A bipartisan initiative in the House to ban federal, state, and local governments from using Chinese drones is the latest move by Congress to distance itself from the hostile nation.
Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) partnered this month to introduce the Securing Our Airspace from Reconnaissance Act out of concern that the Chinese Communist Party could be using intelligence and data from unsuspecting drone users nationwide for unfriendly purposes.
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“They may seem innocent, surveilling traffic, or another machine could be programmed, for all we know, to be looking at other things, as well as sending that information back to China. We still know nothing,” Joyce said in an interview with the Washington Examiner, calling them no more than a “modern-day Trojan horse.”
There are growing calls in both parties for the United States to think twice about its relationship with China, exacerbated by the blimp caught flying over the U.S. earlier this year.
Auchincloss said drones made in China are a threat to U.S. national security because they allow foreign companies to access and control sensitive data, particularly if local, state, and federal agencies use them for matters related to critical infrastructure and law enforcement.
At present, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are the only federal entities with bans on the purchase of Chinese-made drones.
Joyce said China has a long-term vision for becoming the world’s most powerful nation and would do whatever it takes, even small actions that seem irrelevant now, to achieve that.
The bill would ban all levels of U.S. government from using official funds to purchase drones made in China or by any other country of concern. Agencies at any level that request an exemption from the ban would face additional oversight, and Congress would be required to be notified of all approved or renewed requests.
“The SOAR Act will eliminate that vulnerability and instead spur U.S. manufacturing for drones,” Auchincloss said in a statement.
The secretary of defense would be required to expand existing partnerships between private-sector drone makers in the U.S. and public agencies.
At present, Chinese company DJI boasts the bestselling drone in the U.S.
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The better solution, according to the lawmakers, would be purchasing drones and other technology for American companies.
Reps. Lance Gooden (R-TX) and Max Miller (R-OH) have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors.
