The legislators heard from both supporters and detractors of the proposed legislation, though the majority spoke in favor of creating the registry.
It will be the first time that American legislators hear direct testimony from civilian victims of a drone strike.
They had only their own stories, which they had made sure the legislators heard.
It might not happen immediately, but it will never happen if we let the tech company lobbyists be the most prominent voices our legislators hear.
Last week, New Hampshire legislators heard testimony on a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage, and Iowa and Vermont legalized same-sex marriage two weeks ago.
But first, legislators heard a riveting plea from the father who survived that unimaginable night in July 2007, Dr. William A. Petit Jr. "My family got the death penalty," he testified in March, "and you want to give murderers life.
In New Jersey, legislators heard such an uproar over the Motor Vehicle Commission's decision to raise the cost of registering a motorcycle (to $65 from $31.50) that they pushed to strip the commission of its power over the fees.
Nassau County legislators heard sharply contrasting reactions today to the county's proposed new budget: a Wall Street bond-rating company praised it, but the county's chief assessor said that it had illegal provisions.
The next morning, GOP legislators heard from online education guru Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, before plunging into a substantive agenda that covered such thorny topics as immigration, energy, health care, and deficit reduction.
"California legislators heard and responded to the community's call for action by introducing landmark legislation to change state law governing the deadly use of force by police," Peter Bibring, Police Practices Director with the ACLU of California, wrote in a statement.
