OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

Date: July 21, 2025
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. STEIL. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to the Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act, which provides $10 million to support testing of tethered unmanned aircraft system prototypes.

Tethered drones, which are physically connected to a ground-based power source, offer critical protection against cyberattacks--an increasingly important safeguard given rising threats from adversaries like China and North Korea.

My amendment 275, included in Bipartisan En Bloc No. 2, provides the Army with the necessary resources to procure and test tethered drones.

Tethered drone testing could lead to further innovation and advance the Army's mission capabilities.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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