State and local officials are requesting clear authority from Congress to disable drones that threaten power plants and other infrastructure as alarms are sounded over aerial vehicles circling airspace in the metropolitan New York region.
Bipartisan members of the House Homeland Security Committee promised Tuesday to renew federal authority on drone defense before the current provisions expire Dec. 20. They also agreed to pursue new legislation next year that would allow law enforcement at more levels to strengthen their defenses.
“The risk posed by commercial and military-grade UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] in the hands of rogue states, non-state actors, and even terrorist organizations cannot be overstated,” members said in a bipartisan statement opening the joint hearing of the subcommittees on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence and Transportation and Maritime Security.
Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), the panel’s top Democrat, called on Congress to expand the authority of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to use monitoring, tracking and signal jamming technologies to protect critical areas.
