Unmanned Aerial Security Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4682, the Unmanned Aerial Security Act.

It is imperative that the Department of Homeland Security be able to protect the Nation against all threats. This defense includes ensuring that the unmanned aircraft systems, commonly known as drones, that DHS uses and buys, are not made in foreign countries that do not align with our interests; countries such as China.

DHS requires the dominant, air domain capabilities that drones provide to accomplish many of its land and maritime missions. We know that DHS uses drones for surveilling our southwest border. Utilizing drones is a cost-efficient way to protect large areas of the homeland.

However, many of the commercial drones used in the United States are manufactured in China, which dominates the United States market. Of the top 10 drone manufacturers that supply the United States market, a single Chinese manufacturer towers over all the others with nearly 77 percent of the market share.

DHS has issued warnings in recent years about Chinese-made drones, specifically citing concerns that they may be sending sensitive data to their manufacturers in China, where it can be accessed by the Chinese Government.

Our colleagues in the Senate share our concern. In fact, Senator Rick Scott has introduced similar legislation to ban the purchase and use of these drones across the Federal Government, not just at DHS.

Given the role that drones have in protecting homeland security, it is more important than ever to require DHS to assess its drone fleets. This bill would require DHS to provide a threat assessment report to Congress on whether the agency has analyzed the threat of its drone from adversarial nations; the number of these drones that the Department is currently operating; and the extent to which the information gathered by these drones may be a threat to the homeland or economic security of the United States.

Second, the bill would prohibit DHS from buying or using drones made in adversarial nations going forward.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and colleague, Ranking Member Katko, for being an original cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation. Along with Members on the other side of the aisle, this is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation.

With China looming as a growing threat on the horizon, maintaining our homeland security is of the utmost importance, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I urge all Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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