Three members of the Florida congressional delegation–Republican U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz and Anna Paulina Luna and Democrat U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz–sent a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., calling for the establishment of a Select Committee to investigate “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” or UAPs, commonly known as UFOs.
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., also signed the letter.
The letter highlights the sworn congressional testimony from an Air Force veteran and 14-year intelligence officer, which revealed that the Pentagon is intentionally leaving Congress uninformed about programs and information related to UAPs. In addition, the letter calls for the establishment of a Select Committee –– with full subpoena authority –– to investigate and conduct oversight over the federal government’s response to UAPs.
The letter is below.
Speaker McCarthy:
Yesterday, under oath and before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Mr. David Grusch, an Air Force veteran and 14-year intelligence officer, testified that the Pentagon has been keeping Congress in the dark concerning “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” or UAPs. Historically UAPs have been called by other names—“unidentified flying objects” or UFOs in particular—but despite the changing alphabet soup, our concern and the concern of our constituents remain constant.
Mr. Speaker, we ask that you immediately establish a Select Committee, outside the jurisdiction of any standing committee, and with subpoena authority, to go about the task of collecting information from the Pentagon and elsewhere for the benefit of the public and to discharge our constitutional, legislative and oversight roles.
This issue is much bigger than the news cycle: it represents a confluence of concerning governmental actions that indicates a lack of forthrightness on the part of the Pentagon and intelligence community. No governmental program, no matter how sensitive, can be outside the view of Congress. And yet, the Executive Branch routinely redacts and entirely withholds information in other domains that we are entitled to, and is doing so here.
By establishing a Select Committee to investigate the United States government’s response to UAPs, the 118th Congress will have an opportunity to work through more significant issues of government oversight (including lack of budget transparency, overclassification, and unwillingness to respond to Congressional oversight), on a discrete issue that is readily understandable by the public, and which is of grave concern to our nation.
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