Chair of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Mark Green (R – Texas) said in an interview on Friday that one of his “number one priorities for next Congress” is passing his legislation enabling local law enforcement and states to “take down” drones. He was not specific on the measures the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act includes for taking them down.
“We know that Chinese nationals have operated drones inside of our country,” he told a Texas radio station. “We still need transparency on this issue and we’re not getting it.”
But urgency over drone threats has waned as more information reveals that the overwhelming majority of sightings were actually crewed aircraft, helicopters, or even stars and planets. Social media has spurred people who seldom looked up at the night sky before to begin scanning the heavens and shooting video of anything with lights. While some sightings are, in fact, lighted drones, more information has also emerged on different segments of legitimate commercial drone operators who sometimes operate at night for various reasons. Conversely, concern over Chinese-manufactured drones has amped up over fears that their technology could be used to spy on critical U.S. infrastructure.
According to an online article in The Hill, however, GOP congressman Green’s bill also faces pushback within his own party against clamping down on drones. According to the article, Sen. Rand Paul (R- Ky) last month blocked a Democratic measure to provide authority and resources to state and local authorities to track drones. Paul walked back on fears associated with a threat from drones and asserted that the legislation would excessively extend government surveillance authority. He said, “This body must not rush to grant sweeping surveillance powers without proper consideration and debate by the committees of jurisdiction.”
