Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks As Republicans Block Bipartisan Legislation To Strengthen Local And Federal Coordination On Drone Detection

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor in support of bipartisan legislation to address public concerns about recent drone activity by improving coordination between local and federal authorities for better detection and safety. Republican Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked the passage of the bill. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

In a few moments, my friend, Senator Peters, will offer an amendment that responds to the reports of unusual drone activity, and I thank him for his great work and leadership on this.

I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bipartisan drone legislation, which the FBI, the DHS, the 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 communities 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 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 that drones are a relatively new phenomenon. 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 that the federal government should look at it this completely, they'd be taking away from so many other important jobs. So, the most logical thing to do is to let localities have some authority. These are law enforcement authorities. These are people we know and we trust.  

Now, 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 that the widespread use of drones is still relatively new in the eyes of federal law, and therefore the authority to detect drone activity near sensitive infrastructure is in federal jurisdiction, and that should be fixed in an appropriate way.

The federal government doesn't have the ability to go to every corner of America and see if the drones are safe or not safe. Local law enforcement is appropriate and they will work with the feds in working on this.

This bill is about giving local officials on the ground greater flexibility and proven technology to detect and track threats in their jurisdictions.

This is about giving people answers they don’t have now, heard directly from authorities on the ground. If this bill becomes law, we will have better clarity in the future.

I thank my friend from Michigan, and I hope the Senate acts right away.

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