MO)
- Michael Simpson (R-ID)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Charlie Norwood (R-GA)
- Michael Bilirakis (R-FL)
- Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
- Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC)
- Thomas G. Tancredo (R-CO)
- Terry Everett (R-AL)
- Robert Ney (R-OH)
- Ed Whitfield (R-KY)
- Wally Herger (R-CA)
- Mark Foley (R-FL)
- Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
- Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA)
- Mike Rogers (R-MI)
- John J. H. "Joe" Schwarz (R-MI)
- Jon C. Porter (R-NV)
- Kay Granger (R-TX)
- Greg Walden (R-OR)
- Mary Bono (R-CA)
- Anne Northup (R-KY)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Frank D. Lucas (R-OK)
- Candice S. Miller (R-MI)
- William Jenkins (R-TN)
- Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
- Sue W. Kelly (R-NY)
- Mike Pence (R-IN)
- Kenny Hulshof (R-MO)
- Cathy McMorris (R-WA)
- Ralph Regula (R-OH)
- John Carter (R-TX)
- Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI)
- James Leach (R-IA)
- Jim Kolbe (R-AZ)
- Bill Shuster (R-PA)
- John McHugh (R-NY)
- Tim Murphy (R-PA)
- Barbara Cubin (R-WY-at large)
- Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Chris Cannon (R-UT)
- Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
- Jim Ryun (R-KS)
- Jeb Bradley (R-NH)
- Steven C. LaTourette (R-OH)
- Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)
- Bill Young (R-FL)
- Melissa Bean (D-IL)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Ed Royce (R-CA)
- Tom Cole (R-OK)
- Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)
Democrats (101)
- John Murtha, John P. (D-PA)
- Ike Skelton (D-MO)
- Jim Cooper (D-TN)
- Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
- Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)
- Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
- Joe Baca (D-CA)
- Bob Etheridge (D-NC)
- James R. Langevin (D-RI)
- Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
- Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)
- Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
- Eliot Engel (D-NY)
- Loretta T. Sanchez (D-CA)
- Linda T. Sanchez (D-CA)
- Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY)
- Corrine Brown (D-FL)
- Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
- Sam Farr (D-CA)
- Chet Edwards (D-TX)
- Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
- Nita M. Lowey (D-NY)
- Neil Abercrombie (D -HI)
- Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD)
- Gwen Moore (D-WI)
- Madeline Z. Bordallo (D-GU)
- Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
- Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV)
- Robert Brady (D-PA)
- Paul Kanjorski (D-PA)
- Mike Doyle (D-PA)
- Tim Holden (D-PA)
- G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)
- Dale E. Kildee (D-MI)
- James E. Clyburn (D-SC)
- Steve Israel (D-NY)
- Harold Ford (D-TN)
- John Larson (D-CT)
- Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS)
- Ken Meek (D-FL)
- John Dingell (D-MI)
- Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Vernon J. Ehlers (D-MI)
- Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL)
- Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN)
- Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA)
- Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
- Ruben HinoJosa (D-TX)
- John M. Spratt, Jr. (D-SC)
- Norman D. Dicks (D-WA)
- Edward Markey (D-MA)
- Jane Harman (D-CA)
- Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
- Bart Stupak (D-MI)
- Susan A. Davis (D-CA)
- Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
- Hilda Solis (D-CA)
- Gene Green (D-TX)
- Martin T. Meehan (D-MA)
- Marion Berry (D-AR)
- Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
- James P. Moran (D-VA)
- Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD)
- Maxine Waters (D-CA)
- John Lewis (D-GA)
- Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
- Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
- Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
- Lane Evans (D-IL)
- Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
- Bill Delahunt (D-MA)
- Rick Larsen (D-WA)
- Robert E. (Bud) Cramer, Jr. (D-AL)
- Gene Taylor (D-MS)
- Allyson Y. Schwartz (D-PA)
- Richard E. Neal (D-MA)
- Al Green (D-TX)
- Robert Wexler (D-FL)
- John T. Salazar (D-CO)
- Michael Capuano (D-MA)
- Mike Thompson (D-CA)
- Collin Peterson (D-MN)
- Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Mark Udall (D-CO)
- George Miller (D-CA)
- Adam Smith (D-WA)
- Michael Honda (D-CA)
- Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
- Steven R. Rothman (D-NJ)
- Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
- Jerry Costello (D-IL)
- Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ)
- Allen Boyd (D-FL)
Independent (1)
245. Bernard Sanders (VT-at large)