WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott applauded the passage of his American Security Drone Act of 2019 by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The bill, co-sponsored by Senators Murphy, Cotton, Hawley, Rubio, Blumenthal and Blackburn, prohibits the U.S. Government from purchasing drones manufactured in countries identified as national security threats, like Iran and China.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Communist China continues to steal our technology and intellectual property, yet the U.S. Government continues to buy critical technology, like drones, with American tax dollars from Chinese companies backed by their government. This threatens our national security and has to stop. I was glad that the Department of the Interior decided to the ground it’s entire fleet of Chinese drones following many discussions between my office and the Department. It’s time to extend this policy to all federal agencies, as well as local law enforcement agencies that use federal grants. I thank the Committee for supporting the American Security Drone Act, and I hope all my colleagues join me in the effort to protect national security and quickly pass my bill on the Senate floor.”

The American Security Drone Act:

• Prohibits federal departments and agencies from procuring foreign unmanned aircraft system manufactured or assembled in countries identified as national security threats, and provides a timeline to end current use of these drones.
• Prohibits the future use of federal funds awarded through contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements to state or local governments from being used to purchase foreign unmanned aircraft systems manufactured or assembled in a country identified as a national security threat.
• Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to enter into a contract with a federally-funded research and development center to study the unmanned aircraft system global and domestic market and the technological advancements across the industry.
• Requires the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress detailing the amount of foreign commercial off-the-shelf drones and covered unmanned aircraft systems procured by federal departments and agencies from countries identified as national security threats.

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