Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) recently reintroduced a bill to reform the United States’s drone programs and consolidate them entirely within the Department of Defense. I recently interviewed Congressman Yoho about his bill, The Drone Reform Act (H.R. 5091)

TAC: Why does the U.S. armed drone program need reforming?

TY: For too long, this program has been carried out in complete secrecy. The administration doesn’t admit that the intelligence community is even involved in these strikes. On top of that, Members of Congress don’t have any relevant information related to the strikes—targets, dates, locations, casualties, etc. The total lack of transparency and oversight over this program is completely unacceptable for a democracy and a constitutional republic. This also harms our interests and personnel abroad, who face retaliation for strikes and are prevented from defending or clarifying them. Top military officials have been asking for transparency for just this reason.

TAC: How will this bill accomplish these reforms?

TY: By ensuring that only the DOD can use armed drones these strikes will finally be transparent to the public and subject to real congressional oversight. There are three main components that will be revealed to the American people with passage of this bill. One is the funding for this program, which will no longer be hidden or redacted like the intelligence budget is. Another is the legal framework, which will be subject to constitutional and military law. And the last one is the increased oversight that Congress would be able to implement. DOD could be called to testify before any committee whose jurisdiction is affected by drone strikes—Armed Services, Judiciary, Foreign Affairs/Relations, Oversight, etc. This will lead to a major deviation from the status quo of closed briefings and hearings that take place in the Intelligence Committees.

TAC: What is the likelihood of this bill gaining traction in Congress?

TY: I think this could really pick up some steam. There are a lot of interests and aspects to this issue. We’ve gotten support from military folks who say a drone program with no oversight only undermines our strategy abroad; even groups like Amnesty International and the ACLU who have focused on the legal and human rights aspects of these secret strikes; and of course constitutional conservatives who are weary of an ever-growing executive branch acting once again under a veil of secrecy. President Obama and Senator McCain have both voiced support for putting armed drone authority solely in the hands of the DOD. So clearly this is something that is on people’s radars and really hits on a lot of bipartisan or nonpartisan issues depending on who you talk to.

Michael D. Ostrolenk is a consultant who provides strategic and integrated analysis on issues related to national security, privacy and health.