Counter-Uas Authority Extension Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. 5639, which was introduced earlier today.
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Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, as we near the deadline to fund the government tonight without a clear path from my Republican colleagues in the House, it appears that we are once again on the brink of a government shutdown. When the clock runs out at midnight, the current authorities that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have to safely disable drones that pose a security threat will also expire, and we simply cannot let that happen.

I just received unanimous consent to pass a bill that will extend the current authorities for 1 year. I appreciate my Senate colleagues for joining me in passing this legislation so that our Federal law enforcement Agencies can continue to protect against dangerous drones while giving us additional time to work on bipartisan legislation that Senator Johnson and I have authored to strengthen counterdrone efforts.

There are now more than 1 million drones currently registered in the United States, and the overwhelming majority of them are used for hobby, commercial, or law enforcement purposes and in a responsible and legal way, but we have also seen many instances where drones can pose a serious threat to the safety of the public, our critical infrastructure, our airports, and our communities.

From the reports of drone sightings in New Jersey that have led to airport runway closures and caused alarm in multiple cities to drone incursions at NFL games that put fans and teams' safety at risk, we need to be able to take the appropriate actions to identify, track, and safely disable drones that could be a threat.

Earlier this week, I called on the Senate to pass strong bipartisan legislation that would not only extend the current authorities we have in place to take down threatening drones but that would also help address the current concerns we are seeing from communities all across our country by helping to provide State and local law enforcement with the authority to use technology to identify and disarm risky drones so that they can protect our own communities. Unfortunately, that legislation was blocked from passing, and that is why it is so important that we just passed this 1-year extension so that the FBI and the DHS will be able to disable any drones that pose a danger to public service.

So I want to thank my colleagues for joining me in passing this 1- year extension so that we can ensure we will be able to protect our communities from any immediate drone threats. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will continue to work with me in the months ahead, along with Senator Johnson, on a larger piece of legislation that will allow us to more effectively address the risks posed by increasing numbers of drones in our country.

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