Countering Ccp Drones Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2864, the Countering CCP Drones Act. Our country's communications networks help support many parts of our daily lives and play an essential role across almost every sector of our economy. Robust networks allow Americans to have easier access to doctors, teachers, and job opportunities, and they are also vital to our Nation's critical infrastructure, public safety systems, supply chains, and government functions.

This is unlikely to change anytime soon. In fact, as technology advances, our networks are only expected to become even more embedded in everyday life.

This growing reach has made our communications networks targets that face constant threats from adversarial nations and others. In the last few months, we have seen reports that hacking groups linked to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran are gaining access to our communications networks to conduct surveillance, collect massive amounts of data, and manipulate our elections.

As a result, there is a real risk that the information that they collect could be used to launch cyberattacks on our critical infrastructure and undermine our democratic values of free speech and expression, as well as civil and human rights.

Fortunately, Congress has acted with strong bipartisan support to bolster the defense of our communications networks. My bipartisan Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, which became law in 2020, established a list of equipment and services that pose a national security risk and prevent their use in our communications networks.

H.R. 2864 builds on that bipartisan work by adding the telecommunications and video surveillance equipment and services provided by so-called DJI Technologies, better recognized as the equipment and services used in their drones, to the Federal Communications Commission's covered list. With this action, Congress will ensure that future versions of DJI drones cannot be imported, marketed, or sold in the United States.

DJI Technologies and its drones have repeatedly been flagged by the Federal Government as a national security risk. Since DJI is the global leader in drone manufacturing and has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, its drone technology and the data it collects could be exploited by the CCP to enable the theft of sensitive American data and compromise critical infrastructure in the United States.

This is especially true given that recent figures indicate that DJI controls almost 90 percent of the consumer drone market in North America, and DJI drones are often used by local law enforcement agencies for public safety operations.

With this bill, we continue our vigilance in protecting American data as well as our communications networks and other critical infrastructure from rogue nation-states.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2864, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I simply urge support for this legislation on a bipartisan basis, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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