With drone fever sweeping the East Coast — and now even California — lawmakers in both parties have been calling for Congress to take some kind of legislative action to deal with the issue.
New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul complained “This has gone too far” following the closure of a local airport due to drone activity.
Over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for the deployment of new technology to help state and local authorities deal with the issue. Schumer also said he’ll co-sponsor legislation granting local governments more help to respond to the wave of drone sightings.
Here’s Schumer:
Schumer knows a story when he sees one.
Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) have asked Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to include in the CR their proposed legislation to expand “counter-unmanned aircraft systems” authority for federal agencies and even some local law enforcement (on a trial basis.)
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a candidate for governor, has a new bill that would ensure “law enforcement have what they need to track these drones & protect families from unidentified drone activity making Jersey the Wild West.”
Yes, some of the droning about drones is clearly misguided or hype. Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s (R-N.J.) wild statement about an Iranian “mother ship” that controlled the drones lurking off the East Coast was dismissed by the Pentagon as false. Van Drew has backed off about the Iranians but not the drone issue.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) went on a drone hunt with some local cops. Kim had a lot of observations about what he saw, although the New Jersey Democrat ultimately added that “I’ve concluded the possible drone sightings pointed out to me were almost certainly planes.”
But there are clearly widespread problems with drones straying into restricted or controlled airspace, and it’s getting worse. Two men were arrested Saturday night in Boston for operating a drone unsafely near Logan Airport.
We’ve also reported on the NFL and other sports leagues seeking help from Congress to stop drone flights over stadiums. There are more than 2,800 incidents during 2023 alone.
