UPDATE (14 Nov 2012): Congressman Gallegly (R-CA) rejects response to Congressional Letter to President Obama on IEDs and Veterans. On behalf of the 92 bi-partisan members of the House of Representatives, Congressman Elton Gallegly rejected as "inadequate" the response received from Michael A. Sheehan, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict and Robert A. Blecksmith, Assistant Director, FBI Critical Incident Response Group. In his November 14, 2012 letter back to the agencies, Congressman Gallegly cited numerous omissions in the letter received and requested a "complete response." Gallegly Letter (pdf)
UPDATE (14 Oct 2012): Response to House Letter to President Obama received. Responding on behalf of President Obama, Michael A. Sheehan, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict and Robert A. Blecksmith, Assistant Director, FBI Critical Incident Response Group replied to the letter from 92 Members of Congress to President Obama that called for for a unified U.S. strategy and international action against Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) as well as steps to support veterans who were victims of IEDs. The undated letter on plain paper failed to address the majority of the issues covered in the Member's Letter including: designation of a Lead Federal Agency to develop a U.S. Government strategy that coordinates and shares IED event data and other information with the Global Campaign against IEDs; introduction of a United Nations resolution condemning the use of IEDs and calling for international cooperation in prosecuting IED users under international rule of law; and a U.S. Government strategy partnered with Veterans Service Organizations, Military Service Organizations, and other public-private partners to identify the long term physical and psycho-social effects of IED related injuries. Sheenhan-Blacksmith Letter (pdf)
On May 3, 2012 sixty-nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to President Obama calling for a unified U.S. strategy and international action against Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The action coincided with the exposure of a new Al Qaeda plot to bomb an airliner with updated and difficult to detect Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) concealed in underwear. On June 4, 2012, some 23 more members of the House of Representatives requested to be added, bringing the total number or signatories on the Letter to President Obama (pdf) to 92 representing 28 states, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands.
The Global Campaign against Improvised Explosive Devices is currently working with members of the United States Senate on a Senate version of the letter to join their colleagues in the House of representatives in a call to action on the IED threat. We are also reaching our to the world’s governments for similar declarations against IEDs.
For the U.S. effort, starting in December 2011, every Member of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate were contacted electronically to help develop and build consensus on who should contribute ideas for the Letter to President Obama. The letter then evolved using input and comments from public-private sector partners in the U.S. and internationally, including non-government organizations, veteran’s organizations, the military, law enforcement, among others.
On February 23, 2012 hard copies of the final letter with a request for signature was hand carried to the office of every Member of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. On March 23, 2012 Representative Elton Gallegly’s (R-CA) Office began circulating a Dear Colleagues letter (pdf) to all members of the House of Representatives requesting they sign the letter. This was re-issued weekly and continued to circulate until April 30, 2012.
The House of Representative letter calls for President Obama to work with Congress and global governments to address critical gaps in the humanitarian response to IEDs, strengthen application of the rule of law, and eliminate serious deficiencies in public-private information sharing. A key part of this unified approach calls on the President to designate a lead Federal Agency to develop a U.S. Government strategy that coordinates with the Global Campaign against IEDs and their planned Global IED center.
The letter also shows significant bipartisan support. Signatories include representatives and leadership from key House committees including: Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Homeland Security, Veteran’s Affairs, Appropriations, Ways and Means, Judiciary, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Small Business, Oversight and Government Reform, Education and Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, Joint Committee on Taxation, Budget, Agriculture and Natural Resources. The response underscores the true bipartisan nature of the issue.
Col (Ret) Bob Morris from the Global Campaign against IEDs points to the actions of the House Foreign Affairs and Veterans’ Affairs Committees as particularly noteworthy: “We are honored both the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee as well as the Chairwoman, Vice-Chair, and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee joined together as signatories to the letter. This is a show of bipartisan unity on this issue that sets an exemplary example.”
“Great credit is due all Members of Congress who came forward to take the lead on this important issue”, says Morris. “IEDs are not a partisan issue, they are a global issue.”
“We look forward to working with the White House, Members of Congress, and all agencies of the United States Government to implement the sound recommendations in the letter, while looking to the governments of the world to take similar actions to join the Global Campaign against IEDs in their own countries” Morris said.
Additional information is available in the Press Release announcing completion of the House letter.
All Members of the House and Senate were contacted and afforded the opportunity to sign the letter regarding the IED threat and related veteran’s issues. The following summarizes the response of elected officials by State [ listing of signatories (pdf) ].
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Faleomavaega
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Raul Grijalva
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Tim Griffin
16 House of Representative Signatories, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Elton Gallegy
Representative Bob Filner
Representative Pete Stark
Representative Barbara Lee
Representative Laura Richardson
Representative Howard Berman
Representative Loretta Sanchez
Representative Lois Capps
Representative Michael Honda
Representative Henry Waxman
Representative Brad Sherman
Representative Judy Chu
Representative Janice Hahn
Representative George Miller
Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard
Representative Doris Matsui
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
5 House of Representative Signatories, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Jim Himes
Representative Chris Murphy
Representative Joe Courtney
Representative Rosa DeLauro
Representative John Larson
100% of the Members of the House representing the State of Connecticut signed the Letter
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
7 House of Representative Signatories, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Allen West
Representative Rich Nugent
Representative Tom Rooney
Representative Jeff Miller
Representative Alcee Hastings
Representative Illeana Ros-Lehtinen
Representative Corrine Brown
2 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative John Lewis
Representative Lynn Westmoreland
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Mazie Hirono
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
7 House of Representative Signatories, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Aaron Schock
Representative Danny K. Davis
Representative Randy Hultgren
Representative Bobby Schilling
Representative Jan Schakowsky
Representative Jessee Jackson, Jr.
Representative Timothy Johnson
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Andre Carson
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Tom Latham
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Mike Michaud
4 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Elijah Cummings
Representative Roscoe Bartlett
Representative Chris Van Hollen
Representative Andy Harris
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
7 House of Representative Signatories, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Dale Kildee
Representative Dan Benishek
Representative John Conyers
Representative Hansen Clarke
Representative John Dingell
Representative Keith Ellison
Representative Gary Peters
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Russ Carnahan
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Mark Amodei
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Frank Guinta
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative William Pascrell
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Martin Heinrich
9 House of Representative Signatories, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Edolphus Towns
Representative Bob Turner
Representative Charles B. Rangel
“Not only do IEDs cause great harm to our service members, but these destructive weapons are also killing women and children at an alarming rate. It is the responsibility of Congress to enact laws that protect innocent civilians, as well as our military service members. I applaud the efforts of advocacy organizations such as the Global Campaign Against IED for raising awareness to this important issue.”
Representative Jerrold Nadler
Representative Yvette Clark
Representative Eliot Engel
Representative Carolyn Maloney
Representative Ann Marie Buerkle
Representative Maurice Hinchey
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
5 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Dennis Kucinich
Representative Steve Stivers
Representative Austria
Representative Tim Ryan
Representative Jean Schmidt
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
2 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Blumenauer
Representative Peter Defazio
3 House of Representative Signatories, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Todd Russell Platts
Representative Glenn Thompson
Representative Charles W. Dent
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative David Cicilline
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Steve Cohen
6 House of Representative Signatories, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Michael McCaul
Representative Rubén Hinojosa
Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson
Representative Gene Green
Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee
Representative Francisco “Quico” Canseco
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
3 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Jim Moran
Representative Frank Wolf
Representative Bobby Scott
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Donna Christensen
1 House of Representative Signatory, 0 Senate Signatories
Representative Jim McDermott
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
No House or Senate Representative agreed to join the letter against IEDs to date
