Dear Mr. Crazydude6030,
Thank you for contacting me with regard to the Department of Homeland Security's use of drones on domestic U.S. soil. I appreciate your interest in this issue, and your views are important to me.
Let me begin with the civil liberty issue — I am very cognizant of the need to balance national security and individual privacy. For example, I voted against the most recent extension of the Patriot Act (S. 990) because it would have extended three controversial provisions for four more years, which is too long of a time frame without additional oversight. In the past, and at the President's request, I supported a brief, 90-day temporary extension of these Patriot Act provisions (H.R. 514) to give ample time to revise the Patriot Act without jeopardizing ongoing national security investigations. Striking the right balance between national security and the preservation of civil liberties for all Americans continues to be an ongoing challenge.
The FAA Modernization Act of 2012 (PL 112-95), which I voted against for several reasons, defines an "unmanned aircraft" as "an aircraft that is operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft." This is quite a broad definition and does not just encompass the traditional drones that we think of when one mentions overseas operations in war zones. As John Villasenor from The Brookings Institution said in a March 2012 National Public Radio interview:
There are drones that are powered by jet. There are drones that could literally fit in a backpack or the palm of a hand. There are drones that are basically like balloons that sit up there in the sky in one place and can observe enormous swaths of territory.
With regard to unmanned aircraft, the statute partially frames the issue as one of air traffic safety. For example, the law requires the FAA Administrator to develop plans to accelerate the integration of unmanned aerial systems into the National Airspace System and report to Congress on progress made in establishing special use airspace for the Department of Defense to develop detection techniques for small unmanned aerial vehicles and to validate sensor integration and operation of unmanned aerial systems.
Lastly, a provision in the law states:
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall approve and make available in print and on the Administration's Internet Web site a 5-year roadmap for the introduction of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system, as coordinated by the Unmanned Aircraft Program Office of the Administration. The Secretary shall update the roadmap annually .
As you can see, the legislation does require public reporting on the domestic use of unmanned aircraft, but additional transparency and oversight may be necessary. As your Representative, I will continue to monitor this situation closely and will carefully weigh the concerns of civil liberties while considering this and other national security issues.
Once again, thank you for expressing your concern on this very important issue. I appreciate hearing from you. For more information on my views on other issues, please feel free to visit my website at
http://connolly.house.gov . I also encourage you to visit the website to sign up for my e-newsletter.
Sincerely,
Gerald E. Connolly
Member of Congress
11th District, Virginia