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Local bill format for Security

majority leader in a few moments my friend Senator Peters will offer an amendment uh that responds to the reports of unusual drone activity and I thank him for his great work and Leadership on this I'm proud to co be a co-sponsor of this bipartisan drone legislation which the FBI the DHS the FBA FAA and the dod the Department of Defense all support the Senate should pass our bill without delay our bill among other things explicitly authorizes state and local authorities to conduct drone detection and helps them better coordinate with federal law enforcement agencies to keep Community safe the people in New York and New Jersey have a lot of questions and they're not getting good enough answers the utter confusion surrounding these drone sightings shows shows that the feds can't respond all on their own they need help detecting these drones from local officials who have neither the resources nor the explicit authority to act and the bill fixes that we all know drones are a relatively new phenomena and there are millions of them all over the United States a lot of them are hobbyists some of them are companies doing legitimate work but the federal government just doesn't have the ability or resources if we were to say the federal government should look at this completely they they'd be taken away from so many other important jobs so the most logical thing to do is say let the localities have some Authority these are law enforcement authorities these are people we know and we trust now for all we know the bill uh the re for all we know the recent drone incidents are entirely benign but the people of New York and New Jersey understandably still have questions and they deserve answers the problem is the widespread use of drones is relatively new in the eyes of federal law and therefore the authority to detect detect drone activity near sensitive infrastructure is totally in federal jurisdiction and that should be fixed in an appropriate way the federal government just doesn't have the ability to go in every corner of America and see whether the drones are safe or not safe local law enforcement is appropriate and they will work with the feds in working on this the bill is about giving local officials on the ground greater flexibility and proven technology to detect and track threats in their jurisdictions it's about giving people answers they don't now have heard directly from authorities on the ground if this bill becomes law we will have better Clarity in the future so I yield to my friend from Michigan who's worked hard on this issue for a long period of time it has broad bipartisan support I hope the Senate can act I yield mam president senator for Michigan Madam president every day more and more Americans are using drones from everything from Hobby flights to commercial applications as well as law enforcement activities drones can offer important societal and economic benefits but they can also cause problems uh if they are not used appropriately recently in New Jersey we've seen reports of loud and menacing drones and while the Department of Homeland Security the FBI and other key agencies have assured the public that these drones pose no immediate homeland security threat they have certainly caused unease and concern for many Americans Rogue drones can interfere with commercial air traffic as we saw with the recent closure of runways at a New York airport as well as large public Gatherings like football games or concerts the National Football League a key supporter of this legislation has shared that at recent Seasons they have seen more than 2,000 500 drones violate the airspace around stadiums and in some cases leading to them stopping the football games to resolve potential threats to their fans as well as to their teams we've also seen how drones operate by a bad actor can quickly become a quick or very serious security threat this summer an a salent used a drone to surveil president-elect Trump's rally site in Butler Pennsylvania just hours just hours before firing shots in a horrific assassination attempt and that's why I've been working to pass bipartisan legislation that would address these concerns by giving law enforcement the tools and the authorities that they need to detect to identify and track drones to ensure that they do not pose any risks to Americans my legislation which passed out of the committee that I chair Homeland Security and government Affairs passed unanimously last Congress would out of committee would equi law enforcement agencies including state and local police like the officials currently dealing with the ongoing situation in New Jersey with the tools to better detect and to track drones and identify cases where they may pose a security threat to large public Gatherings airports critical infrastructure facilities as well as our communities most urgently this bill would ensure that law enforcement has the technology needed to quickly and clearly identify exactly what the reported sightings of drones across the country actually are if a drone is found to be a potential danger our law enforcement agencies they must they must have the tools to mitigate these threats effectively and that's why my bill would allow the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to operate a pilot program so that state and local law enforcement agencies can conduct drone mitigation activities to safely disable threatening drones before they cause serious harm this legislation has strong bipartisan support here in the US Senate we currently have 28 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisles 14 Democrats 11 Republicans and three Independents and as the number of registered drones continue to grow so does the need to pass this critical legislation to ensure that our law enforcement agencies can address these potential threats so I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this Common Sense Bill to safeguard our homeland and ensure that law enforcement can better protect our communities from the potential threats posed by recklessly or nefariously operated drones so I ask a unanimous consent that the committee on homeland security and government Affairs be discharged from further consideration of s631 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration that the Peter substitute Amendment which