Republican Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) suggested Wednesday that Congress and President Trump should allow private citizens, or “pirates,” to take on international cartels to protect national security.
Lee appeared on Fox News’s “The Will Cain Show,” where he was asked about his plan to allow people to be deployed but not using the U.S. military.
“Privateers is what they’re called,” he said. “Letters of marque and reprisal are authorized under Article 1, Section 8, Clause 10 of the Constitution.”
Lee said it’s the same clause that gives Congress the power to declare war, but it also allows the legislative branch to issue letters of marque, “authorizing privateers, pirates essentially … to carry out acts of piracy.”
Host Will Cain clarified, asking the Utah Republican if that’s something he would realistically expect Congress of Trump to sign off on.
“Look, it hasn’t happened in a couple of centuries,” Lee replied. “So, I’m not gonna kid you here into thinking this is a certainty to pass. What I’m saying is that it should be considered.”
Lee noted that there are “immense risks” with deploying the U.S. military to the shared border and argued that the situation may be less volatile if private citizens were the ones to counter the cartel.
He also noted that George Washington was a privateer and investor in privateers.
“This was fairly common at the time of the American revolution, and we have to consider it and perhaps pass one with reference to international drug cartels,” Lee concluded.
The idea has been floated before. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) recently introduced a bill that would allow Trump to authorize and commission private citizens to “defend our homeland.”