is at the desk be considered and agreed to and the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate is there an objection Madame President senator from Kentucky reserving the right to object no one disputes that uh drones flying in airspace could be a danger the drones flying over the Super Bowl could be a danger that drones fly over our military bases could be a danger that's why it's illegal it's currently illegal and the federal government has the capacity to investigate and stop drones that are in airspace over our military bases following our ships we have that capacity but what is disputed did and what the Biden Administration is currently telling us is they don't see a problem so if there is a problem let the Biden Administration be forthcoming let us know the extent of the problem let us know who's flying the drones and let us know what's going on instead this bill says well we don't know the Biden Administration doesn't know but why don't we give the power to the local officials to go after drones but I rise today to object to this unanimous consent request because at the time public trust in government is in historic lows this body must not rush to Grant sweeping surveillance powers without proper consideration and debate by the Committees of jurisdiction which is what I pledge to do beginning in January when we will be in charge of the Committees yet what is going on is exactly what this legislation seeks to do now is to expand Federal authority to intercept Communications and disrupt drone activity powers that raise serious concerns for Americans privacy civil liberties and Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted search and seizure we are being told this legislation is urgent that it is needed to address an imminent drone threat yet the government itself admits no such threat exists so either there is a threat or there isn't a threat but the Biden Administration keeps saying well it's all normal stuff and it's just Plains so it is or it isn't why don't we try to get to the truth of the matter of what actually exists and what the threat is before we propose legislation federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have stated clearly that there is no current national security risk no Public Safety concern and no unlawful drone activity requiring intervention so there either is a problem or there isn't a problem if there is a problem let's discuss how to do it while protecting the communications of innocent American an whose their Communications could be caught up in this legislation until the assessment the federal assessment changes the assessment that it isn't a problem changes to that it is a problem and these are the malifa these are the people that are uh orchestrating this let's get that from the Biden Administration tell us what the problem is tell us the extent of the problem instead the Biden Administration is saying there's not a problem so Madam president this pattern is all too familiar history has shown as time time and time again how fear and manufactured urgency are used as pretext to expand government power at the expense of Freedom after 911 Congress passed the Patriot Act in the name of security Americans were promised that these surveillance Powers were necessary they would only be directed towards foreigners they would only be directed towards terrorists until we discovered that these Powers being used on Americans Americans were promised that these Powers were necessary and temporary instead they were abused misused and weaponized innocent Americans had their privacy violated their data collected and their rights trampled the lesson here is clear when Congress legislates in haste without careful scrutiny without debate and without accountability it is the American people who suffer the consequences today we are facing a similar moment the bill before us would Grant law enforcement significant authority to intercept private electron Communications without consent for example the bill would allow the government to conduct draget surveillance of the phones inocent Americans traveling through US airports as long as the government claims they are doing it to neutralize a drone so in order to look at the information that might be coming to a drone it may be that you capture all the information of everybody surrounding an airport or everybody who lives near an airport once you have all that data what are the assurances that the government isn't looking at your data in addition to the data that may be related to Flying the Drone this is not just about security it's about unchecked government overreach it's about capitalizing on fear and media-driven Hyster to jam through sweeping legislation that could violate the civil liberties of American people Congress has a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check on the executive power not as a rubber stamp for it the federal government already has the power to deal with drones the federal government already has the power to stop any drones that are in airspace around airports the federal government already has the power to protect its air bases so if there is a significant problem here the Biden Administration needs to come forward and let us know who are these drones who's operating these drones what is the federal government doing to protect either air airports or bases from this instead we are told by the bid Administration there is no threat to our national security so let's first insist on truth and transparency in the Biden Administration before offering up legislation that is feel-good Pat somebody on the back and say oh we've done something about drones we are strong on drones Congress has a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check on executive power not as a rubber stamp we owe it to the American people to demand compelling justification meaningful safeguards and full transparency before granting any new surveillance authorities we are a nation of laws not fear not panic and not manufactured urgency we do not trade away our freedoms our privacy and our constitutional protections for vague Promises of security I will object to this bill today but I am open to talking with the authors of this bill about how we could have enhanced uh ability to interrupt drone activity but done while protecting all Americans constitutional right to privacy Madame President I object objection is heard